Back

reviewed Translation State by Ann Leckie

Ann Leckie: Translation State (2023, Orbit) 4 stars

The mystery of a missing translator sets three lives on a collision course that will …

Translation State

4 stars

I think the part of this book that I enjoyed the most was the worldbuilding dive into Presger Translators, as this is the first character with this POV. In previous books, Dlique and Zeiat both are wild characters who felt like comic relief foils compared to the over-serious Radchaai. So much of all of their nonsense along with various other mysteries get some partial explanation here. It's delightful to go back and rethink parts of previous books and have at least a slightly better understanding of what's going on. I'm not even sure that I need to know anything about the Presger at this point; I think I enjoy enough all of the wrangling in their ominous shadows.

It is definitely a wild narrative turn to have this POV though. There is a lot of body horror and casual violence going on that is treated very normally by all of …

@picklish@books.theunseen.city Yes, I agree it was nice how this book fit into the same universe as the others but didn't rely on them. I'm considering re-reading them though, since I read each of the others as they came out and my brain doesn't retain much detail across the years in between. I really loved how political this one was, given the disastrous situation these days for trans and nonbinary people in so many countries.