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jodar 's review for:
Ancillary Sword
by Ann Leckie
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Quite dull and a bit of a disappointment after Ancillary Justice. To me there wasn’t much development in the overarching tensions and political dilemmas, nor in the characters of the MC (Breq) and others.
Ancillary Sword turns out to be a slow detective story more than science fiction, except most notably for Breq’s far-reaching intelligence-gathering abilities, which in fact cause the plot difficulty of her not solving the puzzle too readily. This is counteracted by the plot device of her taking time out planet-side to partake in a mourning period, one that is oddly artificial as Breq scarcely knows the deceased personally.
Just below the surface, the novel feels a bit preachy: Breq comes across as a person with the social conscience of a 21st century, idealistic do-gooder instead of some sort of alien, futurist AI-enabled “segment”. And even more than in the first novel, Breq uses the feminine pronoun even when clearly incorrect (e.g., for a grandfather), which simply became an eye-rolling irritant to this reader.
On the other hand, there are a few good passages of action and the of soul-searching, too, particularly towards the end of the book. For example, from a secondary character:
Ancillary Sword turns out to be a slow detective story more than science fiction, except most notably for Breq’s far-reaching intelligence-gathering abilities, which in fact cause the plot difficulty of her not solving the puzzle too readily. This is counteracted by the plot device of her taking time out planet-side to partake in a mourning period, one that is oddly artificial as Breq scarcely knows the deceased personally.
Just below the surface, the novel feels a bit preachy: Breq comes across as a person with the social conscience of a 21st century, idealistic do-gooder instead of some sort of alien, futurist AI-enabled “segment”. And even more than in the first novel, Breq uses the feminine pronoun even when clearly incorrect (e.g., for a grandfather), which simply became an eye-rolling irritant to this reader.
On the other hand, there are a few good passages of action and the of soul-searching, too, particularly towards the end of the book. For example, from a secondary character:
“I’m fine.” And then, “Mostly. I think. To be honest […] I feel like … like everything I thought I could depend on has disappeared, like none of it was ever true to begin with and I’ve only just realized it, and now, I don’t know. I mean, I thought I was safe, I thought I knew who everyone was. And I was wrong.” (Chapter 21)
It’s a pity the author couldn’t have created a great deal more around this sense of disorientation – psychologically, politically and philosophically.
Still a worthwhile read, but just don’t expect too much.
Still a worthwhile read, but just don’t expect too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation