A Country of Ghosts

“The steepest places have always been the asylum of liberty.” – Baron de Tott

The Boril Empire seeks to conquer the mountains. It has coal, iron, and other resources necessary for the empire to continue it's expansion. There are no nations there, or so they tell everyone. Dimos Horacki is sent to report on this war for the broader public. He believes the nation is going to war in order to give resources to the people, not just for simple conquest, but he is soon disabused of this notion and captured by the Free Company of the Mountian Heather. Now in enemy hands he finds all his assumptions challenged in this, A Country of Ghosts.

From goodreads

In Margaret Killjoy's novel we are given a little slice of utopia and war in a secondary world. The 'country' of Hron is being invaded by a colonial empire as told through the eyes of this wayward observer to war. It makes for an extremely effective analysis of the world and the premises of each side.

Killjoy writes a very believable anarchist society, in a way perhaps that Ursula K. Le Guin would not have dared for her own The Dispossessed but not quite in the sci fi spectacle of Michael Z. Williamson's Freehold where the ideological conflict and military conflict are synonymous. It makes for something of a refreshing in between.

 A Country of Ghosts is a book that is meant to showcase a society, and one that the author is exploring through this fictional lens. The people of Hron are a curious mix. Many of them are the descendants of herders and isolated mountain communities who have always governed themselves and lived as they liked. Then an influx of refugees fleeing a failed revolution who have in turn revolutionized the society into a more confederal mix of refugees and mountain communities, all living in (mostly) harmony.

Young Dimos finds this confusing, hypocritical, and is a very believable fish out of water! Looking through his eyes I also found confusion, but also appreciation for the people of Hron. The secondary characters are no less deep for all that they may have the life of a mayfly on the stage of the impending war! The ways they introduce our viewpoint character to the ideas of Hron are very organically laid out and tend to flow with the story so you are gradually introduced to this world. It makes for some very fun reading, especially as Killjoy does not skimp on details in this secondary world, from the flora, fauna, and even how these people build their homes! It's all quite entertaining.

Nor does she skimp on the horrors of war. Honestly war is occasionally portrayed as invigorating, but always with a cost. You'd be hard pressed to say anyone walks away unscathed.

Just as importantly, nothing is monolithic. The people of Hron are varied, quarrelsome, and often don't get along as well as they should. Nor is it depicted as some paradise or land of plenty, but it is plenty free. The people like how they live overall, and don't care to be told what to do. It honestly makes me flirt with the idea of anarchism.

The story has it's highs and lows, with a grimly satisfying conclusion. Killjoy establishes a beautiful world and I hope she returns to it! Definitely one to keep an eye out for!