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Book Review - Ancillary Justice

 Grand Sci-Fi worthy of the Hall of Fame!


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Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, published 2013 by Orbit Books

How can I begin? This impressive book won the six of the biggest awards in Science Fiction publication in America, Britain and Japan. (Nominated for many more) It is my opinion that winning all the awards was absolutely deserved, and it is deserving of even more. 

Welcome to my new favorite galactic empire! I’m a big fan of Dune and Star Wars and such. This book details a fascinating culture of conquerors and the conquered, and hints at rich cultures elsewhere in the galaxy. The moralities are complex and we are not given a simplistic good vs evil. It’s complicated and this universe is more interesting because of it.

 Information and backstory is carefully and slowly doled out on a need to know basis, as two different timelines begin the novel, later to converge. Which is why I thought it started slow. I really wasn’t sure I would be happy with this story after the first few chapters. But that was only my initial impression. How wrong I was! This story simmers up to a boil then explodes in the most amazing way that hurtles the story forward to an ending that detonates its payload leaving me blown away. I didn’t realize how much of the little, seemingly inconsequential, minutiae of the early chapters would all play into the characters and consequences of the ending!

The setting is galactic, but takes second place to the characters, which I loved. The characters are really strongly written and fun to follow, especially with their very opposite moves and motivations. They way culture and language shape the galaxy and its inhabitants was masterfully done. The pronouns had me thrown off at first, but by the end were normal and invisible to my reading.

What the author does in her treatment of 'ancillaries', ship-mind artificial intelligence and galaxy spanning colonialism creates a work that will long be remembered. This one is hall of fame worthy. The cover blurb was completely accurate. Ann Leckie indeed nails it.

I can’t wait to read more. This story is so good, I don’t know how it’s not been optioned for development yet!


Rating: 10 out of 10 galaxies


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