NB! This is not Ancilliary Justice, but a crititical companion.
This book argues that Ann Leckie’s novel Ancillary Justice offers a devastating rebuke to the political, social, cultural, and economic injustices of American imperialism in the post 9/11 era. Following an introductory overview, the study offers four chapters that examine key themes central to the novel: gender, imperial economics, race, and revolutionary agency. Ancillary Justice’s exploration of these four themes, and the way it reveals how these issues are all fundamentally entangled with the problem of contemporary imperial power, warrants its status as a canonical work of science fiction for the twenty-first century. The book concludes with a brief interview with Leckie herself touching on each of the topics examined during the preceding chapters.
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.
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 …
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 in which there's a lot of almost-invincible tech and so on feel that much more real.
Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I prefer the smug Ships of the Culture to these brooding ones. The book throws a flood of esoteric concepts, proper names, and entities at you from the outset (an "Ancillary" is one of thousands of zombie cyborg avatars of a sentient troop-transport starship, a "Justice," and that doesn't even get into the ten different types of Ancillaries and the crazy-ass larger human society they inhabit). It seemed very clear to me that the far-future human society being depicted was some Imperial mishmash of East Asian traditions, but then I went and read the author interview in the back, where she claimed her inspiration was the Roman Empire! No. Way.
Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Few books have the power to transform the way you think about reading. Ancillary Justice raises deep questions about the nature of personality and of social roles; questions that may remain with you long after you've finished reading and may affect how you think about language. (Note: the reading itself may be tough going at times. Stick with it). I can't say much more without spoiling your experience, and this is one voyage you need to take your time on.
Clumsy in places: some plot elements involving superstition, religion, military command structure, and family intrigues were hard to swallow, and IMO detracted slightly from the story, but they're forgivable. Worth taking off one star but the rest of the book is so damn good (6-7 stars) that it balances out to 5.
I think the book suffered from its own hype. Going into the novel with all the awards and accolades it's received my expectations were pretty high. As always, it's easier to criticize than praise, but the bar was set pretty high for this first trilogy piece.
Firstly, the book is very slow until the final act. It was not a quick hook. On a similar note, the final act is very hurried. The last chapter has a flurry of action that would have been better spaced out.
Partly because of the condensed ending and the difficulty of determining characters, the ending is confusing. I already tagged the review as spoilered, so I'll go ahead and say: the plot twist with anaander mianaai is very cool and interesting as a plot development point, but almost incomprehensible from the narrative. It's never quiet clear which anaander is speaking or which breq …
3.5/5
I think the book suffered from its own hype. Going into the novel with all the awards and accolades it's received my expectations were pretty high. As always, it's easier to criticize than praise, but the bar was set pretty high for this first trilogy piece.
Firstly, the book is very slow until the final act. It was not a quick hook. On a similar note, the final act is very hurried. The last chapter has a flurry of action that would have been better spaced out.
Partly because of the condensed ending and the difficulty of determining characters, the ending is confusing. I already tagged the review as spoilered, so I'll go ahead and say: the plot twist with anaander mianaai is very cool and interesting as a plot development point, but almost incomprehensible from the narrative. It's never quiet clear which anaander is speaking or which breq is supporting. I believe this confusion is intentional, but I don't think it's helpful.
Much has been made about the gender play in the book, using only female pronouns. I actually thought this was pretty interesting, but could have been better executed. It seemed a little on the nose, and many of Breq's encounters on the first planet seemingly existed to remark on her gender differences. The end result was that I felt Leckie hammering this point where simply committing to Breq's perspective and enforcing the pronouns throughout would have been stronger.
Difficulties in pacing and experimentation aside, I really enjoyed the retro feel of the novel. It definitely has echoes of old style space opera, and the ancillary system was very cool to think about (and pretty well implemented in the multiple characters speaking). If anything, I think it might have erred a bit too much on explanation, hardly a rare sin in the genre, but it often felt that Breq was explaining herself to me rather than always existing in her world.
Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
The concepts here ticked all my boxes. Altered morality? Check! Lone survivor taking on the world? Check! Artificial Intelligence meets Human Experience? Check! Gender as irrelevant? Check! Flawed narrator? Check! It takes a good writer to catch you up on what is going on in a setting this far removed from our own without world breaking exposition, but Ann Leckie does it well. There are some things she doesn't get around to explaining, but those are less holes than room to insert your own mental furniture because the specifics don't matter.
Well written, well read, but complex. The idea of gender neutrality even when there were genders that did exist caused me some grief. Not too bad but when you make an assumption on who or what character you are reading, then hear its a different gender you have to re-role the character and ask a lot of questions from bias to motives. Neat twist though, but beware on some of the difficult tracking it.
Reading a core narrator who has access to lots of sensory data and can toggle between them each paragraph made for some brilliance. It also made me not drift away or multitask while reading or I was sure to get confused and had to re-read. hehe.
Well put together plot as well, not something you see every day and the complexities of it can keep you thinking …
Wow. This book make my head bend a bit.
Well written, well read, but complex. The idea of gender neutrality even when there were genders that did exist caused me some grief. Not too bad but when you make an assumption on who or what character you are reading, then hear its a different gender you have to re-role the character and ask a lot of questions from bias to motives. Neat twist though, but beware on some of the difficult tracking it.
Reading a core narrator who has access to lots of sensory data and can toggle between them each paragraph made for some brilliance. It also made me not drift away or multitask while reading or I was sure to get confused and had to re-read. hehe.
Well put together plot as well, not something you see every day and the complexities of it can keep you thinking long after you put the book down.
Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Excellent book! Even with all the awards I expected it would just be another space opera set in a galactic empire with some AIs and aliens. Well it is, but there is so much innovation, and it is performed so well. The genre takes a background role, it is just a vessel for great writing.
It reminded me of The Last Angel (forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel.244209/), which is another novel in a galactic empire with some AIs and aliens. In both the protagonist is a starship AI struck with grief and hell bent on revenge against the galactic empire. Both AIs are female in some sense. The empire in both expands continually and brings "civilization" to "uncivilized" peoples. In both the empire is led by immortal demigods.
But the writing could not be more different between the two. The best parts of The Last Angel are the space battles. They are …
Excellent book! Even with all the awards I expected it would just be another space opera set in a galactic empire with some AIs and aliens. Well it is, but there is so much innovation, and it is performed so well. The genre takes a background role, it is just a vessel for great writing.
It reminded me of The Last Angel (forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel.244209/), which is another novel in a galactic empire with some AIs and aliens. In both the protagonist is a starship AI struck with grief and hell bent on revenge against the galactic empire. Both AIs are female in some sense. The empire in both expands continually and brings "civilization" to "uncivilized" peoples. In both the empire is led by immortal demigods.
But the writing could not be more different between the two. The best parts of The Last Angel are the space battles. They are very well developed with clever tricks and wonderful technical details. There are no space battles in Ancillary Justice. Both have somewhat repetitive dialog where everyone muses about the evils of the empire. But while in The Last Angel they are just that, in Ancillary Justice they are so much more.
The book could be turned into an excellent stage play. It is 99% dialogs, with a very rich subtext. The starship AI is the first-person narrator and she calls out all the subtle details. Whenever someone answers after a little bit too much or too little hesitation, she notices and we learn of it too. All the cultural clues she is aware of and makes the reader aware too. On the starship that is herself she is aware of everyone's movements and even their heart rates. So we get a lot of added information to the dialogs, but we still only get the facts. The reader never knows what anyone's motivations are, just what they very precisely do or say.
I think this setup sounds intriguing but could very easily fail. What makes this high-risk venture succeed is the brilliant writing. The plot, the setting, the characters. Everything fits together so well. Nothing is wasted. There are no side-quests. Tension is built masterfully from thin air. Someone is just pouring tea and it is still the most exciting thing I have read in recent memory.
So is it just great writing and a unique perspective thrown into the space opera genre? I think not. At the core of the plot is a technical issue. The writing would not exist without the plot. The plot would not exist without the issue. And the issue would not exist without the sci-fi technology. Ancillary Justice is not just a good story set in space because space is cool. It could not take place anywhere else.
While this book is the first of a trilogy I think it stands well on its own. In fact it is so satisfying I am not even sure I will enjoy the next book. I am left with just the right amount of mystery. I will go on reading anyway, not because the story needs is, but because I have grown to trust Ann Leckie.
One last thing: I love the names in the book! "Anaander Mianaai", "Seivarden Vendaai", "Presger", "Gerentate", "Valskaay", "Justice of Toren One Esk", "Garsedd", "Ime"...
Review of "Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Intricate, immersive and thought-provoking, this is the best sci-fi I have read in a long time. Particularly interesting is the villain, Anaander Manaii, whose ability to compartmentalize her atrocities, as well as sabotage them, is not only interesting in that it creates a complex character but also in that she embodies the failures and successes, of large, secretive and ruthless imperial systems. Finding fragments in wholes and wholes in fragments is part of the satisfying unraveling of the plot. Finding humans in machines and machines in humans is hardly anything new, but the details and imaginative rendering of this far distant humanity makes Ancillary Justice stand out as epic. A huge plus is also the gender ambiguity. And the time shifts. And the heroine's bad-assedness...
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.
Odd, confusing, thoughtful, exciting are all good adjectives for describing how I felt at various times. But my final thought is "wow, I will be reading this again!"
I was impressed with the depiction of Breq as a ship's AI. It is confusing, at times, but once you understand what is going on and why, it makes sense. I also thought the importance, or lack of importance, of gender playful. At first I tried to guess the gender of characters, but after a while I found that I didn't care, because it didn't actually matter. There are many characters that you may ascribe as one or the other. I think that may provide insight into your expectations around gender than anything else, that I thought was fun.
Ultimately I found the story of a ship's AI the most interesting, as I find myself wondering what, exactly, is humanity, what is …
Odd, confusing, thoughtful, exciting are all good adjectives for describing how I felt at various times. But my final thought is "wow, I will be reading this again!"
I was impressed with the depiction of Breq as a ship's AI. It is confusing, at times, but once you understand what is going on and why, it makes sense. I also thought the importance, or lack of importance, of gender playful. At first I tried to guess the gender of characters, but after a while I found that I didn't care, because it didn't actually matter. There are many characters that you may ascribe as one or the other. I think that may provide insight into your expectations around gender than anything else, that I thought was fun.
Ultimately I found the story of a ship's AI the most interesting, as I find myself wondering what, exactly, is humanity, what is love? And how will we draw the lines of humanity in the future?
As I said, I'll likely be reading this again, quite possibly soon.
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 …
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 don't have any idea why. So either they are being far too subtle for me, or it's something I should have picked up on, but in either case, it is very frustrating.
So life is short and my To Read shelf is over 800 books, so I'm not forging on, despite its accolades.
