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“We are all of us only human.”

Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch, #2) by Ann Leckie

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The first time I read this book, my main complaint was that it didn’t have as obvious of a structure as Ancillary Justice, but on this second time through, I think I’m going to change my mind about it being less structured, and instead say that it’s differently structured. This book is structured around Breq’s journey from vengeful former A.I. enslaved to a tyrant, to having nearly as much power as that tyrant herself. What she does with that power is entirely shaped by her […]

Muscle and Blood and Skin and Bones

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Assyria soon discovered a painful truth: empires are like Ponzi schemes: financial frauds in which previous investors are paid returns out of new investors’ deposits. The costs of holding imperial territory can only be underwritten by loot and tribute extracted by constant new conquests; empires must continue to expand if they are not to collapse.” – Paul Kriwaczek, Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth Of Civilization  At the end of Ancillary Justice, Anaander Mianaai was openly at war with herself. One faction of the Lord of […]

Becoming more human

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3.5 stars. I’m still not totally sure what I think about the second book in the Imperial Radch series. I think I’ve been putting off my review for it because I’m uncertain about it. On one hand, it was immensely readable. On the other hand, not much seemed to happen. The first book was pretty plot driven with Breq out for revenge and lots of flashbacks. Ancillary Sword is fully based in the present and takes things slowly. SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t read book […]

Ancillary Space Opera

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Target: Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) and Ancillary Sword (Imperial Radch #2) Profile: Science Fiction, Space Opera The Imperial Radch series is a relatively simple little space opera, in the classic sense of the term.  Spanning hundreds, if not thousands of years, multiple star systems and a variety of cultural influences, it’s a series firmly rooted in the tropes of its genre.  While Ancillary Justice does wonderful things with those ideas and concepts, building a surprisingly compelling setting and cast, the series as […]

Must-Read Sci-Fi

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One of my favorite books of 2014 was Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice. It’s a sci-fi novel that won pretty much every prize awarded for that genre and features one of the coolest protagonists I’ve ever encountered in literature: Breq, an “ancillary” or corpse soldier who has been untethered from the collective consciousness of her ship but retains amazing physical and cognitive powers. As one character states in book 2, “[Breq] is pretty fucking badass.” In book 1, Breq was on a mission to reach the […]



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