I really loved Ancillary Justice and while it ended on an open note I felt the tone shift from the first book's renegades on the fringes of the empire to being at the heart of the empire's governance here was hard to adjust to.

Although there's a conspiracy, a murder, the backdrop of civil war and a mysterious jump gate much of the second half of the book is taken up my musings on the nature of justice and the relationship between the empire, the representatives of its immortal emperor and the citizens of the empire.

The action shifts to a planet and its attendant space station, much of the action revolves around the growing and harvesting of tea. Around halfway through I felt the pace had slowed down to the point where I felt I was enjoying the writing in terms of the scene setting and the world building around the politics within the empire.

While the conclusion accelerates back up with a bomb and a shootout it still has a cliffhanger with much in the background plot unresolved and to be honest not a lot of progress on the concept of just and honourable behaviour within the Radch. Unlike the first book though the idea that the conclusion of this book is just a stepping stone into the conclusion of the trilogy feels easier to me.