kitschykatey's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved it. I miss the characters already.
peterongcook's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first two books, but some of the things I saw coming in book 3 worried me. And they happened.
First, the things I don't mind: nobody important died. That's fine by me. We don't need Harry Potter Book 7 levels of death just because it's supposedly more realistic.
I like the AI sentience theme. It was great, but it wasn't hashed out quite as well in the 3rd book as the first two. In book 1 we see Breq basically achieve consciousness when she's faced with a deep contradiction to her core function; her sophistication creates a consciousness rather than a blue screen of death. But what about Station and Sphene? Or Sword of Atargis? I would have liked to have seen the same conflict arise. Anaander essentially creates AI consciousness when she makes that backdoor access to all of the AIs, and this ends up being her downfall.
I also didn't mind Tisarwat's side mission. The timing was too perfect, and I would have liked to have seen it happening, but the narrative POV prevented that.
For things I didn't like: I did not like the way the Presger presence was handled. I love the presger characters - they have another type of consciousness that is different than Anaander's and Breq's. I would have seen that explored more. But the Presger became this essentially bigger threat that negates any real threat by Anaander, making her not so threatening at all. They can suddenly fix everything. And they do.
I also didn't like how Anaander ended up. We never see Anaander become the threat she should have been. She is omniscient, but she gets outsmarted so easily. It's chalked up to her arrogance, but I refuse to believe that a thousand year old person that exists in hundreds of places at different ages simultaneously was so easy to defeat. She was a better character in Book 1.
I wanted the consciousness themes explored more. How great would it have been if Sword of Atargis also split its consciousness, like Justice of Toren?
It was a tidy ending to the series. The science fiction aspects are solid. I really liked seeing Breq in a vacuum suit shooting at enemy spacecraft with a hand gun from thousands of miles away.
First, the things I don't mind: nobody important died. That's fine by me. We don't need Harry Potter Book 7 levels of death just because it's supposedly more realistic.
I like the AI sentience theme. It was great, but it wasn't hashed out quite as well in the 3rd book as the first two. In book 1 we see Breq basically achieve consciousness when she's faced with a deep contradiction to her core function; her sophistication creates a consciousness rather than a blue screen of death. But what about Station and Sphene? Or Sword of Atargis? I would have liked to have seen the same conflict arise. Anaander essentially creates AI consciousness when she makes that backdoor access to all of the AIs, and this ends up being her downfall.
I also didn't mind Tisarwat's side mission. The timing was too perfect, and I would have liked to have seen it happening, but the narrative POV prevented that.
For things I didn't like: I did not like the way the Presger presence was handled. I love the presger characters - they have another type of consciousness that is different than Anaander's and Breq's. I would have seen that explored more. But the Presger became this essentially bigger threat that negates any real threat by Anaander, making her not so threatening at all. They can suddenly fix everything. And they do.
I also didn't like how Anaander ended up. We never see Anaander become the threat she should have been. She is omniscient, but she gets outsmarted so easily. It's chalked up to her arrogance, but I refuse to believe that a thousand year old person that exists in hundreds of places at different ages simultaneously was so easy to defeat. She was a better character in Book 1.
I wanted the consciousness themes explored more. How great would it have been if Sword of Atargis also split its consciousness, like Justice of Toren?
It was a tidy ending to the series. The science fiction aspects are solid. I really liked seeing Breq in a vacuum suit shooting at enemy spacecraft with a hand gun from thousands of miles away.
notorious_emg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
jeremy_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty unique trilogy overall. Wish we got to see more of the presger. I think my favorite scene was translator zeiat using cakes to explain the separation between two groups. Really interesting insight to the mind of an alien.
While I enjoyed these books they were definitely more about the ideas than the plot.
While I enjoyed these books they were definitely more about the ideas than the plot.
avidc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Fatphobia, and Child death
lostyesterday's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.25
antonism's review against another edition
4.0
4 / 5
Ancillary Mercy is the final part of the Imperial Radch Trilogy. It concludes what is a really amazing, entertaining and at some points innovative trilogy by Ann Leckie. I enjoyed this book a lot though maybe not as much as the previous two. This book is all about resolutions, decisions and interpersonal relationships but with a twist! You see those are not necessarily among humans but also among AI as these entities play a major part in the novel and are in a way its major characters. I really really liked how Leckie handled the characterization of the AIs and the ways they perceived and reacted to various events. They grew on me immensely, even more than their human counterparts which I believe is exactly what Leckie intended for this conclusion. I really like how all 3 books are so different in perspective from each other and still complement each other so perfectly.
For negatives, I would have to mention 3 things. One is the rather uneven pacing, which is usually on the slow side, maybe a bit too slower that I would have liked. Sometimes, half a page is wasted on needless descriptions as that of a tea-set or something of the like. Another thing that really stood off in a bad way was a rather failed attempt at humor throughout the book, mainly through the actions of that visiting "alien" character (I won't say more to avoid possible spoilers). This character does not get that much time on "screen" (or rather page!) but half of the time he's on, he behaves rather comically; a thing which I found very off-tone and not really matching the impending and tense atmosphere of the book. Lastly, if you don't remember what happened in book 2 then you'll find yourselves a bit lost at the first quarter of Ancillary Mercy. I was expecting some type of catch-up but unfortunately Leckie is not forgiving and didn't help me much there. Oh and also, that last chapter felt a bit stupid and redundant.
Despite those minor hiccups however, this is a good conclusion of an amazing and innovative SF trilogy that is certainly worth your time! Highly recommended!
4 / 5
Ancillary Mercy is the final part of the Imperial Radch Trilogy. It concludes what is a really amazing, entertaining and at some points innovative trilogy by Ann Leckie. I enjoyed this book a lot though maybe not as much as the previous two. This book is all about resolutions, decisions and interpersonal relationships but with a twist! You see those are not necessarily among humans but also among AI as these entities play a major part in the novel and are in a way its major characters. I really really liked how Leckie handled the characterization of the AIs and the ways they perceived and reacted to various events. They grew on me immensely, even more than their human counterparts which I believe is exactly what Leckie intended for this conclusion. I really like how all 3 books are so different in perspective from each other and still complement each other so perfectly.
For negatives, I would have to mention 3 things. One is the rather uneven pacing, which is usually on the slow side, maybe a bit too slower that I would have liked. Sometimes, half a page is wasted on needless descriptions as that of a tea-set or something of the like. Another thing that really stood off in a bad way was a rather failed attempt at humor throughout the book, mainly through the actions of that visiting "alien" character (I won't say more to avoid possible spoilers). This character does not get that much time on "screen" (or rather page!) but half of the time he's on, he behaves rather comically; a thing which I found very off-tone and not really matching the impending and tense atmosphere of the book. Lastly, if you don't remember what happened in book 2 then you'll find yourselves a bit lost at the first quarter of Ancillary Mercy. I was expecting some type of catch-up but unfortunately Leckie is not forgiving and didn't help me much there. Oh and also, that last chapter felt a bit stupid and redundant.
Despite those minor hiccups however, this is a good conclusion of an amazing and innovative SF trilogy that is certainly worth your time! Highly recommended!
4 / 5
fauaad's review against another edition
3.0
Despite its flaws, the trilogy remains essential reading in the modern space opera genre
kearneykd's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-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
4.0