Reviews with content warning for Death - Translation State

Leckie does it again (zero surprises there).

Another installment in the Radch universe that has kept SF fans happy for the last number of years, Translation State brings the reader together with three seemingly incredibly disparate characters: Enae, Qven, and Reet.

Qven, sweet but complicated and mildly terrifying Qven, created to become a Presger Translator, and whose future is forever changed by the behavior of one of their peers from another clade.

Reet, adopted by loving parents, and without direction in life nor knowledge of where they come from gets some answers they were seeking, but he's unsure he likes the answers.

And Enae, thrust into the world of diplomacy after the death of hir grandmaman, and on the hunt for a fugitive who disappeared two centuries previous.

Across the stars, and the course of this novel, the reader becomes enmeshed in their lives, and gets to see how and why they intersect. Some of our previous friends show up as well, in the form of other species and people with their own interests in the future of the Treaty as a Conclave approaches. This novel asks us what is family? How do we determine and define where we belong? Are we our genes or are we something greater if we choose? How do we fight back against those who would push us towards decisions that serve only themselves, and not us?

As usual, Leckie had me turning pages late into the night, through the afternoon, and devouring another Imperial Radch universe novel in this gripping and delightful standalone.

CWs in no particular order but from most to least severe: gore, colonization, emotional manipulation/abuse, death, dismemberment, cannibalism, blood.

Content Warnings

uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

ferlintokezeirquizes's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I quite enjoyed Translation State, the latest in stallment of the Imperial Radch series. While I did not like it as much as the trilogy itself, I did like it significantly more than its predecessor Provenance. Indeed, this book did much of what I wished the prior one would -- in my review of Provenance I wrote that "I would have liked more focus on the alien species and the upcoming conclave, but that was treated moreso as the backdrop" and this book focuses much more on both the significance of the conclave and the alien species, with significant characters who are Presger, Presger Translators, and Geck. I like how the themes of translation/language and identity are treated here, and for the most part I enjoyed the main characters (the way Qven and Reet's dynamic develops toward the end was a little too angst-filled for my preferences but I do like them overall; Enae read very much younger to me than hir age). The plot was fast paced and held my interest - an exciting space opera! - and I like the alternating POV chapters. I'll happily read the next Radch book.

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