Name: Bryan Alexander's review of Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
Item: Ancillary Sword
Rating: 4
Author: Bryan Alexander

Ann Leckie

The sequel to Ancillary Justice, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke Awards. Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she has only a single body and serves the emperor. With a new ship and a troublesome crew, Breq is ordered to go to the only place in the galaxy she would agree to go: to Athoek Station to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew - a lieutenant she murdered in cold blood. In the Ancillary world: 1. Ancillary Justice2. Ancillary Sword3. Ancillary Mercy

Ancillary Sword

Bryan Alexander

Ryan LaFerney

This book is a different beast than Ancillary Justice and while the pace of this book is startling at first, the story quickly engages the reader. It is second book in the Imperial Radch trilogy which follows the character Breq, a rogue ancillary. Ancillary Sword is indeed more character-focused and is less of a thrilling read. But Leckie's mediation on power and identity is breathtaking and her writing is superb. This is a book about human rights and issues of colonialism. As with Justice, the ending of Sword intriguing and complex, as the reader discovers that those who inhabit the Athoek Station aren't exactly what them seem to be.

It definitely has the feel of a middle book. This isn’t to say it’s a bad book. It doesn’t sag. It doesn’t feel to me like much happens plot-wise, but it explores in some really interesting ways elements introduced in the first book, though there are a few points revolving the main character I wish had been done differently. I’m excited for the next one!

Jules

Ewan

What did I gain from reading the second book in the Radch Trilogy?

A lot of stuff about tea, more tea, social class and the knowledge that the main character is a bit of a dick.

I know that the people who love this book do so because of the character building, but I just don't find them interesting enough to spend three quarters of the book following them around as they do nothing. Don't get me wrong I am not calling out for all-action, but the book does improve immeasurably when they stop sitting around drinking tea and talking about servants and get some sense of agency.

I will probably still read the next one though

Sheila

I don't understand how anything could be better than the 1st book, but Ancillary Sword utterly & completely topped Ancillary Justice! Everything about this book is just UGH I love it. The levels of politicking are more intricate and none of the new characters (because there are MANY) come off as insignificant. The ending of this book is an amazing set-up for Ancillary Mercy and I can't wait for it to come out! BE PUBLISHED SOONER PLEASE GOD

Ancillary Sword is the sequel to Ancillary Justice, the debut which is the only novel to ever win the Hugo, the Nebula and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she only has a single body and serves the emperor she swore to destroy. Given a new ship and a troublesome crew, Breq is ordered to the only place in the galaxy she will agree to go: to Athoek station, to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew - a lieutenant she murdered in cold blood. The Imperial Radch trilogy begins with Ancillary Justice, continues in Ancillary Sword and concludes with Ancillary Mercy. Also available now: Provenance is a stunning standalone adventure set in the same world as Ancillary Justice. NPR calls it 'A fitting addition to the Ancillary world'. Praise for the trilogy: 'ENGAGING AND PROVOCATIVE' SFX Magazine 'UNEXPECTED, COMPELLING AND VERY COOL' John Scalzi 'HIGHLY RECOMMENDED' Independent on Sunday 'MIND-BLOWING' io9.com 'THRILLING, MOVING AND AWE-INSPIRING' Guardian 'UTTER PERFECTION' The Book Smugglers 'ASTOUNDINGLY ASSURED AND GRACEFUL' Strange Horizons 'ESTABLISHES LECKIE AS AN HEIR TO BANKS' Elizabeth Bear

Becky

I finished the first book in this series confused and utterly happy. I had much the same feelings whilst reading this one. I know my confusion mostly stems from the way that in the Radch language gender is irrelevant and so everyone is referred to with female pronouns but it works for me. I also cannot get the races straight in my head and all the different names but that is really my issue because I struggle to keep characters and names straight in all books, not just this one.

The book itself was brilliant. I did find that a favourite of mine, Seivarden (I hope I'm spelling his name right) because I was intrigued by his story in the first book and how he went from being so very, very stuck up and up himself to this drug addled dude so utterly lost in space. That being said, the cast of characters in the books are so alive and interesting that when one drifts to the background slightly you may notice their absence but the book doesn't feel lesser for it. And, after all, this is still Breq's story and I love her and all her quirks.

I found it interesting seeing space in a different way with the space station and the tea planters and seeing others who don't love the colonisation that the Radch have led. I found it interesting seeing how each planet and place has a different set of customs as whilst this is a large empire it is made up of a mix of cultures and each place has their own customs. It was interesting seeing that come out in full force.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the next book because I know it will be good. I want to know what will happen to them.

Sahi K

I think it’s more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

This audiobook took me so long to listen to, I thought I would forget what happened in the beginning by the time I reached the end. But surprisingly, it didn’t feel that way as I kept getting through it bit by bit for more than a month. 

As there was a lot of tension and buildup in the first book, I assumed it would continue in this sequel as well. But the author took a very different turn here and while I was surprised, I think it was an interesting change. After such an explosive finale, the author shifts the proceedings to a new station and we get to see the dynamics and tensions of different peoples in this place. Through Breq’s unique perspective and the introduction of more characters, the author gives us a thought provoking commentary on racism, xenophobia, systemic discrimination, as well as human trafficking and indentured servitude. We also get to see lots of culture of this new station and how the formalities between people of different hierarchies is such an important part of life and daily work. While there is some action towards the end, it’s ultimately a slice of life story with a space opera and imperial politics setting. 

In the end, I think this turned out to be a quiet and enjoyable story despite the delays in my reading. The audiobook is narrated very well and I liked getting to know how to pronounce all the names as well as the lovely songs. This is a nice series if you are looking for a character driven political story with important themes, but is told in a slow and quiet way. But it’s definitely not the right choice if you want something more action packed in your sci-fi.

Jay Carter

Nice follow-up to the Hugo-winning Ancillary Justice. What Sword lacks in new sci-fi concepts (which Justice was chock full of), it more than makes up for in character-building. I got so caught up in the story that it was page 300 before I realized that I was reading classic science fiction-as-metaphor. I am reminded of recent events in Ferguson, though I know full well that this book was done and locked months before.

Adam

After enjoying the first book in the series, I dove into the 2nd. It didn't hurt that it was nominated for another Hugo award, on a number of short lists for great sci-fi. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly as interesting as the first in the series. Many of the concepts explored in the first one were put aside to tackle a case of discrimination on a subset of people on a space station. Still great sci-fi, but I didn't get the same level of enjoyment out of the story as the first one -- which might have set my expectations a little bit too high.

Ancillary Sword is the sequel to Ancillary Justice (my review). The books really should be read in order, although reading Sword frequently made me want to go back to Justice.

That's because Ancillary Sword is a fascinating book. It was hard to stop reading, and also difficult to stop thinking it through. I reread pages and scenes, looking for details I'd missed or misunderstood. Not until the last half of the last chapter was it clear where the plot was going. 

Ann Leckie may be the most interesting sf author alive.

Sword is told from the point of view of Justice's semihuman protagonist, Breq Mianaai. Breq used to be part of a many-bodied warship (read the first book), and is now coping with being only a single body. She is also on a mission for the empire's ruler, another multi-bodied entity engaged in civil war against other parts of herself.

In the novel's opening scene that ruler sends Breq on a mission to a remote agricultural world, Athoek Station, and that's where the rest of the book dwells. Breq and her troops investigate various mysteries, confront social problems, and try to solve some of each. 

I'm being vague here because the plot, well, isn't exactly filled with mysterious and plot twists, but is actually hard to anticipate. It isn't a plot-driven book, but I want to save the narrative unfolding for the reader. I can say more behind the cloak of spoiler: (view spoiler)[there are really two plots, the bomb plot and the smuggling plot. The Presger assassination is misdirection, at least as far as this book's concerned. The main plots lead to several dramatic scenes (testimony before magistrate, a shooting, the battle in the Undergarden, some interrogations. (hide spoiler)] Leckie places the elements of these plots in plain sight for much of the book, then lets Breq (and the reader) piece them together, a bit like a detective (more like the British Detective Chief Inspector, with those resources) and also in the manner of a political hero, rearranging a social situation. That combination was present in the first book as well.

Putting these together, Sword is a hybrid in another way. In its anatomy of a problematic society it's a social novel. Yet at the same time the bulk of the text concerns closely observed interactions between people, at the level of manners and interiority. Some have called this Jane Austen with spaceships, but that's not quite right. There is an Austen-type focus on interpersonal dynamics, but there isn't a lot of space opera in this one.

Leckie's style is part of what fascinates me. Like Austen, she zeroes in on how people present themselves and react to each other. And also like Austen, she has fun with irony.On a station, privacy was paradoxically both nonexistent and an urgent necessity. Station saw your most intimate moments. But you always knew that Station would never tell just anyone what it saw, wouldn't gossip. Station would report crimes and emergencies, but for anything else it would, at most, hint here or guide there. (171) 

Leckie's prose is sparse, unlyrical, yet paragraphs sometimes curve away unpredictably. Her world is vast but thinly populated with a minimum of descriptions, key nouns and phrases frequently repeated: tea, gloves, songs, arrack. Leckie reminds me of the later Frank Herbert, with weird, powerful dialogue always working on at least three levels. And she even offers the occasional aphorism while wrangling with big questions:
'Everything necessitates its opposite," I said, cutting her off. "How can you be civilized if there is no uncivilized?" (162)
"What is justice, Citizen?... Where did justice lie, in that entire situation?" (291)

Ancillary Sword feels cold and distant for much of the book, something which doesn't bother me. The reason for that voice is Breq's combination of trying to manage a complex situation while learning to be a post-ancillary human being. Breq is calm, restrained, logical throughout... until she leans in for a hug in the last chapter, a long way to go for a good payoff. And a call-back to a key event in Ancillary Justice. It's worth the haul.

There is a tonal interlude starting on page 143, with the introduction of a semi-human alien ambassador. For example,
"'Say exactly what we told you to and nothing will go wrong,' they said. Well, it all went wrong anyway. And they didn't say anything about this. You'd think they might have, they said lots of other things. 'Sit up straight, Dlique. Don't dismember your sister, Dlique, it isn't nice. Internal organs belong inside your body, Dlique.'" She scowled a moment, as though that last one particularly rankled. (144)
And
Translator Dlique grinned... "Give me supper, will you? I just eat regular food, you know."
I recalled what she's said when she first arrived. "Did you eat many people before you were grown?"
"No one I wasn't supposed to! Though," she added, frowning, "sometimes I kind of wish I had eaten someone I wasn't supposed to. But it's too late now." (147)
Dlique's wackiness makes Breq into a perfect straight man/Radch, a nice comic break.

Sword is narrower in focus that Justice. That might be due to the middle bit of a trilogy problem, since it's not introducing us to the Radch universe, nor resolving it. This is also due to the plot framework, which focuses solely on Athoek Station. We come into contact with one terrifying, hilarious alien representative, but that only lasts a few pages. Otherwise it's all about the tea plantations.

One extra note: Sword is very concerned with class struggle. It's an anti-1% novel, which I don't recall from Justice. In that respect we could see it as an artifact of our time, where income inequality has become a larger issue.

Do I recommend this? Yes, if 
a) You read the first book
b) You're interested in challenging sf.

I'm looking forward to Ancillary Mercy.

Brook

The story took quite some time to get started, and then resolved all in one long exhale. I enjoyed the first book more, but was also glad to get a chance to hang out with Breq and co more. I'm looking forward to the third book.

Michael Hessling

Seeking atonement for past crimes, Breq takes on a mission as captain of a troublesome new crew of Radchai soldiers, in the sequel to Ann Leckie's NYT bestselling, award-winning Ancillary Justice. A must read for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin and James S. A. Corey. "There are few who write science fiction like Ann Leckie can. There are few who ever could." -- John Scalzi Breq is a soldier who used to be a warship. Once a weapon of conquest controlling thousands of minds, now she has only a single body and serves the emperor. With a new ship and a troublesome crew, Breq is ordered to go to the only place in the galaxy she would agree to go: to Athoek Station to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew -- a lieutenant she murdered in cold blood. Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy has become one of the new classics of science fiction. Beautifully written and forward thinking, it does what good science fiction does best, taking readers to bold new worlds with plenty explosions along the way.

Bryan Alexander &
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Reviews

Join the club

Bryan Alexander &Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Reviews

Join the club

Bryan Alexander &
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie