The voices in your head may not be simply auditory hallucinations. Maybe they are really voices outside your head. Maybe they are voices of ghosts? This was the premise that gave rise to the plot of Black Water Sister, written by Zen Cho. She is on Twitter, as @zenaldehyde.
Before I started reading Zen Cho’s book, “Black Water Sister”, I already had the idea that maybe the voices in the head were really voices spoken by people/ spirits. Not all voices in the head are auditory hallucinations.
To read more about voices in the head, click on the link on the text.
Zen Cho used the common myths to drive her plot. One was the assumption that a ghost needed to use the physical body of a living human since they are dead and their corporeal body has decayed.
Second assumption was that Jess’ grandmother’s ghost had to use her as a vessel to speak, see, and act to perform actions to change the path of certain outcomes.
Jess’s grandmother told her she was the one responsible for sending her those dreams about people, and visiting and exploring. Third assumption says the dead visit the living in dreams.
The plot is about a mega rich developer who wants to take over land where a temple stands. The god in the temple objects. Humans and god battle.
Blood is not thicker than water. Jessamyn’s grandmother’s ghost does not care for her kin more than her care for her god, Black Water Sister. Jess had to fight her grandma from taking over her body, in a crucial scene, where she destroyed the god’s altar, in the vain hope of breaking the hold over many people.
In the epic final battle, Jess shows Black Water Sister how her business with the past has already been completed. The god does not need to stick around to haunt for her revenge. She is free to proceed to her next stage.
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I would only buy Zen Cho’s books if I’m very interested in the theme.
