A review by iteechesinglish
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
reflective
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
2.5
This wasn’t quite what I expected, and it suffers a bit from second book syndrome, so while I enjoyed it there wasn’t the same feeling of something original and creative that I now expect from Ann Leckie.
At the end of Ancillary Justice it seemed like we were getting set up for epic battles or political intrigue or both, so this was a lot smaller in scale than I expected. There is a bit of politics but I found it to be heavy handed to be honest. There’s some thinly veiled commentary on race and class. I appreciate that the protagonist is a voice for good, but sometimes it all felt a little too straightforward and simplistic in its moralizing. There’s also a lot of over explaining of concepts that have been established in book one. If it wasn’t a trilogy I’d understand this but it seemed unnecessary.
The characters also were not super interesting to me. I liked the depictions of life on the ship but despite an interesting set up I found lieutenant Tisarwat’s character to be pretty bland. I know I’m supposed to care about the relationship between the main characters but it seems a little forced. And when interesting characters are introduced, such as translator Dlique, we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them.
So unfortunately I was pretty meh on this entry, but like the protagonist and the premise enough that I forgive the shortcomings and am hoping that book 3 will bring things together in a more satisfying way.
At the end of Ancillary Justice it seemed like we were getting set up for epic battles or political intrigue or both, so this was a lot smaller in scale than I expected. There is a bit of politics but I found it to be heavy handed to be honest. There’s some thinly veiled commentary on race and class. I appreciate that the protagonist is a voice for good, but sometimes it all felt a little too straightforward and simplistic in its moralizing. There’s also a lot of over explaining of concepts that have been established in book one. If it wasn’t a trilogy I’d understand this but it seemed unnecessary.
The characters also were not super interesting to me. I liked the depictions of life on the ship but despite an interesting set up I found lieutenant Tisarwat’s character to be pretty bland. I know I’m supposed to care about the relationship between the main characters but it seems a little forced. And when interesting characters are introduced, such as translator Dlique, we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them.
So unfortunately I was pretty meh on this entry, but like the protagonist and the premise enough that I forgive the shortcomings and am hoping that book 3 will bring things together in a more satisfying way.