An Unkindness of Ghosts

Aster has grown up on the lower decks of the generation ship Matilda, where a racial hierarchy controls work, movement and punishment. The vessel is supposed to be carrying humanity toward a promised home, but that distant purpose offers little protection from the cruelty of its present rulers. Aster's differences make her a target, even as her particular ways of observing and understanding the world reveal possibilities others overlook. Conflict with an overseer draws her toward questions about the ship and its history. Discovering answers may offer a route beyond enduring each day's indignities, but acting on them could demand a confrontation with the entire order that keeps her people confined.