A great author with great feelings

 I chose the author Rivers Solomon, a black and LGBT author. She graduated from the very very prestigious university Stanford (who have a cool mascot by the way.) They have a few decently popular books but the two i looked into were An Unkindness of Ghosts and Sorrowland. And they both sound very interesting to me which is what made me choose Rivers, plus they are a very "new" author in which their books are recently written. (3)

The first book i want to write about is An Unkindness of Ghosts which is i think Rivers most famous book. The book follows the main character Aster and Theo. Aster lives on the lower decks of the spaceship, Matilda, the whole structure of society on the ship is all messed up dealing with issues that we have on earth now. Racism, its almost ran like plantations meaning black passengers are forced into lives of "slavery" and a harsh ruling. Aster lives through these harsh conditions everyday while also being nuerodivergent, as she goes through this she investigates and looks for the truth about what happens and why it happens. As she gets real deep into the rabbit whole she uncovers the beginings of a civil war that might happen soon and gets caught up in it. (2)

The other cool looking book i wanted to write about was Sorrowland which is another one her more famous novels. Now i haven't got into this book as much as the other one so i'm just gonna give the basic plot. Its about a woman named Vern a young pregnant woman (7 months) She is desperate to escape from where she was raised, a very strict and oppresive religious compound. She wants to escape so her children aren't raised in the compound. So she escapes to the woods to escape the cult and give birth to twins (which is awesome beacause i'm a identical twin) But when she escapes she is still hunted and honestly somewhat haunted she undergoes very strange physical changes and a weird infection that gives her some sort of super powers. As the story goes on she learns dark secrets  about the compound. (1)

From what ive learned about Rivers, they seem like someone i could be friends with (hopefully) they seem really intentional with what they write about and how they put it into words. And they have a unique "perspective" i guess as they are queer, african american, and neurodivergent. And they write about current/old problems in a new way if not a future way. Basically if anyone researched about her they would be like yea they are a genuine person.

Most reviewers really like how Rivers Solomon combines historical issues with sci-fi. Critics focus on how the book shows the harsh reality of racism and slavery by setting it on a spaceship where lower deck passengers are treated horribly. Many reviews also praise how Aster is written, mentioning that her neurodivergence is shown as a strength that helps her uncover the ship's secrets rather than a weakness. Overall critics agree it's a "heavy" read, but a really powerful story about survival and standing up against oppression. (2)

Reviews for Sorrowland call it a dark but good read. Critics point out that Vern's weird physical changes and the cult she escapes from are used to talk about how Black people have been mistreated and experimented on throughout history. Reviewers praise Vern as a strong character who does whatever it takes to protect her kids. While some critics say the plot gets a little strange near the end, most of them agree it’s an exciting and very very unique book about chasing freedom. (1)

 Works Cited

(1) Anderson, Hephzibah. "Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon Review – An Electrifying 

    Gothic Techno-Thriller." The Guardian, 18 May 2021, 

    www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/18/sorrowland-rivers-solomon-review.

(2) Hines, Aries. "'An Unkindness of Ghosts' by River Solomon." Lambda Literary 

    Review, 2 Nov. 2017, lambdaliteraryreview.org/2017/11/unkindness-ghost-

    river-solomon/.

(3) Simon & Schuster. "Rivers Solomon Author Page." Simon & Schuster, 

    www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Rivers-Solomon/148771280.