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edurnehaeon's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.25
i think there are some great ideas but i'm not a fan of the writing style or the characters. not a bad book at all but not my cup of tea
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Colonisation, and War
mauricekofi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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
5.0
Leckie has absolutely blown me away. It is safe to say that this is one of my favorite sci-fi novels of all time, and one of the best I've read this year (don't worry, Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy still takes top). Truly though, Leckie masterfully writes a story that exposes the fallacies inherit to law and order, war, and the assumptions of "superior" societies. From beginning to end, she lays out the contradictions obvious to everyone except the Radchaai, but contains it all within a character whose lack of humanity in the eyes of those around her make her the most human of all.
Leckie, in my opinion, is at the level of those such as Frank Herbert and N.K. Jemisin, using sci-fi to communicate elements of the human condition that we often ignore, with the implications of how they shape or societies and define our decisions. Ann Leckie deserves the accolades she has received. My only regret is that it took me so long to pick up this book, despite having heard about it years ago.
Leckie, in my opinion, is at the level of those such as Frank Herbert and N.K. Jemisin, using sci-fi to communicate elements of the human condition that we often ignore, with the implications of how they shape or societies and define our decisions. Ann Leckie deserves the accolades she has received. My only regret is that it took me so long to pick up this book, despite having heard about it years ago.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, and Classism
blacksphinx's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have a hard time talking about this book. Some parts of it are simply stunning - the way action is tracked in first person across multiple points of view at the same time! - while I find character actions and motivations to be muddled. So much of the opening present-day section where Seivarden makes a mess of things and is a terrible person and yet Breq continues to keep them around? When even she doesn't understand why? Infuriating. But I think I care enough to keep going and see how the overall plot shakes out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Xenophobia, Vomit, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Drug abuse, Genocide, and Medical content
coraxio1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
alexijai98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
I support Breq’s rights and Breq’s wrongs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
vigil's review against another edition
4.0
this was a book that i had bounced off of at least 3 times before i actually managed to read it, but i’m glad i finally finished it. i was really impressed with how ann leckie managed to handle the pacing of this book as the two timelines each had their own individual tone, pacing, and lengths. i did notice however that many of the so called “climaxes” occurred when the other timeline slowed down. for some people this may help with feeling overwhelmed, for others it may seem like you’re simply biding time until the other timeline returns. i was fine with both personally. the present timeline was noticeably slower and more “meandering” so to speak. leckie has a tendency to have a rapid pace pick up towards the ends of her stories, preceded by consistent dread.
a lot of this book focused on personhood, what it looks like in the context of culture (both your own or otherwise) and it’s ties to imperialism and “citizenship.” i liked the extra translation notes on the raadchi language, and how the language is also used in a way the specifically empowers the empire. i don’t think we got much, if any at all, answers to this personhood question, so i assume these will carry on into the following books. i also don’t think breq has contemplated it in any sort of meaningful waybut i did like her speaking against the condescending compassion offered to her. what is the life that was stolen from her? and what are the ways she should act and live now, having been given something like that life? unsubtle thematic statements but idgaf subtlety =/ quality.
i found certain parts of the narrative more confusing than they needed to have been within the book, which was made all the more jarring when breq or another character would begin an infodump so to speak. this was less of an issue with breq, as that matches her speech patterns but it was rather apparent with everyone else. the opening especially is so jarring i wouldn’t blame anyone for not reading past it. i didn’t for a while.
a lot of this book focused on personhood, what it looks like in the context of culture (both your own or otherwise) and it’s ties to imperialism and “citizenship.” i liked the extra translation notes on the raadchi language, and how the language is also used in a way the specifically empowers the empire. i don’t think we got much, if any at all, answers to this personhood question, so i assume these will carry on into the following books. i also don’t think breq has contemplated it in any sort of meaningful way
i found certain parts of the narrative more confusing than they needed to have been within the book, which was made all the more jarring when breq or another character would begin an infodump so to speak. this was less of an issue with breq, as that matches her speech patterns but it was rather apparent with everyone else. the opening especially is so jarring i wouldn’t blame anyone for not reading past it. i didn’t for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
falconer24's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Genocide, and Colonisation
shottel's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-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
4.75
What a goddamn amazing book.
Sci-fi has a mold, sets of well-worn tropes that make it comforting and familiar. Leckie is very comfortable with taking you well outside that mold. It somewhat resembles Star Wars in that it presents a world so far off, in time and space, from our own that it has morphed into something with science we simply couldn’t recognize. But while Star Wars smuggles fantasy into sci-fi, Ancillary Justice trades in exotic political systems and societies.
What happens when one person can be many people? When an AI can control numerous bodies? When time begins to become less and less meaningful with medical and technological advancements? Things definitely begin to look a little sideways.
It’s in this world full of unfamiliar, society-defining technologies that Leckie explores several big themes: What does it mean to be civilized, or to exist in civilization? What makes a person? What makes a political system legitimate? What does gender or sex mean when technologically-assisted reproduction is commonplace? Is the self a coherent unity or is it just a useful fiction? Taking on these big questions in less than 400 pages of fiction is a huge ask, one that Leckie handles mostly well; my sole critique of Ancillary Justice is that sometimes it does get a bit in-your-face about its philosophical questions. I love thoughtful fiction, but Leckie does get a little unsubtle at times.
Nevertheless, this is an absolutely genre-defining piece of fiction, innovative and engaging as it comes. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in sci-fi or philosophically-minded fiction.
Sci-fi has a mold, sets of well-worn tropes that make it comforting and familiar. Leckie is very comfortable with taking you well outside that mold. It somewhat resembles Star Wars in that it presents a world so far off, in time and space, from our own that it has morphed into something with science we simply couldn’t recognize. But while Star Wars smuggles fantasy into sci-fi, Ancillary Justice trades in exotic political systems and societies.
What happens when one person can be many people? When an AI can control numerous bodies? When time begins to become less and less meaningful with medical and technological advancements? Things definitely begin to look a little sideways.
It’s in this world full of unfamiliar, society-defining technologies that Leckie explores several big themes: What does it mean to be civilized, or to exist in civilization? What makes a person? What makes a political system legitimate? What does gender or sex mean when technologically-assisted reproduction is commonplace? Is the self a coherent unity or is it just a useful fiction? Taking on these big questions in less than 400 pages of fiction is a huge ask, one that Leckie handles mostly well; my sole critique of Ancillary Justice is that sometimes it does get a bit in-your-face about its philosophical questions. I love thoughtful fiction, but Leckie does get a little unsubtle at times.
Nevertheless, this is an absolutely genre-defining piece of fiction, innovative and engaging as it comes. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in sci-fi or philosophically-minded fiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization
kitkathy24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Colonisation, and Classism
scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail