Ancillary Mercy

The third and final novel in the Imperial Radch series, Ancillary Mercy increases the action a bit while retaining the rich culture and impeccable manners and politeness of the previous novel. The alien Presger are uncompromisingly alien, the artificial intelligences are a fascinating mixture of human and non-human, and the comprises between freedom and obedience are crucial to the future of the society. The tensions and problems raised in the first novel are largely resolved in this book, though the wider civil war may or may not still be raging. While a part of me was still missing the scope and drama of the first novel, the detail and intricacies of the culture make it well worth the effort. I've seen one review that describe books 2 and 3 as "Downton Abbey in Space", so strong are the manners and proscriptions on behaviour, and the restraints on the actions of characters. It's impressive to see it done so well, and if a second series of Imperial Radch books ever gets written, I'll be picking it up straight away.

Ancillary Sword

After the huge revelations of the first book, this is a very quiet, tame book by comparison. The plot moves directly on from the first book, with Breq being given her own starship and sent to a star system in an obscure corner of the Radch empire. However, the lack of epic empire-wide action gives the characters room to breath, and lets the author delve more deeply into the rich culture established in the first novel, the iniquities of an imperialist society, and the nature of personhood and individuality. So while not anywhere near as exciting as Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword is well worth a read.

Ancillary Justice

Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice is a fascinating science fiction novel. It's better than most with regard to an exciting plot and well-constructed technologies, but where it shines is in its characterisation and its portrayal of a far-future culture similar and yet very different from our own. It is told from the viewpoint of Breq, a person on a quest to revenge herself against a vastly more powerful enemy. The compelling thing about the novel is the way the culture she is embedded in keeps surfacing, and has real effects on her actions and the actions of people around her. The culture is some sort of cross between ancient Roman militarism and sense of overarching justice; communism; and some eastern religions, complete with its own taboos, beliefs, rituals, and so forth, and like any real culture, is the framework within which all the actions of the characters take place. It is real and tangible throughout the novel. One of the first things most people comment about is lack of gender in the language, meaning that throughout the novel, except when the characters are talking in a different language, all the pronouns are rendered in english as female - so Breq is a "she" throughout, and it is never actually made clear what her actual gender is, because in the Radchaai culture, it isn't important. It's very well done, consistently handled, and leaves a native english speaker constantly wondering what the actual gender of each person is. The other main theme of the novel is the question of personhood and the self, and what constitutes each. The are persons in the novel who have multiple bodies, and this is critical to the plot as it unfolds, and clearly the author has put a lot of thought into what it is like to be a person with multiple bodies.

This is an excellent start to the Imperial Radch series, and well worth a read.