archanark's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5
mpetruce's review against another edition
3.0
Book 2 in the Imperial Radch series is just as worthy of reading as the first. Breq continues to be a really interesting heroine (or hero? There's only one gender pronoun in this society so you have to guess, but since the Radch defaults to the female, I will too).
Richly imagined universe and well-drawn characters. Seivarden takes a bit of a back seat here from the first book, but some new characters appear to populate this new literary world.
Richly imagined universe and well-drawn characters. Seivarden takes a bit of a back seat here from the first book, but some new characters appear to populate this new literary world.
sonofthe's review
4.0
Will write when not on my phone.
---Two Months Later---
Apparently, I forgot about this note. Now my memory of the book's going a bit fuzzy around the edges.
Here we follow Breq right after the end of [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628]. There's still intergalactic intrigue, and Breq has to figure out how she relates to it all. So we're thrust into the middle of...a murder mystery? With a large chunk set on a tea plantation?
Not where I expected things to go, but the setting we're given is interesting and vivid. And the characters. Breq continues to develop (and new character bits are revealed to us), but also continues to be a bit of an enigma. She still has trouble reading people, or so we're told, but she masterfully maneuvers among the various classes of society to work things out in the end. The other characters met along the way evoke a variety of emotions, from the people who are fun to hate to the underdogs you want to root for and the ones who make you question your judgement.
Given the difference between the first two books in this series, I'm eager to get on to the third and find out what it has to offer.
---Two Months Later---
Apparently, I forgot about this note. Now my memory of the book's going a bit fuzzy around the edges.
Here we follow Breq right after the end of [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628]. There's still intergalactic intrigue, and Breq has to figure out how she relates to it all. So we're thrust into the middle of...a murder mystery? With a large chunk set on a tea plantation?
Not where I expected things to go, but the setting we're given is interesting and vivid. And the characters. Breq continues to develop (and new character bits are revealed to us), but also continues to be a bit of an enigma. She still has trouble reading people, or so we're told, but she masterfully maneuvers among the various classes of society to work things out in the end. The other characters met along the way evoke a variety of emotions, from the people who are fun to hate to the underdogs you want to root for and the ones who make you question your judgement.
Given the difference between the first two books in this series, I'm eager to get on to the third and find out what it has to offer.
untitledfirstdraft's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Absolutely loved this book. I inhaled it in a single day. It felt significantly shorter than the first book in the series, but that might just be because of how much work the first book did to establish the world whereas this one got to work within what had already been established. As a sequel, this novel absolutely does not disappoint.
I adore books with well-written/creative non-human POV characters. This book is no exception. If you’re interested in a fresh take on artificial/constructed intelligences in a world with very engaging politics and believable (but still humanist overall) conflicts, this is for you! Cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.
I adore books with well-written/creative non-human POV characters. This book is no exception. If you’re interested in a fresh take on artificial/constructed intelligences in a world with very engaging politics and believable (but still humanist overall) conflicts, this is for you! Cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.
2shainz's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
Original review here: http://shainareads.blogspot.com/2014/12/ancillary-sword-by-ann-leckie.html
First, the good: I really liked Leckie's characterization of Breq this time around. This novel was much more laden with diplomatic/political scenes than the first, and though this did get dull at times (where's the action, man?), it was a useful avenue for Leckie to explore her protagonist. A lot of the characters didn't like Breq; heck, I didn't like Breq a lot of the time. She's a tough cookie, and not always in a forgivable, "it's for your own good" way. Watching her struggle with her new responsibilities as fleet captain (both the concrete ones, like managing her ship, and the more intangible ones, like conflict resolution among her staff members) was especially interesting when I wasn't always on her side. I think authors can have a hard time writing main characters that aren't way too "good" or way too "bad," and I was pleased with the balance here.
There was also a lot of discussion of the meaning of justice in the context of real, everyday life.
"Do you think that if the Lord of the Radch were here she would have seen through everything, to give each act and each actor's heart its proper weight? To dispense perfect justice? Do you think it's possible that any person will ever get precisely what they deserve, no more and no less?"
"That is what justice is, Citizen, isn't it?"
As someone particularly inclined to justice herself, it was refreshing to see the story complicate the subject and discuss how difficult (and sometimes impossible) it can be to attain. Again, Leckie balances the whole good guy/bad guy dichotomy wonderfully here. You still sympathize with the downtrodden races, at the mercy of the willfully oblivious Radchaai (double-think, anyone?), but you also feel for the people in power, similarly stuck in situations (though, certainly, much more privileged ones) with a limited set of options. How can you exactly pick who's "right" and who's "wrong"? You can't; you can only make a choice and live with it. As Breq says, "It's best to learn that before you do something you'll have trouble living with."
As for the weaker points of the book, I felt the same confusion about what exactly was going on in the story. To some extent, I think this is part of Leckie's point (particularly in how interchangeable the human and ancillary troops are supposed to be, without meaningful personalities, or even names, of their own), but I occasionally had to read over a section several times before knowing what was happening. Leckie's fragment-heavy writing style didn't help matters. Thankfully, I did have many of my lingering questions from the first novel answered. I also found the story to get a bit repetitive; Leckie probably could have accomplished as much as she did in a hundred fewer pages.
Overall, I enjoyed Ancillary Sword, though it took me about 80 pages until I finally found my groove. I look forward to seeing how the story ends in Ancillary Mercy, slated for release in October 2015.
Original review here: http://shainareads.blogspot.com/2014/12/ancillary-sword-by-ann-leckie.html
First, the good: I really liked Leckie's characterization of Breq this time around. This novel was much more laden with diplomatic/political scenes than the first, and though this did get dull at times (where's the action, man?), it was a useful avenue for Leckie to explore her protagonist. A lot of the characters didn't like Breq; heck, I didn't like Breq a lot of the time. She's a tough cookie, and not always in a forgivable, "it's for your own good" way. Watching her struggle with her new responsibilities as fleet captain (both the concrete ones, like managing her ship, and the more intangible ones, like conflict resolution among her staff members) was especially interesting when I wasn't always on her side. I think authors can have a hard time writing main characters that aren't way too "good" or way too "bad," and I was pleased with the balance here.
There was also a lot of discussion of the meaning of justice in the context of real, everyday life.
"Do you think that if the Lord of the Radch were here she would have seen through everything, to give each act and each actor's heart its proper weight? To dispense perfect justice? Do you think it's possible that any person will ever get precisely what they deserve, no more and no less?"
"That is what justice is, Citizen, isn't it?"
As someone particularly inclined to justice herself, it was refreshing to see the story complicate the subject and discuss how difficult (and sometimes impossible) it can be to attain. Again, Leckie balances the whole good guy/bad guy dichotomy wonderfully here. You still sympathize with the downtrodden races, at the mercy of the willfully oblivious Radchaai (double-think, anyone?), but you also feel for the people in power, similarly stuck in situations (though, certainly, much more privileged ones) with a limited set of options. How can you exactly pick who's "right" and who's "wrong"? You can't; you can only make a choice and live with it. As Breq says, "It's best to learn that before you do something you'll have trouble living with."
As for the weaker points of the book, I felt the same confusion about what exactly was going on in the story. To some extent, I think this is part of Leckie's point (particularly in how interchangeable the human and ancillary troops are supposed to be, without meaningful personalities, or even names, of their own), but I occasionally had to read over a section several times before knowing what was happening. Leckie's fragment-heavy writing style didn't help matters. Thankfully, I did have many of my lingering questions from the first novel answered. I also found the story to get a bit repetitive; Leckie probably could have accomplished as much as she did in a hundred fewer pages.
Overall, I enjoyed Ancillary Sword, though it took me about 80 pages until I finally found my groove. I look forward to seeing how the story ends in Ancillary Mercy, slated for release in October 2015.
dotgeebee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katdid's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't love this quite so much as the first one; there were a few peripheral characters I didn't particularly care about, and the first book was very quest-driven while this one was less so - I guess it's that middle book thing where the first one has the hook and the subsequent book sets up the finale. (Not a criticism; just an observation.) But I continued to enjoy the whole exploration of dynamics between captains and lieutenants and their ships; I dig that so much I can't even tell you. . The world-building in this is pretty amazing, is what I'm saying.
Spoiler
There's this really great bit at the end where Breq is basically threatening Captain Hetnys' life and using it to manipulate Sword of Atagaris into behaving, and Sword of Atagaris complains bitterly about the position it's in not realising at that point Breq is an ancillary/Justice of Toren. But what's awful about that is that Breq, being who she is and what she's been through with her own former captain, knows exactly how to turn the screws in that situation with zero regard for the ship. You're always on Breq's side, but it made me wonder for the first time whether her side is the right side. It's really interesting to me too the relationship between Breq and Mercy of Kalr, who seems completely devoted to Breq when previously as independent ships they would have had a very hierarchical relationship; and the idea that as cruel and inhumane the practice of making ancillaries was, it seems maybe even crueler to deny a ship its ancillaries after thousands of years of them. Also as an aside I love Seivarden and how uncompromising she ismiketilford's review
adventurous
tense
medium-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
3.0
Ancillary Sword is the second book of the Imperial Radch and takes a huge tonal shift from the first book in the series. Wherein the first book was a story of revenge with plenty of action, this is a story of... um, drinking tea, I guess. There is also very little action, maybe three total scenes if I can remember correctly, totaling probably around 2 - 3 pages all together. So yeah, if you are looking for a book with a lot of action, this is not that book.
Shifts in perspective have always been an issue for me with this series. The shifts aren't as jarring as they were in the first book, maybe I'm getting used to them, they can still be confusing at times. Oftentimes Breq's perspective can change multiple times within the span of a few paragraphs.
Breq and her ship are ordered to Athoek Station to secure the system. In system they encounter various obstacles that I won't get into in order to avoid spoilers. However, we come to learn that the Radch Empire is not so great and pure. There are elements within it, or rather individuals within it, that do pretty horrible things, all while drinking loads of tea. Wait a minute, is this entire series a critique of English Imperialism?
Overall, the book was fine, although I wouldn't count it as one of my favorites. This series has gotten a lot of praise, but maybe I just don't understand the appeal.
Shifts in perspective have always been an issue for me with this series. The shifts aren't as jarring as they were in the first book, maybe I'm getting used to them, they can still be confusing at times. Oftentimes Breq's perspective can change multiple times within the span of a few paragraphs.
Breq and her ship are ordered to Athoek Station to secure the system. In system they encounter various obstacles that I won't get into in order to avoid spoilers. However, we come to learn that the Radch Empire is not so great and pure. There are elements within it, or rather individuals within it, that do pretty horrible things, all while drinking loads of tea. Wait a minute, is this entire series a critique of English Imperialism?
Overall, the book was fine, although I wouldn't count it as one of my favorites. This series has gotten a lot of praise, but maybe I just don't understand the appeal.
lia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A strange book. I appreciate the complex themes of Leckie's writing, but sometimes it's tiring being a step behind Breq all the time.
I'm interested to see how this trilogy concludes.
I'm interested to see how this trilogy concludes.
darlingstars's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.5