Reviews with content warning for Mass/school shootings - Ancillary Justice

Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

8 reviews

jjjreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

This did, in fact, live up to the hype. Not only is this book having a conversation with Le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness", there was a lot about Leckie's writing that reminded me of Le Guin. This is mostly in how she balances heavily wanting to discuss themes and concepts, with plot and characters, created a well rounded book. The only big difference I would say is Leckie doesn't have the occasional line that leaves you on the floor like Le Guin, but we can't all be her. The discussions of gender and culture were really interesting, taking LHoD further than it went.
What I found really interesting was the topic of selfhood throughout the book. As Breq is one part of a larger AI she often toggles between seeing herself as an individual vs seeing herself as part of a whole. The fact that that whole is a ship in an expansionist empire. I'm going to refrain from talking about the other character who is built like this, as it contains spoilers, but what was especially interesting was the struggle to decide if one component did something bad, was the whole polluted or just that segment? Again this applies not only to individuals, but also entire cultures. Breq is Radchaii and loved parts of her culture, but she also recognizes the harm it has done through colonization, and struggles with how those things can coexist and what she wants to do about it. Blow it all up and start over or try to preserve the good and eliminate the bad. Super excited to see how the next book continues that convo.
Also I would be remiss to not mention that part of the appeal isn't all the intelligent themes but also Breq and Servidan are compelling characters, I enjoyed their journey throughout the story. This is what is considered "hard sci fi" so get ready to be super confused at the beginning as you get your bearings. But it is worth it, and the characters are what helps you hold on while you're confused. I already went ahead and put book 2 on hold with the library

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