An Unkindness of Ghosts

Aboard the generation ship Matilda, society is starkly divided: Upper-deckers live in opulence, while lower-deck residents—dark-skinned descendants of survivors—endure brutal oppression modeled after antebellum plantation systems. Aster Grey, a lower-deck healer and brilliant autodidact, navigates trauma, neurodivergence, and coded gender identity as she investigates her mother’s suicide and a mysterious illness afflicting the Sovereign. With its haunting worldbuilding, quiet rebellion, and deeply layered characters, this debut is a radical reimagining of space opera—where resistance becomes an act of survival and memory pulses through every corridor.

~  Included for its unflinching deconstruction of racial hierarchy, neurodiverse and queer identity, and the power of love and knowledge to ignite revolution. A brutal yet hopeful masterpiece that digs deep, voices the silenced, and transforms speculative fiction with ancestral urgency.  ~