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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
This is definitely a middle chapter-- despite the bold ending of the last novel, this one takes a surprising amount of time to get going, and then when it ends, it lacks the kind of big reveal of the new stakes that the last book had. In short, it feels pretty weird as a reading experience.
That said, there's still a lot to like in this-- Leckie seems to mostly let go of the gender-and-identity themes of the first book and dig more deeply into questions of colonialism and slavery in this book. Maybe strangely, that doesn't concern the ethics of ancilaries much, but instead deals with the way the Radch interact with the races they've assimilated. There are lots of smart insights into these relationships that develop in strange dimensions, like the role of antique tea sets in the prestige economy. It's more grounded than some of the other elements in Leckie's story, but no less clear sighted.
This has some tropes from the first book as well-- Leckie likes to introduce a character as being out of sorts with the narrator and then bring her to civil manners- the same progression we saw with Seivarden in the first book recurs with a couple characters here. It's an odd tic, but it gives the relationships a recognizable shape, which I think helps the books along.
And if you're a genre reader only, well, there's some intriguing stuff here, about the ghost case and an escalation of things with the alien big bads, which I guess will have to play out in the third novel in this trilogy? Really, it makes me wonder if Leckie will even try to wrap things up in that third book, or if we'll see more books in this Radch universe.
That said, there's still a lot to like in this-- Leckie seems to mostly let go of the gender-and-identity themes of the first book and dig more deeply into questions of colonialism and slavery in this book. Maybe strangely, that doesn't concern the ethics of ancilaries much, but instead deals with the way the Radch interact with the races they've assimilated. There are lots of smart insights into these relationships that develop in strange dimensions, like the role of antique tea sets in the prestige economy. It's more grounded than some of the other elements in Leckie's story, but no less clear sighted.
This has some tropes from the first book as well-- Leckie likes to introduce a character as being out of sorts with the narrator and then bring her to civil manners- the same progression we saw with Seivarden in the first book recurs with a couple characters here. It's an odd tic, but it gives the relationships a recognizable shape, which I think helps the books along.
And if you're a genre reader only, well, there's some intriguing stuff here, about the ghost case and an escalation of things with the alien big bads, which I guess will have to play out in the third novel in this trilogy? Really, it makes me wonder if Leckie will even try to wrap things up in that third book, or if we'll see more books in this Radch universe.
2/5
the writing for this book was not bad, but it was the plot that was disappointing. i think part of the reason why i didnt like this book was bc of my own expectations. i thought the world/scale would expand, given what happened at the end of the last book, but that did not happen. staying in this one location and dealing with its issues wasnt exciting, compared to the other MAJOR conflict we know is going on.
i think this book also suffers from a lack of seivarden. her and breq’s relationship was so interesting. seivarden takes a step back, and the plot/characters in this new planet can’t make up for her absence. i do think it also helps that breq had a much clearer goal in the first book, and the flashbacks were great two. my criticism of us not getting enough of breq dealing with being a former ancillary still stands, but it we did get more in book #1. now that im listing this stuff out, book 1 was just overall more interesting
the writing for this book was not bad, but it was the plot that was disappointing. i think part of the reason why i didnt like this book was bc of my own expectations. i thought the world/scale would expand, given what happened at the end of the last book, but that did not happen. staying in this one location and dealing with its issues wasnt exciting, compared to the other MAJOR conflict we know is going on.
i think this book also suffers from a lack of seivarden. her and breq’s relationship was so interesting. seivarden takes a step back, and the plot/characters in this new planet can’t make up for her absence. i do think it also helps that breq had a much clearer goal in the first book, and the flashbacks were great two. my criticism of us not getting enough of breq dealing with being a former ancillary still stands, but it we did get more in book #1. now that im listing this stuff out, book 1 was just overall more interesting
challenging
reflective
tense
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
This was so different from the first book in the series, but still so great in it's own way.
It's much slower paced (as many others have mentioned, there's a lot of tea drinking) and instead of a revenge-driven action plot, it's more of a reflective cultural analysis looking at colonisation, class differences, and justice.
I was very surprised to find myself crying at the end of this. It snuck up on me!
It's much slower paced (as many others have mentioned, there's a lot of tea drinking) and instead of a revenge-driven action plot, it's more of a reflective cultural analysis looking at colonisation, class differences, and justice.
I was very surprised to find myself crying at the end of this. It snuck up on me!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Addiction
I ended up being more confused than I wanted to be.
I'm still not a fan of this series. I thought I would try the second one now that we're past the (over) hyping of the first one. The story here kind of drags along and doesn't even have the sense of vengeance the first one did. I can't really feel anything for Breq, the main character. She says she's emotionless, but showing that just leaves the book kind of dead-feeling. There were a couple interesting plot threads that never really went anywhere. I hope they are addressed in the third book, but I'm not sure if I'll read it.
I liked Ancillary Justice enough to want to read this sequel. This story is much slower and quieter than the first one. It starts off well but then I found myself waiting for something to happen. It felt like a short story spread out into a novel. Part of what made the first novel so interesting was how it conveyed the experience of the ship, Justice of Toren, being many places and many bodies at once and then losing all but one of them. There's no such journey in this story. I almost wish it was told from the point of view of Lt. Tisarwat, who is the character in this story that really undergoes great personal upheaval and has more of a character arc than the main character. It wasn't bad but felt like a set-up for the next book and wasn't as compelling as the first one.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
A fine sci-fi book in its own right with one of the best narrator characters in the genre. However, the stakes were built up so high in the first book and very little progresses on that front here. It's like those one-off episodes in shows like Deep Space 9 or the X-files where the characters have the main story arc in the background while they get into some unrelated adventure.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
For the first 80% of this book I’m wondering “why does any of this matter?” And then in the last bit I’m like “Ooooh sure, yep, now it makes sense”. Unfortunately for me, that meant I didn’t know why I should care for most of the book and therefore kind of didn’t. But I was engaged enough to see how it would all come together and I thought it did so in a clever way.