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alawrence's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
What a wonderful and bizarre novel. Utterly unique in premise and execution. Never read anything like it. Phenomenal!! 4.75/5 stars
cecile87's review against another edition
3.0
I didn’t have trouble with “she” being the default pronoun, and I did enjoy the last third more than the rest. At times, I couldn’t follow—mostly because I’ve been putting down and picking up the book since May 2023. I kept picking up other books to read and I have to keep up with my book club’s picks. All the exotic names and histories got away from me. The summations towards the end helped me pull it together.
Murderbot, one of my favorite series, was evoked by some people here. I just might move on to the next in this trilogy for that reason—Breq did make me think of Murderbot.
As for the premise questioned by some here—revenge on a handful of uncountable cloned tyrants—the truth is that life and revenge and politics are messy. You do what you can to mitigate evilness. You do it so that you can feel good about yourself—that you didn’t roll over and let evil go unaccountable. I think of our current politics in the US. There are many would-be tyrants waiting in the wings no matter what happens to the one who inspired the insurrection against democracy here. I do my small part, because I’m an idealist and to be complacent would be horrible.
What’s missing here in the reviews I’ve read, and it was more subtle than anything, is the reverence given to darker skin colors. Skiaat was described early on as darker. Somewhere in the first third there was some mention of darker skin having more status. And much later, or I noticed it later, is that Breq is in a darker-skinned body.
Unfortunately, I guess the movie makers, using a Natalie Portman, decided to go with a white-bodied actor. Too bad.
In summary, I found this story interesting enough to finish. The notion of an unknowable number of tyrant clones fighting each other fascinating. It held my interest and I did try to make the best of it by plowing on to the end. Can’t wait to read the next Murderbot, however.
Murderbot, one of my favorite series, was evoked by some people here. I just might move on to the next in this trilogy for that reason—Breq did make me think of Murderbot.
As for the premise questioned by some here—revenge on a handful of uncountable cloned tyrants—the truth is that life and revenge and politics are messy. You do what you can to mitigate evilness. You do it so that you can feel good about yourself—that you didn’t roll over and let evil go unaccountable. I think of our current politics in the US. There are many would-be tyrants waiting in the wings no matter what happens to the one who inspired the insurrection against democracy here. I do my small part, because I’m an idealist and to be complacent would be horrible.
What’s missing here in the reviews I’ve read, and it was more subtle than anything, is the reverence given to darker skin colors. Skiaat was described early on as darker. Somewhere in the first third there was some mention of darker skin having more status. And much later, or I noticed it later, is that Breq is in a darker-skinned body.
Unfortunately, I guess the movie makers, using a Natalie Portman, decided to go with a white-bodied actor. Too bad.
In summary, I found this story interesting enough to finish. The notion of an unknowable number of tyrant clones fighting each other fascinating. It held my interest and I did try to make the best of it by plowing on to the end. Can’t wait to read the next Murderbot, however.
pyrimatos's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.25
grahamclements's review against another edition
5.0
After reading about all the awards Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice had accumulated, I just had to read it. It won the 2014 Nebula, Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke awards for best science fiction novel. I was also intrigued by it being told from the viewpoint of an artificial intelligence.
The novel’s main character is an ancillary, a human body controlled by a colossal starship, the Justice of Toren. The starship is part of the Radch empire, whose main quest is to invade other civilisations and incorporate them into the Radch empire. They rely on human greed to control the civilisations they colonise and incorporate aspects of their religions and cultures into the Radch empire.
The novel is set thousands of years in the future and begins with an ancillary known as Breq on a quest on an isolated ice planet. She seeks a special weapon to kill the leader of the Radch, Anaader Mianaai. While on the planet, Breq rescues a former comrade Seivarden, who had become a drunk and a thief, who then reluctantly accompanies Breq on her quest.
Extended flashbacks take us back nineteen years when Breq was connected and controlled by her starship. In alternating chapters we find out why Breq wants to kill Anaader Mianaai, a feat that seems impossible, or at least pointless, as Anaader Mianaai has multiple bodies in many locations over her huge empire.
An interesting thematic device in the novel is that the Radchaai do not distinguish people by gender. Every sex is referred to as she. This has the reader trying to work out, along with Breq, whether a character is a he or a she. To aid in her quest, Breq assumes the identity of a non-Radchaai. She worries her true identity will be revealed if she incorrectly refers to a male as a she.
When Breq is still part of the Justice of Toren each unit is privy to the thoughts and actions of the others, so the story is often told from multiple ancillary unit viewpoints. The jumping from the mind of one ancillary to the next is handled very well by the author.
Breq is a very believable creation. The novel is written in first person so it is all spent in Breq’s mind. As an ancillary her emotions are kept in check. If ordered to kill she complies without hesitation. Breq makes no moral judgements about the Radch and the ruthless way they kill those who resist assimilation. But Breq is loyal, and when that loyalty is destroyed she decides to act.
The story is a suspenseful slow build. It is more of a mystery novel than an action or thriller novel. It is full of detail as the AI observes the world around it and decides how to interact with it, but not in a robotic way, as Breq has been observing and interacting with humans for hundreds of years. She is no Data or Seven of Nine. She is much more real and complex than they are.
Ancillary Justice is an intelligent novel for readers that want to engage with and think about their science fiction. It is Anne Leckie’s first novel.
The novel’s main character is an ancillary, a human body controlled by a colossal starship, the Justice of Toren. The starship is part of the Radch empire, whose main quest is to invade other civilisations and incorporate them into the Radch empire. They rely on human greed to control the civilisations they colonise and incorporate aspects of their religions and cultures into the Radch empire.
The novel is set thousands of years in the future and begins with an ancillary known as Breq on a quest on an isolated ice planet. She seeks a special weapon to kill the leader of the Radch, Anaader Mianaai. While on the planet, Breq rescues a former comrade Seivarden, who had become a drunk and a thief, who then reluctantly accompanies Breq on her quest.
Extended flashbacks take us back nineteen years when Breq was connected and controlled by her starship. In alternating chapters we find out why Breq wants to kill Anaader Mianaai, a feat that seems impossible, or at least pointless, as Anaader Mianaai has multiple bodies in many locations over her huge empire.
An interesting thematic device in the novel is that the Radchaai do not distinguish people by gender. Every sex is referred to as she. This has the reader trying to work out, along with Breq, whether a character is a he or a she. To aid in her quest, Breq assumes the identity of a non-Radchaai. She worries her true identity will be revealed if she incorrectly refers to a male as a she.
When Breq is still part of the Justice of Toren each unit is privy to the thoughts and actions of the others, so the story is often told from multiple ancillary unit viewpoints. The jumping from the mind of one ancillary to the next is handled very well by the author.
Breq is a very believable creation. The novel is written in first person so it is all spent in Breq’s mind. As an ancillary her emotions are kept in check. If ordered to kill she complies without hesitation. Breq makes no moral judgements about the Radch and the ruthless way they kill those who resist assimilation. But Breq is loyal, and when that loyalty is destroyed she decides to act.
The story is a suspenseful slow build. It is more of a mystery novel than an action or thriller novel. It is full of detail as the AI observes the world around it and decides how to interact with it, but not in a robotic way, as Breq has been observing and interacting with humans for hundreds of years. She is no Data or Seven of Nine. She is much more real and complex than they are.
Ancillary Justice is an intelligent novel for readers that want to engage with and think about their science fiction. It is Anne Leckie’s first novel.
abigail_adel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mitskacir's review against another edition
4.0
This read was very confusing at times (probably made more so because my partner and I read this aloud together, and often had to clarify to the listener if something was spoken as dialogue or inner commentary), but I was so excited by the overall conceit that I accept the confusion as mostly coming from the unfamiliarity of the concept. The main character is the AI of a the space ship Justice of Toren - what is unique is that this AI occupies thousands of "human" bodies. This allowed the author to write from multiple perspectives at once, in some ones an embodiment of an omniscient narrator, and created an extremely novel reading experience. Furthermore, her exclusive use of the pronouns "she/her/hers" (regardless of the gender of the character) was a subtle but intriguing reading experience (this reminded me of Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, although she exclusively used male pronouns for nonbinary characters. I find Leckie's use of pronounds more interesting). I found myself envisioning the majority of the characters as women for this reason, even when we were explicitly told otherwise. But most of the characters' genders are never revealed, and this gave me a lot of freedom to imaging the characters based on their personalities alone. I was honestly amazed how much pronouns influence what I am able to imagine. We started reading the 2nd book right away.
kendylldrilling's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
teamaker's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
4.25
arash's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
ancillary justice is heavy on themes of identity and gender, what it means to be "oneself" and how gender is performative, dictating how one navigates their interactions with self and others. although some moments were confusing at first, as the world building progresses, the unique choices of the narrative really stand out and are effective at creating intensity and suspense.