A review by neko_cam
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
3.0
There are a lot of interesting ideas presented by this story, and many - but not all of them - are explored throughout the narrative.
The Radchaai do not distinguish people by gender, so the protagonist's internal narration uses female personal pronouns for everybody - and they often guess wrongly when they have to use languages with gender-specific pronouns. It was jarring every time I learned or was reminded that a character is actually male, but very soon after I would forget again. As a result, my mental picture of the Radchaai is of an all-female culture even though I know that's not accurate, and that tickles me.
The Radchaai do not distinguish people by gender, so the protagonist's internal narration uses female personal pronouns for everybody - and they often guess wrongly when they have to use languages with gender-specific pronouns. It was jarring every time I learned or was reminded that a character is actually male, but very soon after I would forget again. As a result, my mental picture of the Radchaai is of an all-female culture even though I know that's not accurate, and that tickles me.