Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie does so many things right! A plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat, complex characters who speak in realistic dialogue full of subtext, and a world that feels fully realized and is wonderful to explore.
Published 2013; won the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards.
Brent: 4 stars. Super gripping, with a couple of new and interesting ideas, and strong characters. Held back just a bit by unnecessary complication and being little slow to get started.
Cody: 4 stars. Compelling plot, characters and worldbuilding and an interesting dive into AI minds experiencing life through a human body.
Here's the setup:
Breq used to be the Justice of Toren - a huge, complex AI that inhabited a colossal starship and all of its thousands of ancillaries in the service of the Radch, the largest of the human empires.
Ancillaries are human bodies that were captured in previous Radchaai annexations – those who resist the takeover are killed and their bodies frozen and stored, ready to be activated and controlled by Radchaai AI in future annexations. The ancillaries are terrifying soldiers – each one is protected by almost impenetrable armor, and the AI never misses a shot.
The book follows two parallel timelines – one as Breq, now reduced to a single ancillary body, closes in on the end of her quest for revenge, and the other set twenty years in the past and covering the events leading up to her betrayal.
Hugonauts' Thoughts:
Foremost, having a single AI experiencing the world through many interlinked human bodies is just a deeply interesting idea. That idea is tweaked and twisted throughout the book in super novel ways that we don’t want to spoil - we’ll just say it is very unique and gives a ton of depth to both the characters and plot.
The dialogue and characters are also really masterfully done - instead of telling us what characters are thinking, we’re left to figure it out through the subtext in their dialogue. It strikes a wonderful balance, and feels like we’re meeting real people (because of course that’s how we get to know people in the real world).
And finally It’s just so propulsive once it gets going! The stakes are incredibly high, the main character is extremely likable and competent, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat through the whole second half of the book.
That said, there are two small things that hold this book back a bit. First, it’s fairly complicated – bordering on convoluted in a couple of areas / plotlines. Second, it starts off slowly – so, push through the first 50-80 pages, and know that it’s an incredible experience once you are immersed in the world.
As a note, the two sequels (Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy) unfortunately aren’t quite as good. They feel a lot smaller in scope, and the big questions from the first book are never really resolved. Not surprising in some ways though - classic case of the ‘publisher’s trilogy’ where the first book was a labor of love over many years, and then after that book’s success, the author is pushed to come out with sequels very quickly afterward.
Ancillary Justice is a special book in sci-fi, and one that deserves (and rewards!) a read.
Related Books
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A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine
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