A review by aeturnum
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

If you're considering this book it's because you're at the end of a journey with Fleet Captain Breq. This book completes it in a satisfying way. On some level that's all you need to know and all that is worth saying.

It's also, as so many third books are, a place where the series starts to loosen up a bit. The book open with what might be Breq making her first real unjustified risk. The confrontation with the tyrant in Justice felt desperate, intentionally without a future - but here we see others question Breq and she has no answer. This is a book where the other players fully come onto the field. In the previous books Breq set the stage, now she steps back a bit and others become the main actors. More than a little of this book is victory laps - paying off plot lines begun books ago. Never fear reader - there's new stuff here too. Especially about the Presger and AIs. It's good stuff too! A very satisfying conclusion to an already satisfying series.