Ancillary Justice

 

Author:  Ann Leckie

Begun: April 24th 2025

Finished: April 30th 2025

Type: Ebook on Libby

Rating: 10/10

"On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.  Now, an act of treachery has dropped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance."

So do you pronounce it ANcillary or anCILlary?  

I pronounce it ANcillary.  My husband pronounces it anCILlary.  Two countries divided by a common language.  

It took me freaking FOREVER to figure out what was going on.  First of all, gender signifiers don't work the same.  There are males and females...but everyone in Radch is referred to as "She" and "Her".  I loved it.  It was bloody confusing at first, because there's no hand-holding in this book.  You're dumped in there and left to figure out what the hell is going on all by yourself.  If you prefer a more gentle introduction to world-building, this may not be a book for you.  I, personally, LOVED it.  Loved it so so much.  

Further, after taking a few chapters to figure out that, no, all the characters aren't female, then you spend time figuring out, "Ok, so *which* are male and which are female?"  After taking a while to kind of get a handle on that slippery bar of soap, then you have to figure out WTH is going on in the story.  What is happening? And why?  

I have to say, by the end of the book, I didn't give a damn what gender people were.  It was helpful to have that information in the beginning as it enabled me to visualize the character in my mind.  However, by the time I reached the end of the book it was kind of irritating to know the gender - it got in the way.  It definitely made me ponder on male and female gender stereotypes and how the author may have shown some inherent biases and how the reader (ie, me) viewed the characters with a biased lens.  Excellent food for thought.  Very much enjoyed that aspect of the book.  

Anyway, once the gender thing was done there was several chapters of grappling with WTH was the trajectory of the book?  What is the story? Where is it going?  There were a good couple of moments where I gasped out loud and had to put the book down and gaze into space for a minute before diving back in.  

This is definitely a book I needed to read rather than listen to, so I'm rather thrilled the ebook came in first on Libby rather than the audiobook.  Like The Goblin Emperor I suspect I will pick up more of the nuances of the story upon re-reading, and both the audiobook and re-reading the ebook will come in handy there.  I'm looking forward to the audiobook simply so I know how to pronounce the damn Radch names.  

Aaaaanyway, I finished it last night and immediately grabbed the sequel on Libby.  Thrilled that it was available right away.  

I LOVED One Esk and Justice of Toren.  I loved Lieutenant Awn.  I have mixed emotions about Skaaiat. I HATED Seivarden at first and was really surprised at the journey my emotions went on in regards to that character.  Anaander Mianaai was the boogeyman under the bed that just sort of...fizzled.  Not that I'm mad about that.  Relieved, more like. 

Very much looking forward to the next book.