Reviews

Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

o_aristeidis's review against another edition

4.0

A good addition to the trilogy. Nevertheless, ending was somewhat underwhelming.

rackhams_razor's review against another edition

3.0

Had its issues, but it makes the entire second book look way better in retrospect, and it does give a satisfying ending to the whole trilogy. Going to miss reading about Breq and Seivarden’s adventures <3

sincerelymendacious's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

infinitespeculation's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

4.5

sarvagnan's review against another edition

3.0

A good end to this trilogy. In many ways better than the second, but definitely not as good as the first.

ben_mullenger's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.25

iteechesinglish's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

2.0

Well that was... unusual and anti-climactic. Book one was SO GOOD and I was so excited to read the rest of the series and it just wasn't what I expected. To be fair, I appreciate that Ann Leckie wrote a series that is far from the usual action-packed sci-fi you would find, but there was so much potential here that I felt didn't get explored. There were so many ideas in book one I wanted unpacked: the nature of consciousness and identity, what it means to be human, what is justice, all of these really interesting ideas were picked up and then just kind of tossed aside for some minor characters and an ending that, for me, was unsatisfying. By the last few chapters I'd pretty much lost interest. 

Spoiler

Seriously there was so much that could have been so much more interesting. Seiverden returns from 1,000 year stasis like a sci-fi Rip Van Winkle bu apparently has little to no problems adjusting to modern life? We never learn much more about the Presger, who basically function as comic relief, which is fine but often ruined the tension of the story for me. <i>Sphene</i> just kind of sits on the sidelines for the whole book. Tisarwat was such an interesting idea and ended up just a weirdly knowledgeable teenager, we don't even get to read her final interaction with <i>Sword of Gurat.</i> I did appreciate that Breq must adapt to not being <i>Justice of Toren</i>, that was probably the best part of the novel for me. Everything else just didn't deliver. I mean, they're upending a thousands-of-years old empire, we had a villain with extreme split personalities and multiple bodies, and the final confrontation was just Breq deciding they're a republic now? Again, it's not necessarily the book's fault that it didn't go in the direction I was expecting, but there were so many cool ideas that were just tossed aside.

I still appreciate Ann Leckie as an author. I am really glad I read The Raven Tower before this and I think that Ancillary Justice is also a fantastic novel. It's too bad that the rest of the series didn't quite deliver for me, but I'm still looking forward to any other new books that she writes.

snowshoe11's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

elfkey's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

mothmans_mum's review against another edition

5.0

So good. The first book set up a brilliantly imaginative world, exploring topics of gender, identity, imperialism and much more. The second book was a gripping, slow-burning political intrigue. This final book continued the themes of the first two, but most of all was an edge-of-your-seat action fest with twists, turns, and cool space guns. Whilst the very end didn't quite live up to the expectations raised by the whole trilogy, I really didn't mind because the rest of the book was just so fantastic.