Nid oes gan Aster ateb parod i’r rheini sy’n ei galw’n bwgan a ffrîc. Mae Aster yn byw yn slymiau yr HSS Matilda sydd ers cenedlaethau wedi cludo’r olaf o ddynoliaeth i’r Promised Land chwedlonol. Ar y siwrnai, mae arweinwyr y llong wedi gosod cyfyngiadau llym ac aflendid ar cyfrangnydwyr croen-tywyll fel Aster. Mewn trafferth gyda goruchwyliwr creulon, mae Aster yn dysgu y gall fod ffordd o wella ei sefyllfa, os yw’n barod i hau hadau rhyfel sifil.

Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remains of her world. Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot–if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.