All copyright 2006.
I get the feeling these latest books by Ann are fleshing out the universe she introduced in the Imperial Radch Trilogy and its many varied lifeforms and AI’s.
That’s not to say they’re not enjoyable, well written stories in their own right, they are. And i thoroughly enjoyed this one as well as Provenance, which introduced us to the Geck.
In this story we’re being introduced more intimately to the Presger Translators, who are genetically engineered, very strange beings.
To be honest, i’m looking forward to lots more of these books as we slowly moved towards the Conclave where they all will come together to discuss whether to accept the Two System’s AI’s into the treaty.
Bring it on.
Bye for now.
After the two inbetweenie shorts we’re back to novel length stories in the Imperial Radch Universe.
In this story we find ourselves on a planet outside of the Radch empire who are having a bit of a political squabble with some neighbours over the jump gates in their neighbourhood, and also quite a bit of a political squabble amongst themselves.
Our protagonist, Ingray, is trying to show her mother that she’s better than her brother because they’re competing for her inheritance, but Ingray keeps blundering through, making mistakes, because she’s unearthed a can of worms that others have set in motion.
In some ways there’s a continuation of the Imperial Radch Trilogy in that people are talking about the upcoming Conclave with the Presger. The Geck have already sent an ambassador, who has gotten itself sidetracked chasing down a Geck fugitive, which just happens to fall right in Ingray’s path, turning her plans upside down as well. But, as everyone says, it’ll be a very long time before the Conclave happens, and i think this is Ann’s way of saying there’ll be a lot more of these side stories before we get to the Conclave. I do hope so because this is a wonderful universe that Ann has created and it’s nice to get out and explore it’s many cultures and life forms.
All in all though, Provenance has been a really good story. There’s plenty going on and Ingray is a wonderful protagonist to follow this story through.
Next up, Ann has written Translation State, also in this universe. Which i’m diving straight into eagerly.
Bye for now.
Well this was not what i expected.
Apparently, supposedly, based in the same universe as the Imperial Radch Trilogy, i was expecting something as good as the trilogy but instead got this jumble-luted mess of names that was just ridiculous to follow.
Really, your readers expect much, much better, Ann. Although, as i have said in the past, every writer is allowed to write something utterly below their abilities once in while. But it’s still annoying to wade through this nonsense.
Even the sports match was just nonsense. Was it like a game of tennis or something? I really couldn’t work out what the game was about.
Onwards and upwards, next in this universe is Provenance, i do hope for much better.
Bye for now.
Also available in Galactic Empires.
A good novella about a flight through an area of space to a planet that virtually impenetrable. But the Radch want that planet and when the Radch want something they won’t stop until they get it.
Yes, it’s set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch Trilogy, but it’s completely unrelated to those books. I found it good to read it straight after i finished the trilogy.
Next up in this universe is She Commands Me and I Obey.
Bye for now.
The final episode in the Imperial Radch Trilogy, and quite a good page turner it was.
We;re still at the space station and planet system but “She” has turned up, and it’s one of those “She’s” that really doesn’t like Breq.
So all kinds of chaos and fun ensues with some great new characters thrown in to spice things up.
I did feel the ending was a bit lacking, as in it didn’t finish the trilogy off neatly, leaving lots of openings for further stories — which is a good thing because there’s four more books in this universe to read next. Hopefully we’ll get to find out what happens next during one of those stories.
So that’s exactly what i’m going to do now, start reading those four stories, beginning with Night’s Slow Poison.
Bye for now.
I just finished this second book in the trilogy, and it was good.
The story has evolved and now the Lord of the Radche is at open war with herself with Breq, our favourite ancillary, caught in between her various parts.
And so it’s off to another planet and a space station for more wonderful shenanigans within this fantastic universe that Ann has created for us all to enjoy immensely.
If you’re into sci-fi and you haven’t started reading this series already then just drop whatever you’re reading and pick this up instead, you won’t be disappointed.
I’m now diving straight into the third book, Ancillary Mercy.
Bye for now.
This is a super good read. An AI spaceship’s mind ends up in the body of one person named Breq, one of its ancillaries. The AI mind is out for a bit of revenge after its spaceship, all it’s crew and the rest of its ancillaries are destroyed.
Really well written with a great protagonist, it’s a real page turner.
But don’t just take my word for it being a great story: Ancillary Justice won the following awards:
Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of the year, 2014.
British Science Fiction Association BSFA Award for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Society, 2014.
Kitschies Golden Tentacle for best debut novel, 2013.
Locus Award for Best First Novel, 2014.
Nebula Award for Best Novel from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2013.
Seiun Award for Best Translated Novel, 2016.
The novel was also nominated for the following awards:
Finalist for the Compton Crook Award for best first science fiction/fantasy/horror novel from the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.
Named to the James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List, for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.
Shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished original science fiction paperback.
It does kind of remind me of Murderbot by Martha Wells, so if you liked those books you’ll probably like this, and vice versa.
And now i’m diving straight into Ancillary Sword: #excited
Bye for now.
No idea how i came across this, but it sounded rather good so i added it to my wish list and when it got put on sale for only 99p, i didn’t need asking twice. 
And for 99p i definitely got an incredible bargain.
I’ve no idea why this is listed in science fiction on Amazon, i’d definitely put it squarely in the grimdark fantasy section. I suppose i may be getting my genres completely misconstrued, but i don’t think i am.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a good bit of grimdark fantasy then this should be right up your alley. Who are the good and the bad in this and are they even aware that they are and why? The baddies, although doing what they do for completely nefarious reasons, are actually doing the good thing; while the goodies, thinking they’re being all altruistic and everything, turn out to be on the baddies’ side. And it’s all wound into a very well written story.
My only little winge is that Eolo’s gender thing is rather ambiguous and confusing and i think this could have been better defined. At the end of the book i’m still not sure what gender Eolo actually is: cis, trans or otherwise. Another character also mentions an aunt that had a gender thing going on, but again, no real information as to what. I just completely failed to see what purpose having a main character — and another character who wasn’t part of the story whatsoever — with ambiguous genders served: other then being a poor attempt by the writer to include someone with these issues in order to get some woke cred. Wouldn’t it be nice if we’re going to have characters with gender issues, dysphoria, trans, non-binary, etc., that they were made relevant to the story and explored further with a view to educating the ignorant masses on these issues while also helping and supporting those who have to deal with these issues in real life? A great example of a writer that did such a thing would be Jason Segel, working with Eve Lindley, in the series Dispatches from Elsewhere: definitely a must watch before you read another book if you haven’t watched it already.
Other than my little winge this is a great book with great characters, well written and it really plays with the idea of gods and how gods get, keep and use their power over people. We can see in our own world how a certain god has been allowed to overwhelm other gods and how this has ultimately turned the whole world into a shit hole of ecological disaster with a global plague while in a mass extinction event. This is what happens when you worship a god whose clergy tells you that you don’t have to care about this world because said god has got something better for you when you die — just keep breeding like flies and fucking the planet up, Armageddon will soon be upon us and the pious shall have their rapture.
