TL;DR
The best way I can describe this book is that-- it is a mixture of the movie SnowPiercer and the popular Sci-Fi television series BattleStar Galactica. It’s well written with well developed characters, who’s personalities drive the plot forward. Heads up -- it’s on the grittier side of dystopian literature, but not that much gritter than SnowPiercer.
Book Thoughts
The premise of the story is interesting -- it’s the future, the Earth has been destroyed, the remains of society is hurtling through space looking for ---something --on a huge spaceship, oh and the human race has decided, despite managing to create a self-sustaining space-traveling vessel, that we should probably reinstate the equivalent of slavery … in space.
In my opinion the premise acts as a good reaction to the stream of futuristic dystopian novels of the 2010s that seemed to imagine a future that was awful, but somehow free of the racial issues of the present. Perhaps one the points Rivers Solomon is making is why do we assume that to be the case? That is, if racism hasn’t ended yet -- what’s to make it suddenly stop in the future. Even more, perhaps the assumption that will end, without any active work from society, allows it to linger on, in lesser form ‘till something like -- I don’t know -- the world ending -- catalysis us back into an antebellum social order, but this time -- there is nowhere to escape to, because --- we’re in space.
I got frustrated with this concept, because I like to believe the future, especially one where you can see Saturn up close, is a moment where everything is possible. And it is -- and one very real possibility is that we repeat the past.
The premise aside, I think the strength of this story is its characters. Aster, Giselle and Theo aren’t just interesting, they’re believable. They’re flawed, they’re petty, they forgive, aspire, resent, and love. And all these characteristics inform the plot and what happens, which I personally appreciate. I will say the plot feels a little convenient at the end, but I’ll let each reader decide for themself. The book also doesn’t pull any punches when talking about how miserable oppression is, not that it should, just be aware of your mental health while reading it. In fact, I recommend reading it with a friend -- perhaps in a book club setting… but maybe I’m biased.
In any case ,if you are reading it in a book club, I -- have--some --questions --- you can use to get the discussion going. —
You are tasked with organizing a spaceship carrying the remainder of humanity… how do you do it? Would there be classes, leaders, a coming of age sorting process where teenagers are placed into different social groups based on their interests/skill-set?
What does oppression look like in the future? Non-existent, changed, exactly the same?
What is a ghost? -- be as literal or figurative as you please