Paperback, 330 pages
English language
Published Dec. 26, 2015 by Orbit.
Paperback, 330 pages
English language
Published Dec. 26, 2015 by Orbit.
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.
“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 …
“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 killed (including Station itself). Complicating matters, a new and equally incoherent Translator from the alien Presger is observing all the goings on.
I would have liked a bit more character development from Ekalu in particular, and really all the secondary characters, but since it's all told from Breq's point of view we only see them through her eyes and don't really get a lot of their perspectives.
Overall, this wrapped the trilogy up well, although I think the second book was slightly stronger and more concerned with bigger philosophical issues. This book was more action, as the entire system and all the ships in it seem to be spiraling towards civil war and chaos and Breq and crew have to find a way to salvage the situation. Definitely read the other two books first though, or you'll be completely lost.
Fantastic resolution to a fantastic trilogy. This very quickly became one of my favorite Science Fiction series to date. Expert world building, enthralling story, and not-so-subtle political parallels. All of my faves.
I enjoy the Douglas Adams aliens very much.
This series really fell off a cliff.
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.
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.
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.
A very good end to a very enjoyable series. I think it says a lot that this book doesn't come to a grand, satisfying ending - that would make it clear it's a story. Rather, you're left with a somewhat unsatisfying realism, a sense that the saga continues to play out long after we've stopped peering into their universe; after all, nothing really ends. It's hard to build a universe that does that, so my hat's off to Ann Leckie.
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.
Great conclusion to the trilogy.
Leckie has said that she's through with Breq's story, but I hope she has many others to tell in this universe.
A lot slower to start than the first two volumes.
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.
I'm looking forward to rereading these in a few years.
I loved [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628]. I was disappointed by [b:Ancillary Sword|20706284|Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch, #2)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413464739s/20706284.jpg|40026175] and [b:Ancillary Mercy|23533039|Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch, #3)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424479056s/23533039.jpg|43134689]. From the reviews I've seen a lot of people feel the same way. I should have read them before deciding to read the books. But Ancillary Justice was so good!
Why was it good? The first half is just introducing you to a brand new viewpoint, a new universe, more than one new cultures, interesting characters. You can really only do this in the first book, but the second and third books don't even try. The first book hinted at a lot of untold stories, like what the Presger are, what the Radch is like, what caused the split in Anaander Mianaai, what's this Itran Tetrarchy, etc. Do we get any more hints at untold stories? No. Are any of these untold …
I loved [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628]. I was disappointed by [b:Ancillary Sword|20706284|Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch, #2)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413464739s/20706284.jpg|40026175] and [b:Ancillary Mercy|23533039|Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch, #3)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424479056s/23533039.jpg|43134689]. From the reviews I've seen a lot of people feel the same way. I should have read them before deciding to read the books. But Ancillary Justice was so good!
Why was it good? The first half is just introducing you to a brand new viewpoint, a new universe, more than one new cultures, interesting characters. You can really only do this in the first book, but the second and third books don't even try. The first book hinted at a lot of untold stories, like what the Presger are, what the Radch is like, what caused the split in Anaander Mianaai, what's this Itran Tetrarchy, etc. Do we get any more hints at untold stories? No. Are any of these untold stories explored? No.
The masterful non-linear storytelling, the original viewpoint of a ship AI? Just repeating this would fall flat, since it would no longer be as fresh. So it is mostly dropped. Replaced by nothing interesting.
The first book had a grandiose arc: starting with a woman in the snow of a backwater planet (and a lieutenant on another backwater colony) the story sees us arrive at assassinating the immortal ruler of humanity and breaking her empire apart. How do you top that? Maybe get out into the galaxy, figure out the intentions of the omnipotent aliens? Build a new empire on top of the ruins? Find a dark secret that changes everything? No. We're off to a backwater space station, doing nothing of consequence.
But what I really loved about the first book was none of the above. It was how you had to piece a lot of things together from subtle clues in the conversations that were mostly interesting in their own right. This is a really subjective thing, and it already failed to entertain some of the readers of the first book. But it really worked for me. In the second and third books I found the dialog not interesting on its own, and also there are very few subtle clues. It's no longer like a spy's game where you drink tea while pointing guns at each other under the table.
Calling the third book a "stunning conclusion" is a lie. The character of Seivarden was introduced under very unlikely circumstances in the first book, and he had very little role in the story. But just a few pages after the most unlikely meeting we're told that "nothing happens by chance". So I thought I was guaranteed an explanation for at least this character if nothing else. But even he is not explained.
Still books two and three got a lot of positive reviews, and I read them until I started to understand what is going on here. They are all about the characters. It's like Gilmore Girls or Downton Abbey. You have to like the characters enough to enjoy stories about them no matter what those stories are like. This is very surprising to me, given that the characters don't even have names or genders. But I suppose this makes it more interesting in some ways.
I liked the character of Breq well enough in the first book. But I think I mostly liked that she was kicking ass. She figured everything out and accomplished what she wanted against all odds. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say I was let down on this front as well. I can understand that it would be boring for her to just be awesome all the time and win at everything, but I think I would have enjoyed it nevertheless.
I still don't understand how the second and third books could be so different after the first. The most likely explanation is that they are not that different, and all the things I loved about the first book were a misunderstanding on my part and they were not intended to be the focus. Well, I still love it anyway.
Good continuation and growth of the identity-exploring space adventure series.