Ancillary Justice
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance. Sequels: Ancillary Sword; Ancillary Mercy.
Stats for nerds
45recommend
78mentions
66people
2013–2026years
71% recommend21% neutral9% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Radiant Star (the new Ann Leckie book, in the “Ancillary Justice” series). Not as good as her earlier books in the series, but very worthwhile if you enjoyed them.
- To quote an earlier comment of mine
> Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice series.
> Culture, gender identity, hive mind, all rolled up into one extremely dense universe with a rich history told through warfare and cutting remarks, humanising potentially inhuman central characters with a vague number of limbs.
> It takes ten pages to get used to the dense yet clipped writing style, but once it clicks, you cannot put the book(s) down: the plot moves forward at breakneck speed.
- Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice series.
Culture, gender identity, hive mind, all rolled up into one extremely dense universe with a rich history told through warfare and cutting remarks, humanising potentially inhuman central characters with a vague number of limbs.
It takes ten pages to get used to the dense yet clipped writing style, but once it clicks, you cannot put the book(s) down: the plot moves forward at breakneck speed.
- Yes, definitely.
It likely won't work for all kinds of books. I don't think I'd want to listen to an audio book of Thinking, Fast and Slow for example.
But for fiction and certain non-fiction, it can be a great experience. In fact, for fiction it is now my preferred mode of consumption. There are books (e.g. Ancillary Justice) that I know I would have not finished if I were reading the book directly (for various reasons). But the audio book narration was so good I stuck to it.
It really depends on what your goals for reading are. If you're reading a heavy nonfiction book where you want to annotate, etc, then obviously it won't work.
If you're simply trying to absorb a story or gain information, it works as well as a regular book. You will likely rewind often, though. It sounds a lot worse than it is, but you get used to it quickly.
- I love Ancillary Justice even though I don’t think I should - must be the long payoff. Of course, you can get some of the same themes in an easier (and no spaceships, sentient or otherwise) read with Leckie’s other book The Raven Tower.
- > The first bit of Ancillary Justice story is a slog like the first 80 pages of anathem
I thought it was great. It hooked my interest immediately and then kept me engaged.
I didn't notice a slog at the start of Anathem either time I read it, TBH.
