Ancillary Justice

(Imperial Radch #1)

by Ann Leckie

Paperback, 416 pages

English language

Published Sept. 30, 2013 by Orbit Books.

ISBN:: 9780316246620
OCLC Number:: 828142663

View on OpenLibrary

(148 reviews)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren—a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

2 editions

ish-i-ness reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I’m not usually one for caring about plot but, I could have used more in this case. The discussion about identity was interesting at times but overall didn’t really go deep enough from me, and the relationships all fell flat too. Still there’s some interesting ideas and concepts explored so it’s worth a read, but I think Leckie got too involved in the the concepts to come up with a plot for them to be important in. Maybe the next book will help to flesh out the relationships and world a little more.

Jonathan Zacsh reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

2021-07-05: 2nd reading: absolutely loved this book. Maybe because I've already read the series and that made it far less confusing this time, or I was just in the right mood this time. For whatever reason, really enjoyed this book.

2018-08-13: Original reading: Needlessly confusing language about ships and titles, so much so that I almost stopped reading. But then I missed the story so picked it up again via audiobook, and loved it overall. Still think I don't totally understand what a "justice", "mercey" is. More in the confusion and some guesses here: www.goodreads.com/questions/1376602-i-m-half-way-through-the-book-thought-i/answers/743517-my-understanding-of

tivasyk reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

не певен... окремі фрагменти читаються цікаво й легко: ті, де події розвиваються швидко. решта — повільні, заплутані діалоги або монологи, в якх я плутався (на слух, бо аудіокнижка) як мале дитя... коротше кажучи, таке.

SergeiSilence reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Space Op the good way

5 stars

The consequences of (space) colonisation and imperialism, the limits of humanity and how they need to be expended, the relation between gender and language, the irrelevance of gender... So good

drpbrock reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Inutilmente complicato e onestamente non mi ha entusiasmato. Forse non l'ho capito io o forse sono troppo legato all'hard scifi classica.

Stephen reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is an interesting story concept and perspective. There is a huge expansive universe created for this story. I am interested to read more from this universe.

Mark Anderson reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The key twist in this fun sci-fi novel is that the narrator is a single AI operating as a person, but also simultaneously a ship and ancillary parts. This allows the author to give us a god-like perspective while also keeping the narrator just relatable enough to empathize with. It's a great way to play with perspective and it's well-played throughout the novel. Recommended.

Wetdryvac reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

One of the more painful things i have read, and that includes much that hurt. very well worth it. Gains strength on the re-read, too.

fiainros reviewed Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice by David M. Higgins

Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Finished all 3 books in the Imperial Radch trilogy: Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy.

Possible spoilers, but not really.

It took me 20% of the book and over 3 weeks (I had to re-new my library loan) to get into Ancillary Justice. A big reason I did was because a friend looked up stuff about the book and gave me just enough spoilers that I could keep going without all the spoilers.

I understood what was going on from the outset and the many/one perspective as not an issue, but I missed the length of the time-jump, or at least could not retain the length. I know people get irritated when key points are reiterated throughout a book, but that one needed to be. I also did not like the narrator until probably 80% of the way into the book. The authors goal is that you never forget …

Jennifer reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Bit of a slow starter for me but was absolutely into it by the end! Really dig the narration & the treatment of gender from a gender neutral perspective!

cristianopala reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Ancilary Justice è prima di tutto una riflessione sul potere e sulle sue contraddizioni, poi una riflessione sul concetto di identità e, infine il ritratto di un bellissimo personaggio: Breq, un frammento della coscienza di una grande astronave millenaria, la Justice di Toren, intrappolato in un unico corpo, dopo la distruzione del vascello in cui risiedeva il centro della sua mente (lascio al lettore il piacere di scoprire cosa siano questi corpi e cosa questi comportino). Chi ha causato la distruzione di Justice di Toren? Cosa sta succedendo veramente nel Grande impero Raadchai? Una vicenda ricca tanto di colpi di scena quanto di spunti di riflessione come solo un grande romanzo di fantascienza riesce ad essere.

el dang reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

Wow. This is the first real world-building scifi I've read in a while that wasn't a continuation of an existing world, so the first few chapters were a bit of a wade as it set the scene. Then the book took off and I couldn't put it down.

A lot's been made of the way Leckie handles gender, and it is an interesting detail. Personally, I also really appreciated a related part of this world: that languages are hard. So much scifi waves away all language problems with some kind of magic translator, but in this book it's repeatedly made clear that characters have to invest time and effort into learning each others' languages, those who haven't put in the effort simply can't communicate, and those who have routinetly find some things easier to say in some languages than others. It's one of those details that helped make a world …

Alex Keane reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I loved this book. It was a great military sci-fi. The narrative structure was great, simultaneously telling the story of how Justice of Toren became Breq and how Breq goes forward in her tracking down of the leader of the Raadch. I love the split perspective Leckie used to show the ship's vision through its ancillaries. This was a great book.

Jonathan Arnold reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Sorry, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards Ancillary Justice, it must be me and not you, but I just couldn't finish it. I only made it to page 67, but I still hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. It doesn't seem like a book made for reading a chapter every other day and so by the time I got back to it, I completely lost whatever thread I was following and just couldn't ever get back on track.

The other problem with the book, besides the confusing narration and the utterly incomprehensible tech (I'm still not sure what an Ancillary is), is that it relies heavily on descriptions of how people feel and react to what others are saying. So someone will be described as embarrassed, or angry or taken aback by what another character just said but I …