Amazon.com: Customer reviews: An Unkindness of Ghosts

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COMPELLING DEBUT

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2018

A compelling debut. Speculative fiction with a literary, feminist edge, set in the distant future aboard a spacecraft tumbling, unmoored (physically and spiritually) through space.It's a stratified, segregated world on this space ship, ruled by a Sovereign with absolute power and cruelty. The story, however, is Astrid's --a Low worker, black-skinned, who is also a healer, the favorite of the Chief Surgeon, The. Astrid is, a powerful female character in a novel in which almost all the women characters, even Astrid's lost mother, Luna, are strong and strongly told. However, it is Theo I found most intriguing: devout, marked as effeminate by the Sovereign, with a secret past, yearning to do good, especially by Astrid but full of fear. I must admit: the middle of the novel plodded along, but Astrid's vivid remembrances of folk tales about animals, the Raven, stand out, and the story carried me through to the riveting, explosive end of this novel. Kudos! I look forward to reading more from Rivers Solomon.

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Karen J.

An Unkindness of Queerbaiting and Plotholes

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2020

How did Giselle get the gun without being noticed? Why didn't anyone look for the gun after a guard had been shot and killed? Why did Theo wait for Giselle to die before taking ANY action to stop events? Why did Lune die in a shuttle bay full of ships without leaving clearer instructions? How was Lune essentially a legend when she only died 16-20 years ago? How did no one find her body? How was the shuttle bay a secret? Who was driving the ship? Why did no one (including the navigational computer) notice the course changes? How did culture spread so slowly (generationally) from floor to floor (including simple knowledge like how to make a chemical lamp) when so many characters seem to move around the ship virtually unhindered? How did Tide Wing make gunpowder? How did Tide Wing steal copper pipes from behind their walls unnoticed on a space ship? What were the copper pipes carrying? Were there just unused copper pipes chilling behind the walls for no reason? How did Aster have a private botanarium that was never raided by guards? If Aster is queer, why do we only ever see her have any kind of relationship with a man? Theo is supposedly non-binary yet we are only shown this by the fact that he shaves and wears a frilly shirt in private one time. I could go on and on. Author misused the word flare TWICE in a row when they meant to use flair.

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From the United States

N. Shirley

A book that demands the reader suspend preconceptions of transgendered persons and dystopia.

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2021

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I read the book “An Unkindness of Ghosts” not knowing what to expect. I enjoy reading dystopian novels, sci-fi, and persons in unusual circumstances who somehow prevail. This book had all those things, but “enjoy” is not a word I would choose to describe it. It deals with a hero/heroine in unusual circumstances yes. A space station/ colonizing ship in outer space. It deals with issues of authoritarian governments, corruption, survival in slave-like life situations. So much was directly lifted from historical record in our own history. Add to that a young person existing as transgendered, a topic I don’t fully understand but am currently trying to due to its prevalence in life today. I am glad I experienced this book. I did not understand the ending, whether it really happened, or if it was a final complete break with “reality”. It is well written, disturbing, sensitive, and harsh. I recommend reading it, thoughtfully, and slowly.

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SLW

Really solid

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2019

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I think the biggest thing I struggled with was that the author expected the reader to instantly inhabit the world, so therefore left a lot of things unexplained. It felt more like we were dropped largely into Aster's shoes, but without Aster's knowledge of how everything looked and felt. And, I think the ending was rushed.

That being said, I loved the characters and the diversity with which they were brought to life. I also appreciated how unflinching the look was at privilege and how we took our same prejudices with us to the stars, and for the benefit of no one. I like the genderqueerness of the characters and how they thought of themselves and interacted; I like how Aster's straight forward, somewhat aneurotypical conversational abilities led to her encouraging a surprising amount of actual healthy communication between others who were better at lying or obfuscating.

I'd love to know what happened after the book ended; as I said, it cut off a bit short for me, but I still appreciate the world-building effort and the cast of characters both touching and painful.

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Ardis Louise Ramey

An inspiring debut

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2019

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“She had happened upon an erased chalkboard, and though she could see the unsettled dust of calcium carbonate, there was no putting together what had been written there before. Everything left a trace, but sometimes a trace was not enough.”

Rivers Solomon’s debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts has received critical acclaim and attention from all corners since its publication in late 2017, and I finally know why.

It’s so unique!

Now, sometimes “unique” doesn’t mean “great”, and I’ll admit to a little of that here. For the most part, though, I’m in awe of Solomon’s debut work and can’t wait to see what they come out with next. This is clearly just the start of a beautiful and moving career.

In brief, Solomon sets the oft-visited generation ship vision against a challenging framework of classism, racism, and bald-faced oppression the back cover likens to the “antebellum south”. The resulting setting is ripe with an atmosphere I found inspiring and difficult in spades, and I’m awed by how skillfully Solomon builds this scaffolding and then weaves their story through it.

As a non-stop fan of all things scifi (Star Wars is fantasy in space; don’t @ me) one of the joys of my life is seeking out the stories that inspired new fiction. I can safely say that I’ve read nothing quite like An Unkindness of Ghosts.

I did struggle from just about page 1 with the characters. Historically I do struggle with more spare POV characters, so it should not be surprising that in this fairly dystopic environment we’d follow more spare characters. The narrative was so engaging that (aside from one stand-out exception) my personal struggle with the character didn’t interrupt my immersion in any meaningful way.

The one exception, Giselle, (whom we meet almost immediately) was a constant struggle throughout the book. A full 1/3 of my notes for this book are just about how much I dislike her. HOWEVER, there are some important things to note about this! 1) Giselle’s character stay’s consistent throughout the book. So many times, authors write challenging characters when it’s convenient to the plot and tone them down unless their dysfunction is material to the scene. Serious respect to Solomon for not doing that. By keeping Giselle consistent(ly difficult), they make the character vitally real. 2) This story’s setting is unavoidably uncomfortable, being based in racism and classism, and Giselle definitely kept me on edge in a story for which that feeling seems really appropriate.

Another notable factor that really struck me about An Unkindness of Ghosts was the interjection of non-standard English grammar and vocabulary. Now, while I don’t know this for certain I did gather that the vernacular Solomon used was inspired by AAVE. If true, this directly feeds into the calls in the setting to antebellum south. Where sometimes these interjections can be distracting, Solomon uses them consistently throughout the narrative to great effect.

Finally, without betraying anything about the ending, I’m really impressed by where Solomon took their story. They sidestepped tropes and wrote a story that felt vital through to the end.

Note: I was lucky enough to have received a copy of this book annotated by Rivers Solomon’s own hand via PageHabit.

RIP PageHabit.

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Susan B. Iwanisziw

A Spaceship World Gone Amok

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2018

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AN UNKINDNESS OF GHOSTS by Rivers Solomon is a searing novel about racial injustice, gender identity, oppression, and one woman's determination to restore humanity to the closed world of a spaceship going nowhere. Particularly engaging are the brilliant histories of women who have gone before and the efforts of their successors, essentially slaves and necessarily self-taught, striving to restore the dignity owing to their race.

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Sami Sundell

Imaginative dystopia combines lore with science

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019

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A tale of a generational ship searching for Heavens, Solomon's story combines science-fictional setting with the slow degeneration of society. The class system, the theocratical military dictatorship and the suppression of knowledge form a bleak view of the future, but still people manage. Aster, forever a loner, changes the world with her thirst for knowledge and perseverance.

I liked the way Solomon tells the story, how they let their characters find their strength even from their weakness. The rhythm of the story is impeccable, only gripe I have with it is the slight haste in the final sequence.

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MmeP

A hard read

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018

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Technically well written (except for some small things, like "flare" for "flair"), I felt so disheartened reading this. I enjoyed the inclusive variety of characters, and the science fiction, but the layers of racism, sexism, assault and the unending violent consequences of the main character's choices and actions were stressful.

I almost didn't believe the ending, because I was just mentally beaten into a corner.

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Ambisaur

Utterly enthralling

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2022

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Utterly enthralling and insanely emotional read. Yet somehow it still leaves you hopeful. Incredibly unique one of a kind story.

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GreenAcresWV!

Scary New World

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2019

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Rivers Solomon has created a unique female protagonist in Aster, a new-yet-old dystopian society, and the possibility of a sequel or two.

Truthfully, I almost put this read aside as I found the early chapters as incomprehensible as trying to read in a new alphabet. I am so glad I plowed through. Will be watching for a Volume 2.

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Whitney Hawkins

Good read

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021

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Hard to get into at first, but the story picks up. It's sad and intriguing all at once. Good read!

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Jonathan

Evocative moments elevate an already great book

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2018

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This is a great first novel and I will certainly be preordering this author's second novel. A lot has been said about the strength of this book's characters and themes, but what I would love to highlight in my review is the strength of this book's moments. Certain writers and filmmakers have a knack for elevating moments in their works with a emotional and philosophical scenes or moments that stay with you long after you have closed the book. They are moments we often go back and reread closely because we want to continue to experience or think about them, even if they are difficult or emotional. Faulkner wrote these well. As did Octavia Butler. Toni Morrison writes them. So does N.K. Jemisin and Jeff Vandermeer.

I won't speak of these specific moments in an Unkindness of Ghosts because you should experience them yourself; however, know that they are there, and they will make your heart stop.

I would have liked the denouement to have been given more time to breath. There is a trend I notice in recently published genre fiction of abrupt endings, and I think this is an issue with the publishing houses and editors trying to keep longer books short. I hope Rivers Solomon is able to give the ending of their next novel the air it deserves.

I will certainly be preordering it with complete trust in the author.

4 people found this helpful

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