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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I love this book more every time I read it. And what a book to read over the midterm elections, too.
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I am so mad with myself for waiting this long to finish this series.
Ancillary Sword is a worthy successor to the first book in the trilogy, Ancillary Justice. In some ways, it's actually better, but only because of the groundwork laid in Justice: there's not nearly as much worldbuilding to do since we already know about the Radch and Breq and Seivarden and the Lord of the Radch and what's coming next. But Leckie is consistent with her complex characters, her narrative that easily maps to our current world, sometimes in biting ways (the festival, for one example), and both the decisions that Breq makes and the reactions of the characters around her.
There are also aspects of the story that made me think about other types of large-scale novels (think universe-building instead of world-building). For example, the way that Breq thinks about the Radch and how it is (or is not) controlling its planets, or how Breq silently corrects anyone who refers to a planet as having had (prior to Radch control) one language or one religion. It's much more reasonable to think of other planets to have civilizations like our own than to imagine an actual planet where somehow only one religion exists among billions (or even millions) of people, or that they would somehow use exactly one language and that everyone would understand it. (The characters that make these assumptions, it's safe to say, are exactly like the kind of people in our world who do the same thing.)
While most of the story does seem to work as we'd expect the second part of a trilogy to - the main character faces a challenge, overcomes it, and rounds up more allies to prepare for the grand finale - there is virtually nothing in Ancillary Sword that suggests a final chapter is in the offing. I only assume there is because Ancillary Mercy is described as the final book in the trilogy. If anything, that makes Sword even better: no halfhearted battle that we know the bad people are going to win because there must be Something to make Our Heroes chase them down for a Grand Finale, but simply another story with the characters we know, continuing the major plot from the first book.
I should find out in a couple of days whether the series is written to be a trilogy or not ... and even if it is, it's always possible to write more books in a universe you've created, if you feel like doing so (or if your publisher really really wants you to). Either way, this should be on your reading list just like Justice was.
Spoiler
and the other Lord, and the other LordsThere are also aspects of the story that made me think about other types of large-scale novels (think universe-building instead of world-building). For example, the way that Breq thinks about the Radch and how it is (or is not) controlling its planets, or how Breq silently corrects anyone who refers to a planet as having had (prior to Radch control) one language or one religion. It's much more reasonable to think of other planets to have civilizations like our own than to imagine an actual planet where somehow only one religion exists among billions (or even millions) of people, or that they would somehow use exactly one language and that everyone would understand it. (The characters that make these assumptions, it's safe to say, are exactly like the kind of people in our world who do the same thing.)
While most of the story does seem to work as we'd expect the second part of a trilogy to - the main character faces a challenge, overcomes it, and rounds up more allies to prepare for the grand finale - there is virtually nothing in Ancillary Sword that suggests a final chapter is in the offing. I only assume there is because Ancillary Mercy is described as the final book in the trilogy. If anything, that makes Sword even better: no halfhearted battle that we know the bad people are going to win because there must be Something to make Our Heroes chase them down for a Grand Finale, but simply another story with the characters we know, continuing the major plot from the first book.
I should find out in a couple of days whether the series is written to be a trilogy or not ... and even if it is, it's always possible to write more books in a universe you've created, if you feel like doing so (or if your publisher really really wants you to). Either way, this should be on your reading list just like Justice was.
I keep expecting these books to have more Plot, because they have the set up for a space war adventure. But it's more about lots of little plots in small improvements to living conditions and cultural differences
adventurous
challenging
medium-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
This book carries the common burden of the second books of trilogies, having to grow the characters and advance the story setting up the finale in the third book, so it is not as great as the first book, but it is still very good. Leckie's very unusual choice of gender in her storytelling is still an interesting artifact, especially when scenes require her to change to languages that do require more traditional gender assignment. The complexity of the imperial civil war grows, with the hero having no way to tell who is on what side or why. I am glad that I read this book, and I look forward to reading the third in the set.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
No
phenomenal!!! slowed down quite a lot in the middle but wrapped up very nicely. i love a chekhov’s gun! I LOVE SEIVARDEN SO MUCH I WISH SO MUCH THIS WAS A ROMANCE but alas… oh well. ann leckie i am so impressed with your mind
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated