Translation State, Ann Leckie
Received to review via Netgalley
I’ve been a big fan of Ann Leckie for a while: even though Ancillary Justice didn’t work for me immediately, it found a huge place in my heart anyway. So I was pretty excited to get a chance to read this early and review it, and dived in as soon as I could! Like Provenance, it’s in the same world as Ancillary Justice, but it focuses on another group of characters, including a Presger translator. It’s an opportunity to learn a bit more about the Presger, and perhaps about the Radchaii interactions with them, that I was really excited about.
There were certain elements of this story (the cannibalism) that really felt weird for me and icked me out a bit; I definitely wasn’t expecting them, so that’s something to be aware of before you pick it up if you’re a bit squeamish. There is a point behind it all, all the same, and of course Leckie takes another dive into the issues of gender and identity and personhood, from a different angle again from in the Breq books or in Provenance.
I think overall this isn’t my favourite of the bunch, though I appreciate it a lot, and the glimpse it gives of things everyone’s bound to be curious about (the Presger, but also other parts of non-Radchaii space, and some of the other races). I was excited by a couple of the appearances of characters from the other books, about which I shan’t say too much.
Well worth it, of course — and I’m sure it’ll grow on me, to be honest.
I really should go back and finish the Ancillary trilogy – Justice was one of those books that didn’t entirely work for me but I’ve been meaning to revisit. Thank you for the tip-off about the cannibalism – I loathe having that sprung on me, so much prefer to know going in!
Belated reply incoming, sorrryyyy!
I had the same thing: first time I tried Ancillary Justice I didn’t love it. Coming back to it later, it kinda clunked into place for me and I’ve love love loved it ever since. (Not that everyone will or everyone has to, just that’s how it worked for me.)
Re: the cannibalism, yeaaaah, I did not expect that level/type of ick from this series, so I thought I’d warn others right up front.
Ooh, very good warning! Also, you *do* get all the good ARC approvals 🙂
calypte recently posted…A Thousand Recipes for Revenge – Beth Cato
The cannibalism was a big surprise for me. I did not expect to be spending so much time in the head of characters who feel hungry when they look at other people.
And yep, I really do, I’m very lucky!