Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Apr 08, 2021 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-reads, hugo-nebula-nominees-and-winners

“And you don’t like my saying that, but here’s the truth: luxury always comes at someone else’s expense. One of the many advantages of civilization is that one doesn’t generally have to see that, if one doesn’t wish. You’re free to enjoy its benefits without troubling your conscience.”

This novel won the science fiction Grand Slam in 2014, earning Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. So no wonder it aims high, tackling a whole bunch of important and even existential questions and

“And you don’t like my saying that, but here’s the truth: luxury always comes at someone else’s expense. One of the many advantages of civilization is that one doesn’t generally have to see that, if one doesn’t wish. You’re free to enjoy its benefits without troubling your conscience.”

This novel won the science fiction Grand Slam in 2014, earning Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. So no wonder it aims high, tackling a whole bunch of important and even existential questions and themes. Like what it means to be a person — even if you are not thought of as quite human. And the oppressive horror of a culture founded on the idea of conquest and forced assimilation as well as the fallacy of relying on one’s social origin as a proxy for worth. And even how a new whole can arise from the shattered remnants of something else.

“On one level the answer is simple—it happened when all of Justice of Toren but me was destroyed. But when I look closer I seem to see cracks everywhere. Did the singing contribute, the thing that made One Esk different from all other units on the ship, indeed in the fleets? Perhaps. Or is anyone’s identity a matter of fragments held together by convenient or useful narrative, that in ordinary circumstances never reveals itself as a fiction? Or is it really a fiction?”

Does it do an amazing job in all of these, worthy of its status as the quadruple-crown winner? Perhaps not — but nevertheless it is an entertaining space opera and an easy, enjoyable read, even if it falls quite short of anything earth-(or space-)shattering.

“Nineteen years, three months, and one week before I found Seivarden in the snow, I was a troop carrier orbiting the planet Shis’urna.”
————
“I had once had twenty bodies, twenty pairs of eyes, and hundreds of others that I could access if I needed or desired it. Now I could only see in one direction, could only see the vast expanse behind me if I turned my head and blinded myself to what was in front of me.”

Our protagonist Breq, formerly known as Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen, used to be a giant troop-carrier spaceship — or rather one of its “ancillary units” — colonized people whose consciousness was erased to make them basically corporeal extensions of the spaceship AI — basically its appendages that can interact with the world and be good obedient soldiers that the ever-expanding Radch Empire needs in its endless bloody annexations of other worlds. Breq is not considered human; she is “the ancillary, the non-person, the piece of equipment”, disposable and replaceable. But a bloody chain of events leads to the destruction of the ship along all other ancillaries, and Breq - a lone fragment of greater AI consciousness inhabiting a somewhat augmented human body - is the only survivor who is now on the determined revenge quest, “the last remaining fragment of a grief-crazed AI” as one of the characters succinctly puts it, and we learn the details of what actually happened and what she seeks through two timelines that eventually converge.

“Imagine. Imagine your whole life aimed at conquest, at the spread of Radchaai space. You see murder and destruction on an unimaginable scale, but they see the spread of civilization, of Justice and Propriety, of Benefit for the universe. The death and destruction, these are unavoidable by-products of this one, supreme good.”
————
“When you grow up knowing that you deserve to be on top, that the lesser houses exist to serve your house’s glorious destiny, you take such things for granted. You’re born assuming that someone else is paying the cost of your life. It’s just the way things are. What happens during annexation—it’s a difference of degree, not a difference of kind.”

This story is driven by the relationships that our AI-fragment Breq forms. In the “then” timeline we see her attachment to Lieutenant Awn, a person who seems a bit different from her war- and class-obsessed peers who sneer at her lower-class upbringing and provincial accent — but her kindness and reason earns her a permanent place in the heart of supposedly non-human equipment/AI. And in the “now” timeline we see the now-alone Breq rescuing an officer she knew a thousand years ago (cryosuspension, if you need explanations), and we see how this rescue eventually leads to a tentative friendship that shakes up the former entitled jerk Seivarden into something of a decent human being.

Actually, Seivarden’s character growth was probably my favorite part of the story. It’s not easy to wake up after a battle and realize that a millennium has passed and everything has changed, and that you are completely alone, without the social standing you took for granted, not to mention people and culture (and as we learn later, even language). But then he learns to use his thinking muscles and is forced to reevaluate what he used to see as unchanging paradigms, raised in the world where his privilege supported him feeling extra-special. Not to say that his character growth does not veer a bit into the overdone territory — but he shows strength when it matters.

Still, a bit of crucial character growth happened off page, when it would have mattered to see more of it on page, and I’m a bit disappointed by that.
———

Is this book a bit heavy-handed in telegraphing its approach to the old sins of classicism, snobbery, colonialism and prejudice? Absolutely. Could it have had a touch more subtlety? I think so. Could it have integrated questions about gender in a smoother, less gimmicky way? You betcha*. Should more of Seivarden’s transformation from a jerk to a passable human being have happened on page? Of course — I think we needed to see much more of that. Could everyone have drunk less tea? I don’t know, maybe the book was sponsored by Lipton — not everyone’s cuppa.

* Apparently the elephant in the room is Breq’s use of “she” as a default regardless of gender, as Radchaai society has a gender less language and apparently does not distinguish people by gender or pay any attention to it. Gender discrimination is apparently one of the few sins Radch is not guilty of, and actually is pretty easy to get used to after a few pages. But it does seem a bit overdone — not in the idea but in neverending struggles of Breq to pick up cues in gendered societies. It’s been nineteen years, Breq, use your observational powers to read the cues!

But focus on the pronouns above all does serve as a reminder how obsessed with duality society is. And yet The Left Hand of Darkness did it better half a century ago. Good thing this book does not depend on this gimmick alone. And at least for me, it was the smallest part of the story.

But still, it does bring interesting ideas of collective mind and emergence of separate consciousnesses and identities from what was supposed to be the greater cohesive whole. Plus, I’m a sucker for a compelling AI story, and for all of my frustrations with Breq I enjoyed the journey she took me on, and I’m curious to see what kind of a team she can hopefully form with Seivarden in the future, given how good of an influence those two have been on each other, and intense loyalty that develops between the two, helping fix these two broken people just a bit.
————

I was struggling a bit with my final verdict, because with so many themes I can instantly think of books that did it better: Ursula K. Le Guin in The Left Hand of Darkness, Arkady Martine in her Teixcalaan duology, Martha Wells in her Murderbot series. And yet Leckie still succeeds in creating an interesting space opera that tackles important issues and makes me want to read more of it.

“If you’re going to do something that crazy, save it for when it’ll make a difference. But absent near-omniscience there’s no way to know when that is. You can only make your best approximate calculation. You can only make your throw and try to puzzle out the results afterward.”

Overall, 3.5 stars rounding up to 4. What can I say, I’m a sucker for Seivarden’s loyalty and redemption.

And I also have serious cravings for tea, the most important character in this book, hands down.

“It’s easy to say that if you were there you would have refused, that you would rather die than participate in the slaughter, but it all looks very different when it’s real, when the moment comes to choose.”

—————

Buddy read with carol, jade, Jessica and Stephen.

——————

Also posted on my blog.
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Dec 03, 2014 Lyn rated it liked it

Standing on the shoulders of giants, author Anne Leckie has produced a mature, post-modern sci-fi gem.

Coming out of the gates with her debut novel, but with a lifetime of science fiction knowledge building and percolating up to the top, Leckie hit a home run and, more accurately, won the science fiction triple crown by grabbing the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Arthur C. Clarke, as well as a host of other awards and nominations.

So what’s all the fuss about?

Linking influences from Ursula Le Guin, Fra ...more

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Feb 25, 2014 Chris Haught rated it did not like it

Shelves: scifi-fan-group, fof-reads, dnf, made-my-eyes-bleed, 2014-sffbc-challenge

Chucked at 10%. I should have known better. How many times have I seen all those awards listed in a blurb and been suckered into trying a book?

I'm just not doing it. Maybe it gets better, but no. I'm not getting trapped into losing a couple of months of my life because I'm determined to finish a China Miéville/Gene Wolfe-type experience. Maybe I'm not smart enough to grasp this genre.

Or more likely, I just don't give a damn. ...more

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Jul 31, 2016 Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller rated it liked it

I’ve been systematically devouring as many of these sci-fi series as I can get my hands on (fueled by James S.A. Corey, Ann Aguirre, Martha Wells, and Rachel Bach, to name a few), and I’d been saving Ancillary Justice for a rainy day. I was certain I was going to love it… but unfortunately it fell a little short of my expectations.

For the first third of the book I thought I was having an issue with my ability to concentrate. I found the writing really dense and it was often difficult to figure o I’ve been systematically devouring as many of these sci-fi series as I can get my hands on (fueled by James S.A. Corey, Ann Aguirre, Martha Wells, and Rachel Bach, to name a few), and I’d been saving Ancillary Justice for a rainy day. I was certain I was going to love it… but unfortunately it fell a little short of my expectations.

For the first third of the book I thought I was having an issue with my ability to concentrate. I found the writing really dense and it was often difficult to figure out what was happening. Sometimes rereading passages would help, but more often than not I felt like I was missing something. It distanced me from the story and made me feel disconnected from the characters. Around the 30% mark, it finally started to draw me in with a few action scenes and got better from there. By the time I finished, I was glad I’d read it, but holy cow that was a rocky start. My conservative rating is a reflection of that and the fact that the book lacked some depth.

The potential for political intrigue was one of my biggest motivators to keep reading. The dynamics were so interesting early on that I really thought it was going to expand into something profound. All the ingredients were there, they just didn’t get manipulated enough for any sort of payoff. It lacked a nefarious edge to really get me down and gritty with the story, so I came away feeling like I’d just read a whole lot of fluff (with potential).

I did have some positive takeaways: The book started with a great concept and maintained a strong voice throughout. It also boasts one of the more fascinating POVs I’ve come across (non-human, which was a delightful surprise). Those items alone saved it to a “I liked it” rating.

I’m kind of an outlier when compared to the mass majority of stellar ratings, but I do have a Goodreads friend who had similar issues with this book, but explained them a lot better [see his review]. He talked about his theory for it’s success based on people being fascinated by the various stylistic elements and I’m not ashamed to admit I’m one of those people – I really love when an author can show me something I’ve never seen before. But the rest of his points were spot-on with my impressions of this book (nice review!).

Recommendations: I’m not as wide read with sci-fi as I’d like to be (yet), but I’ve definitely read several I liked better than Ancillary Justice. Despite that, it’s still recommendable for its interesting concept, characters, and overall story. It’s not the first book I’d hand you in the genre, but it would certainly come up in conversation. Keep this one in mind after you’ve read my other sci-fi recs first. ;)

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.NikiHawkes.com

Other books you might like:

Perdition (Dred Chronicles, #1) by Ann Aguirre

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1) by James S.A. Corey

Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1) by Rachel Bach

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells

Beholder's Eye (Web Shifters, #1) by Julie E. Czerneda

...more

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Jun 07, 2014 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: transhumanism, space-opera, sci-fi, worldbuilding-sf

A very satisfying space opera, with characters that are very fascinating. Evil is strange, indeed, but the protagonist has a number of quirks that equal or even surpass her object of revenge.

Honestly, I had no problems with the gender labeling. The idea came across perfectly clear that sex had nothing to do with the story, and I appreciate the whole attempt for what it is. The fact that a whole society defaults to a "she" and doesn't find any grammatical desires to differentiate was refreshing a ...more

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Feb 13, 2017 Veronique rated it really liked it

Shelves: favourites, read2017, read2021

4.5 re -read (as good as the first)

Novels that have won literary awards as well as gained a huge following are always a bit daunting. Especially this one. Luckily, I ended up loving it :O)

Upon starting the book, I fairly quickly was reminded of The Left Hand of Darkness. It seems the author is a massive fan of LeGuin and Cherryh, fact which did help me quite a bit in realising what kind of story I was going into, one I was sure would be full of politics, psychology, and linguistics. Yes, this ma 4.5 re -read (as good as the first)

Novels that have won literary awards as well as gained a huge following are always a bit daunting. Especially this one. Luckily, I ended up loving it :O)

Upon starting the book, I fairly quickly was reminded of The Left Hand of Darkness. It seems the author is a massive fan of LeGuin and Cherryh, fact which did help me quite a bit in realising what kind of story I was going into, one I was sure would be full of politics, psychology, and linguistics. Yes, this may sound very dry and boring but in fact, when done well (looking at you, Cherryh), it becomes fascinating and compelling. Leckie offers us a mind boggling universe seen through the eyes of an ancillary, which increases the alienating effect even further. The narration follows two strands, unravelling key events slowly, which the reader has to put together piece by piece to find out what is happening, but also who is our main character. Breq is the driving force and a contradiction in terms, her thirst for revenge and justice at odds with her AI nature. Or are they? And is she a person after all?

The often cited ‘controversial’ element regarding this novel has to do with the author’s choice of gender. The Radch do not distinguish between them in any fashion, whether by language, dress code or mores, and so our protagonist refers to everyone in the feminine. Incidentally LeGuin did something similar but opted for the male pronouns. This really didn’t bother me and after a little while, I completely forgot about the cast’s sex, seeing everyone as 'neuter', to the point that when some of them are ‘revealed’ by interaction with other civilisations/cultures, it nearly came as a shock. I also came to realise that the way Leckie uses language is fundamental to her portrayal of this civilisation, and how we access it, whether on the very large scale or the individual one.

A thought-provoking read that will appeal to those interested in the issues of power, colonialism and identity. ...more

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Aug 13, 2015 Lata rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, auth-f, bipoc-actor, favourites, x2017-read, x2021-read

August 2020: Nothing really new to add to my previous thoughts, except that I could feel Breq's loneliness so well, and feel her pain. Breq proves that ships have favourites, and these relationships can trump all other orders. Interesting contrasting her fondness for Lieutenant Awn (and frustration with Sievarden) with Mercy of Kalr’s apparent lack of interest in her captain’s situation.

March 2017: I still love this book and actually enjoyed it from the beginning, since I knew what I was in for ...more

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Nov 29, 2016 DivaDiane SM rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, science-fiction, diane-s-meager-effort, sffbc-book-shelf, buddy-read-book-club-read

More like 4.5 stars. I love this book. The narration was excellent as well!

2nd read - 2021 - with SpecFic Buddy Reads. Well, sort of. Most of the group read it in August. And I in September. We plan to read the rest of the series too, so I’ll start on the next one immediately.

At any rate, I think I liked it even better the 2nd time. Being familiar with the world and the characters, and the narrator, I could pay more attention to the details of the story. I got more out of it this time.

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Mar 19, 2017 Cathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A re-read. A story of revenge.

“If that’s what you’re willing to do for someone you hate, what would you do for someone you love?”

Breq is willing to do quite a lot. A lot of subtle tones that I missed the first time around and almost missed again during my second read. A many layered narrative, where you have to peel off layers to get to the heart of it all. My favourite part is still the evolving relationship between Breq and Seivarden. And the parts of the story set on Ors. Good stuff and wort ...more

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Jun 23, 2015 Amanda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

2023 reread still 5 stars

2015 Original read:
This is a seriously cool book and completely deserving of all the awards it has picked up. One of my favorite Scifi reads ever.

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Apr 22, 2016 Viv JM rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-female, read-in-2016, science-fiction

I feel kind of bad for only giving this book 3 stars. It won loads of awards, and lots of my friends here on Goodreads rate it very highly. I do think it was interesting, intelligent and well written. However, I rate books purely on my enjoyment of them, and for some reason this book just didn't quite resonate with me. Ah well. ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Liam || Books 'n Beards rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, owned-books, favorites, bought-2014, 2015

New review (2021) here

Great read. Ancillary Sword can't get here fast enough.

Loved this, very well written - AI/ancillary as the POV was interesting, especially the whole pronoun thing. Basically the main character (and the main culture, for that matter) refer to everyone as "she"/"her"/etc, regardless of their gender, which was an absolute mindfuck. Having read it, I am still not 100% sure whether the characters I think were male were actually male, and I guess the point was that it didn't matt ...more

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Aug 30, 2014 John rated it liked it

The thing that really compelled me about this book was the parallel storylines -- the flashbacks of Justice of Toren in her full power, next to the present-day story of Breq trying to get by as a single person. Having a narrator with multiple bodies was really interesting, and allowed for some cool storytelling, and made it clear just how far Breq had fallen.

This juxtaposition was the driving force for the first 60% of the book, but unfortunately, at that point -- I'll remain vague to avoid spoi ...more

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Dec 12, 2013 Christina Pilkington rated it liked it

*3.5 stars

I can see why this book won so many awards. It is definitely attempting a lot of different things plot wise and structurally...at least as far as I have seen so far in the science fiction genre. There is of course the fact that most of the characters are referred to as "she" regardless of their physical gender. While this might be confusing for some readers, it wasn't that difficult for me to get used to. And in the context of the overall story, it made sense.

The story is also told fr ...more

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Dec 23, 2013 Lulu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, books-read-in-2014

I have been hearing about this book since its release – and even prior to it! There was a lot of hype around the release of this debut science fiction novel. Which is fair enough, given the unique premise it is based around – but we’ll get to that. This book, so far as I can see, has been featured on every single speculative fiction ”Best Books of 2013″ list I’ve come across so far – usually taking the number one spot, too. While Leckie has published some short fiction, she is a relative unknown ...more

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Apr 28, 2015 Dawn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, series-finished, audiobook

What a fascinating concept, the idea of a ship AI is definitely not a new one or having a captain linked directly to the ship but this notion of the ship having it's own body and in this case, more than one body, all with the same consciousness, who know so much about the people traveling with them, made for an intriguing story.

There were a couple things that bothered me enough to end up with a middling rating. The entire idea of having everyone phrased as a she no matter their gender for the p ...more

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Nov 09, 2013 Suzanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, hugo-2024

I liked the unique concepts - the split brain of the ship, the idea that gender is so unimportant that it doesn't even have a word (even though it bothered me not to be able to picture characters), and I liked the idea that a small act can make a difference. ...more

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Oct 07, 2019 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, audiobooks

Imagine if you had been part of a nearly omniscient hive mind to wake up one day and only be able to see what is directly in front of you, out of your one-and-only pair of eyes? That happens to Breq, an AI who once inhabited a ship and a battalion of crew and soldiers. We follow (default) “her” as she figures out the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other stuff whilst pursuing a valuable piece of equipment to help right some wrongs.

I found myself a bit distracted while listening to this as an audiobook ...more

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