Ghost Talkers rises above the over-familiarity of its setting to offering something unique ... Ghost Talkers features strong characters of all race and gender, and she had a lot of fun breaking down and stomping on some of the genre’s biggest cliches ... Ghost Talkers is an unwaveringly smart novel about love, loss, family, and loyalty. All the best aspects of Kowal’s writing are on full display—from razor-sharp wit, to lush, flowing prose, to characters who immediately and indefinitely fit themselves into the empty places in your head and heart.
It was the idea of it that got me into the book, and Kowal's affectless presentation of the mediums and their work that kept me going ... But it was that rare ability of Kowal's to make what could have been a completely goofy add-on to the British war effort into something that felt completely wedded and solid that sold me — that spark of a great idea, well-executed ... The book has flaws, of course. For every deeply considered character like Ginger or her fiancé, there are two who are adorable stereotypes.
...creat[es] a world different enough from ours to be fresh but close enough to this one to feel real ... Kowal also takes on, at times pugnaciously, the classism, sexism and racism of the British Army brass of that time period ... I'd welcome the chance to learn more about Stuyvesant's past and see what use she might make of her gift in the future.
