Aster and Theo are described as not fitting neatly within those boxes. The precise language thing is something I saw it referenced in a strange horizons review. She struggles to internalize that and feel the truth of it you know until he sets the record straight.
Imagine a version of the spaceship from Wall-E, but with racial and class divisions that mirror those in our own society. That's a (dramatically oversimplified) one-line summary of what's going on in this week's book.
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