The Ghost Sister

Far-future humans confront long-held ideas about nature and themselves in the Philip K. Dick Award–nominated novel from the author of The Poison Master.

On the planet Monde D’Isle, Mevennen ai Mordha is an outcast, a “landblind” person who can’t feel the energy under the earth or the pull of the tides. Her ailment is a weakness, leaving her at risk of being harmed, even by members of her own family. For on Monde D’Isle, only the strong survive . . .

Now a crew from humanity’s tamed and civilized homeland, Irie St. Syre, has been sent to investigate this ancient human colony. The last transmission received from the settlement—before it was apparently abandoned by its visionary leader—described the world as cursed. On board is Shu Gho, a writer of myths and folktales and a descendent of one of the original colonists. She has traveled over a hundred years to learn of its fate.

Instead of finding a terraformed habitat, the crew is shocked to find a bleak, unwelcoming landscape. And when Shu meets Mevennen and her family, she is drawn into the mysterious evolution of these not-quite-human people—with their clawed hands, fierce connection to nature, and predatory bloodlust.

Together, the two women embark on a quest to do right by a world that neither truly understands, while the danger of human intervention—past and present—threatens them all . . .

“Williams addresses difficult moral and ethical questions in a compelling novel concerned with genetic engineering and a people’s struggle to transcend their limitations.” —Booklist

“A thoughtful, absorbing novel with fully realized characters and dramatic descriptive passages, intelligently staged by an exceptional writer.” —Infinity Plus