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grahamclements's review against another edition
4.0
Ancillary Mercy is the third and final novel in Ann Leckie’s award winning Imperial Radch series. The novels are about the adventures of Breq an Ancillary connected to a ship that was destroyed. An Ancillary is a human who has been turned into an AI and has their consciousness connected to a ship. They can access its data and see and hear what all other Ancillaries are experiencing. They will do whatever the ship’s captain commands them to do.
The third novel starts where the second novel finished. Breq is still the nominated fleet commander of the Athoek system and is located on its space station. She is trying to fix the station’s undergarden area which was damaged in the previous novel, as well as fix the station’s complex politics. She has to deal with the agendas of an uncooperative system governor and power hungry religious leader.
Her attempts at fixing the station are interrupted when an envoy from the all-conquering Presger arrives to survey humans and to see whether they have broken the “treaty” between the two races. The envoy’s arrival is then complicated by unknown warships appearing in the system.
This novel is more about Breq’s attempt to create a more merciful local system where even the AIs, like the ships and station, get to decide their own fates. She wants them to have the choices that she now has as an Ancillary who has been cut off from her destroyed ship. She also wants the indigenous population of Athoek to control their future.
One of the most intriguing features of the novels is the fact that Breq cannot differentiate between female and male, so she refers to every character as “she”, which creates a viewpoint character who does not bring gender into the power dynamics between the characters she deals with. Leckie leaves it to the reader to add genders to characters if they want to.
I very much enjoyed this novel as it attempted to bring the series to a conclusion, but there were still plenty of loose ends at its conclusion for a fourth novel to explore. It’s probably not as good as the first two novels, as the first was huge on world building, and the second was more about Breq attempting to redefine herself, but still an excellent read.
The third novel starts where the second novel finished. Breq is still the nominated fleet commander of the Athoek system and is located on its space station. She is trying to fix the station’s undergarden area which was damaged in the previous novel, as well as fix the station’s complex politics. She has to deal with the agendas of an uncooperative system governor and power hungry religious leader.
Her attempts at fixing the station are interrupted when an envoy from the all-conquering Presger arrives to survey humans and to see whether they have broken the “treaty” between the two races. The envoy’s arrival is then complicated by unknown warships appearing in the system.
This novel is more about Breq’s attempt to create a more merciful local system where even the AIs, like the ships and station, get to decide their own fates. She wants them to have the choices that she now has as an Ancillary who has been cut off from her destroyed ship. She also wants the indigenous population of Athoek to control their future.
One of the most intriguing features of the novels is the fact that Breq cannot differentiate between female and male, so she refers to every character as “she”, which creates a viewpoint character who does not bring gender into the power dynamics between the characters she deals with. Leckie leaves it to the reader to add genders to characters if they want to.
I very much enjoyed this novel as it attempted to bring the series to a conclusion, but there were still plenty of loose ends at its conclusion for a fourth novel to explore. It’s probably not as good as the first two novels, as the first was huge on world building, and the second was more about Breq attempting to redefine herself, but still an excellent read.
sonofstdavid's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
mitskacir's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good extension of the second book and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. For some reason, I had less of an attention span for this one, and got confused and disconnected from the story at certain points. The first book was definitely the best in the series, and it's probably not necessary to read the other two, but I don't regret reading the whole thing.
seriuzbiznus's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
solhibou's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
andrew_matteson's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
genorgana's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful, expansive and rewarding ending to a solid series of books.
It’s my favorite of the three because it really makes the most of what the first two books laid out, both in character beats and in world building.
It’s my favorite of the three because it really makes the most of what the first two books laid out, both in character beats and in world building.
outcolder's review against another edition
4.0
More light-hearted than the first two in the series. I had expected the other side of the Ghost Gate to be filled with space-wrecks; I had expected various conflicting versions of the Tyrant to be appearing in different bodies... but it was still great, very exciting.
l1ndz7's review against another edition
5.0
What an amazing sci-fi trilogy 🥹🥰 I love the “found family” trope, how the AI were the good guys, and just the space opera-ness of this. It was so much fun and Breq is easily one of my favorite non-human-but significant-beings I’ve ever read about!!!
kivt's review against another edition
3.0
A pretty satisfying ending to the series and a really solid final chapter, but perhaps a bit lacking as an individual book. Part of my problem was that it'd been long enough since I read the 2nd book that I couldn't quite remember a lot of important details going into the 3rd. I only finally felt I'd caught up as the book was ending. Still, it was an obsessively good read and I'm sad it's over. I'd read an entire book just about Presger Translator Zeiat's shenanigans around the station.