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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Disappointing. After the astounding Ancillary trilogy, this book seemed to lack everything those books excelled in. Far too much waffle, characters painstakingly explaining the plot to each other, often repetitively. The two stars are for some pleasingly original ideas that were let down by the rest of the book. A real shame, I wonder what happened here.
Another stellar novel from Leckie! I walked into this read thinking I was getting into an extension of her Imperial Radch Trilogy, which I loved, but what I got was this amazing bildungsroman that had one of the most heartfelt, rewarding endings I've read in a while.
Reading this has confirmed for me, I do not have a political bone in my body. The twists and turns of reasoning that the characters make are so convoluted at times! While I can see the internal logic once it's pointed out, I do not think that way at all. Still, I enjoyed the story. I do really like the way Leckie plays with gender identity in these books.
I really enjoyed Leckie's "Ancillary" trilogy and I knew I would enjoy this novel. It's set in the same universe but with a different set of characters. You don't need to have read the "Ancillary" series to understand this one, but it will add a few extra layers of background knowledge if you have read the trilogy.
Ingray Aughskold has been pitted against her foster brother her whole life to see who will deserve to be their mother's heir. Ingray launches a scheme to get a prisoner out of "Compassionate Removal" and help her find some artifacts that might elevate her in the eyes of her mother. Things go wrong from the very first, and Ingray finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and squabble between nations over control of the government and the gate systems that allow for interstellar travel.
I really love Leckie's world building and character development. Highly recommended.
Ingray Aughskold has been pitted against her foster brother her whole life to see who will deserve to be their mother's heir. Ingray launches a scheme to get a prisoner out of "Compassionate Removal" and help her find some artifacts that might elevate her in the eyes of her mother. Things go wrong from the very first, and Ingray finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and squabble between nations over control of the government and the gate systems that allow for interstellar travel.
I really love Leckie's world building and character development. Highly recommended.
Ann Leckie returns to the same universe as her marvellous 'Ancillary' series, but sets this satisfying stand-alone novel far outside Radch space. Unlike its space opera forebears, 'Provenance' is a much more compressed story focused on Ingray Aughskold, a protagonist seeking the approval of a parent through an ill-advised plan to sneak a disgraced familial rival out of prison in an effort to embarrass the rest of his family. As most ill-advised plans do, Ingray's quickly goes off the rails, as a case of mistaken identity and the fallout of a decades-old alien heist wrest the turn of events from her control. What starts as a familial drama quickly evolves into a cultural conflict over the very provenance of the cultural claims upon which identities are based. Ingray herself is a compelling character whose strengths and weaknesses read as refreshingly realistic and charming for a protagonist in the hero mold. Written with a great deal of humor and humanity, Leckie has produced a fun book that doesn't aspire to the same grandiose heights as Ancillary did in challenging the order of the universe, but still draws plenty of questions for how we define our collective selves and draw borders with others.
This is my first Ann Leckie novel and I really liked it and will read more. I liked the characters and the universe. Good audiobook too.
It’s a book with a heart in such a good place, and a cast that you just want to hug forever and let them marathon trashy movies together and buy each other crappy intergalactic souvenirs. It’s also a book about families, and chosen identities, and being a decent person. Also, SUPER CUTE DID I MENTION?
Featuring but not limited to:
-- Growing up in a political household
-- Growing up a chronic Hufflepuff in a political household
-- Crappy (also very likely fake) souvenirs as religious foundation of a society
-- Alien fish people who can’t human for shit but care a whole goddamn lot
-- Tragically misplaced Noble and Civilized Raadchai person who just Wants A Cup of Tea and suffers among Barbarians
-- Multiple fake identities
-- A ship full of crooks (if you're a crook and I'm a crook then who the fuck is flying the plane?)
-- Spider mechs that are basically like sooties froms Spirited Away except somewhat more useful
-- Respectful gender gimmicks that for a change don’t blow your brain completely
-- Double dating
-- Walking into and out of kidnapping on both ends of the process
-- Murder mysteries
-- Noodle shops so good you set alerts for when they are open
So, if any of this appeals to you, read and enjoy! For I sure did :)
I would say it’s more accessible than the Ancillary books, overall, and much cozier -- yes, it takes the coziness up another notch, cross-cultural murder mysteries and diplomatic maneuvering and all -- and yet I would probably advise against using it as a gateway into Ann Leckie. Mostly because having a look at Raadchai after you’ve gotten to know them from a trilogy set heavily in Raach space makes their cameo here so much more hilarious. And, I guess, the main trilogy explains the set-up with aliens and intergalactic treaty better. So I’d say at least read Ancillary Justice first, if you really want to jump the queue with Provenance, and then enjoy the rest.
Featuring but not limited to:
-- Growing up in a political household
-- Growing up a chronic Hufflepuff in a political household
-- Crappy (also very likely fake) souvenirs as religious foundation of a society
-- Alien fish people who can’t human for shit but care a whole goddamn lot
-- Tragically misplaced Noble and Civilized Raadchai person who just Wants A Cup of Tea and suffers among Barbarians
-- Multiple fake identities
-- A ship full of crooks (if you're a crook and I'm a crook then who the fuck is flying the plane?)
-- Spider mechs that are basically like sooties froms Spirited Away except somewhat more useful
-- Respectful gender gimmicks that for a change don’t blow your brain completely
-- Double dating
-- Walking into and out of kidnapping on both ends of the process
-- Murder mysteries
-- Noodle shops so good you set alerts for when they are open
So, if any of this appeals to you, read and enjoy! For I sure did :)
I would say it’s more accessible than the Ancillary books, overall, and much cozier -- yes, it takes the coziness up another notch, cross-cultural murder mysteries and diplomatic maneuvering and all -- and yet I would probably advise against using it as a gateway into Ann Leckie. Mostly because having a look at Raadchai after you’ve gotten to know them from a trilogy set heavily in Raach space makes their cameo here so much more hilarious. And, I guess, the main trilogy explains the set-up with aliens and intergalactic treaty better. So I’d say at least read Ancillary Justice first, if you really want to jump the queue with Provenance, and then enjoy the rest.
I am completely hooked on this universe of endlessly confusing planetary customs and gender pronouns, and can happily read many, many pages without fully understanding what's going on. That's good because this book does not stick the landing, but the characters are charming and the premise interesting enough that I don't care.
Disappointing after reading Ancillary Justice, AND it takes place AFTER the Ancillary series, which I didn't realize until I was a ways into the book, which was a pain because I am still in the midst of reading that series. Provenance felt small and unrealistic. All the scrapes Ingray gets into and out of became too far-fetched after a while. The pacing was slow. The entire premise is even questionable because how could Ingray NOT realize the rather obvious issues with her plan from the outset?? I did continue to enjoy the way that Leckie plays with and expands notions of gender. I counted 5 or 6 distinct gender pronouns throughout. All in all, I'm happy to stick with the Ancillary series, which is phenomenal.