Leckie is really starting to remind me of Cherryh, who has this way rarely seen in SF of having you inhabit a character's head so extensively that nothing much can seem to be going on, but you feel all the stress in seemingly mundane events, the details of tea sets and deck cleanings and interactions with officials. While at the same time, limiting your view so you're constantly dredging out details of the SFnal world and the character's place in it. And then bringing it all to a head and a shattering conclusion.

I don't think Leckie manages it as well as Cherryh, and I struggled giving this book 4 stars, as I've given many Cherryh books before this. But hey, it's only Leckie's second novel.

(Should mention that I stopped reading Ancillary Justice half way through, because I felt the bridge scene was "too cinematic". On re-read, there's beautiful subtlety in that book too, but marred by a need to keep action moving, probably because it would never have been published without things like that bridge scene (which I'm sure will turn out cinematically fun in some TV show). So, nice to see this sequel drop all that.)