Ancillary Mercy

Paperback, 330 pages

English language

Published Dec. 26, 2015 by Orbit.

ISBN:
978-0-356-50242-7
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4 stars (135 reviews)

For just a moment, things seem to be under control for the soldier known as Breq.

Then a search of Athoek Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist — someone who might be a refugee from a ship that's been hiding beyond the empire's reach for three thousand years.

In the meantime a messenger from the alien and mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai —ruler of an empire that's at war with itself.

Anaander is heavily armed and extremely unhappy with Breq. She could take her ship and crew and flee, but that would leave everyone at Athoek in terrible danger.

Breq has a desperate plan. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.

6 editions

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

“Every ending is an arbitrary one. Every ending is, from another angle, not really an ending.”

The third book in the trilogy, concluding the story of Fleet Captain Breq, formerly one of hundreds of co-connected ancillary slaves to the AI starship Justice of Toren. After supreme ruler of the Radch empire Anaander Mianaai fragments into civil war with herself, and murders Justice of Toren, the ancillary Breq is all that remains. Now commanding Mercy of Kalr, she spends the third book dealing with the problems of Atheok Station, itself an AI but caught up in the same civil war between Anaander Mianaai factions.

Breq has been attempting to get the station in order and resolve the already problematic unrest between the classes, when one of the Anaander Mianaai fragments arrives with three warships in tow, and suddenly Breq has to find a resolution before Anaander has everyone on the station …

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

Strong end to a fantastic trilogy. Along with developing everything that Sword set up, it does a fantastic job of deploying comedy. I can think of very few other writers who've managed to have real laugh-out-loud comic relief that not only doesn't detract from all the serious things in the book but actually develops the plot and builds the world further.

I really want to read more about the Presger, and to read a book or short story that looks at Breq through other characters' eyes.

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

Strong end to a fantastic trilogy. Along with developing everything that Sword set up, it does a fantastic job of deploying comedy. I can think of very few other writers who've managed to have real laugh-out-loud comic relief that not only doesn't detract from all the serious things in the book but actually develops the plot and builds the world further.

I really want to read more about the Presger, and to read a book or short story that looks at Breq through other characters' eyes.

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Each time I sit down with one of Leckie's books this happens. About a chapter in, the prose makes me so happy I know I'm going to have to dole the pleasure out to myself gently. A few hours later, I find myself covered in cats at the end of the book going back to the first chapter and considering starting again.

I adore Leckie's writing, both in terms of the words themselves, their play on the page, and the characterization and construction throughout. This final book in the Ancillary series was both a logical progression from the first two, and an utterly satisfying completion of the series.

Easily the best science fiction / social construct stuff I've read in years, and likewise one of the very best stories I've read, period.

Excellent on re-read, too.

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I blew through this book in just under a week, it was so good. The characters are coming into their own, there's humor, and Breq's manipulation of everyone is fun to read. The Presger translator may be my favorite supporting character in the book, but I also have lots of love for Kale Five and her tea sets.

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

It was fun, but I hope this is the last in the Justice of Toren series. [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628] was groundbreaking, brilliant, exceptional, stunning, I could go on. But Leckie has painted herself into a corner with some of her initial world setup and I think she's just coasting now: Breq is now a Mary Sue, all-knowing and all-wise; her one too-brief moment of self-doubt resolved unsatisfyingly. The Lord of the Radch is a shallow and disappointing caricature; Tisawat starts off with some hope of growth but ultimately remains Breq's puppy. Seivarden flails. Nobody really develops.

Leckie is capable of much, much better. She clearly ponders deep ethical questions, and wants her readers to do so. I'm eagerly looking forward to more of that.

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is the third - and final? - installment of this utterly fascinating space-opera trilogy. When I read [b: Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628] I was still new to the world and the characters, and the pronouns tended to confuse me. By the second and this third book I had no more of those troubles and could concentrate on the beautiful story, fascinating technology and the characters.

Despite what some people may say, the use of only female pronouns - at least while people talk in the language of the Radch - does not dominate this series. It's just one of the myriad choices Leckie made when creating the Radch culture around which this plot revolves. Much more fascinating to me is the concept of the ancillaries and how Anander Minaai is fighting with herself. The way AIs can see into people is scary, and how Breq uses …

Review of 'Ancillary Mercy' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I have mixed feelings about the resolution. The psychological breaks, recovery, and climax. It was good but maybe I was tiring of everyone's melodrama. It was needed I suppose.

This was a neat series and I did enjoy it. I would have liked a little more pacing, a little less tea but otherwise it holds a unique place in all of the sci-fi I've ever read.

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Subjects

  • Science fiction
  • Space fiction
  • Military
  • Politics
  • Intergalactic war
  • Cloning
  • Artificial intelligence
  • LGBT+
  • Tea