Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

22 reviews

scifi_rat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Genocide, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Bullying, Blood, Rape, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

violerwolf's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I absolutely love the world Leckie has crafted. While this book feels more like an interlude between the main conflicts, the characters, the prose, and the politics more than compensate for the less urgent tone of this book. So excited to read the third.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Colonisation, Slavery, and Infidelity

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Rape

Minor: Medical content, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Death, and Gun violence

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ANCILLARY SWORD follows Breq to the station where the sister of the lieutenant she murdered lives. The lieutenant served her when she was a ship, but now Breq has only one body. Knowing that the lieutenant's sister would not welcome her, she nevertheless makes an offer intended to provide material support and to assuage whatever level of guilt she quite understandably feels, even after all this time. As a sequel, this means that the stated point of the book (at the outset) is to wrap up this obligation which was left hanging from ANCILLARY JUSTICE. Once Breq arrives on the station, a new storyline unfolds relating to abuse of some of the colonized people. She pursues and obtains a small but very important piece of justice. Along the way the narrative spends a lot of time showing the way that the Radch Empire's ideals of fairness and justice can still allow for quite a bit of unfairness and injustice when people play fast and loose with precisely whom is a real citizen, and therefore whom is due basic protections and rights. 

I love the way this series approaches identity, holding space for individuality and autonomy even though Breq is the last body of a collective identity which cycled through hundreds or thousands of bodies over her long existence. It seems as though this is part of why she cares about individual's rights to their own bodies so much, she had a duty of care and a sense of well-being tied up in her many bodies when she had them. In her strange existence as the last of her own ancillaries she is turning that care outward even more than when she just had charge of her ancillaries and crew.

Very importantly for the middle book of a trilogy, this has a complete storyline that could stand alone and be very comprehensible to someone who hadn't read the first book. Enough is explained about how the ancillaries work that even though Breq's backstory was told in the ANCILLARY JUSTICE, there's enough here for ANICLLARY SWORD to make sense without those specifics. Because of the way key details are explained towards the end of the book, to a new reader this could easily feel like the solution to a mystery, just as it does to most of the people around Breq. 

The worldbuilding once again is complex and robust, but it's focused on people in a way that feels very accessible. I prefer soft sci-fi, and while I don't know if this technically counts, I do know that I've made it through two books so far without being forced to learn the technobabble for how the space travel gates work, so I'm happy with it.

I have some guesses as to what the third book could focus on, the only thing I know for sure is that breck leaves the station in the end, something I don't consider to really be a spoiler as her one constant is travel. Wherever she goes now and what happens because of the people she got to know in ancillary sword the third book is likely to deal with the Emperor's crisis of identity that is brewing in the background (and occasionally the foreground) of this book

I want to know how the Emperor's identity crisis will resolve (or not), really I want to know what Breq will do next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, Xenophobia, Slavery, Trafficking, Blood, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Child abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Sexism, Rape, and Sexual assault

bleepbloop's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

tiredcreature's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Deportation, Addiction, Slavery, Rape, and Trafficking

black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Racism, and Police brutality

Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, and Child abuse

Minor: Addiction

directorpurry's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: War

meliemelo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

An excellent follow-up to one of my favourite reads this year. I absolutely LOVED the not-subtle anti-colonialist message and the care the author took not to fall into certain traps. I thought I'd miss the flashbacks but the book works really well as it is, especially as we still get the "multiple self" sense from Breq, although differently this time. Objectively, the pacing may not have been optimal but it didn't bother me.

I cannot wait until my reserved copy of the third book arrives at the library, hopefully very soon! And I will definitely add this trilogy to my "must own" list!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Addiction, Slavery, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kellkie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Domestic abuse and Bullying

sofipitch's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

I do feel like this suffered a bit from middle book syndrome where it is setting up a lot for the finale. It still manages to feel like it's own book though. I'm just obsessed with the concept of the Lord of the Radch and how that will be dealt with. I cannot help thinking she is such a good representation of American politics, two sides in conflict with each other yet still the same, still complicit in it's colonialism. I was also starting to think Breq had too much of an outside saviour role but I think the book addressed it well.

Tisarwatt is babygirl. I did miss Seivarden, she wasn't in this as much. I also loved Translator Dlique, a shame they weren't in more of the book (<- my non smart person opinions)

Also adding this book to the ever growing list of "contemporary sci fi that features last minute amateur brain surgery". Is everyone okay?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Xenophobia

Minor: Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Grief