Throwback Thursday: Imperial Radch Trilogy by Ann Leckie

Name(s): Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy
Author: Ann Leckie
Publisher: Orbit Books
Cover Art: John Harris
Awards: Hugo, Nebula, British Science Fiction Association, Arthur C. Clarke, Locus etc. etc.
Audiobooks: Recorded Books (Book 1); Hachette Audio UK (Book 2)

Ancillary Justice had (IIRC) won almost every award the SFF genre had to offer, with good reason. It’s no easy feat, world-building on this level, with a character of this level of feel-good integrity and grit, and a thrilling, convoluted, galvanizing plotline to boot. Think Star Wars, combine it with Inception, Artificial Intelligence tropes and some comedic elements, and you will still fall short of Ancillary Justice. I can give the book(s) no higher praise. Till date, Ancillary Justice is definitely one of my favorite SciFi books.

The books are set in Imperial Radch, a highly advanced technology militaristic colonial empire which has conquered and rules most of interplanetary space. The first book, Ancillary Justice, tells us how Breq used to be a part of a sentient artificial intelligence/ ship (imagine a supercomputer hacked into pieces but still functioning, if you will) of the Radch empire, but has now been sundered and seeks revenge against the perpetrator.

The second book, Ancillary Sword, recounts Breq’s next adventure, as the first non-human flight-lieutenant/ administrator at a small space station, who crushes down on slavery and prevents imminent war.

The most intriguing thing about the books to me was that Breq, despite being a “machine”, is more human than most. “Her” (a gender-neutral pronoun here) loyalty, intelligence and clear right vs. wrong principles make her an impeccable leader. And that’s what sets her apart – she is a hero, who, as Seivarden says, ‘will never let you down’. You can’t help but root for Breq. After the second book, I was eager to see what happens in the last book of the trilogy – whether Breq won against the looming threat of the man-eating Presgers or would sacrifice herself for the Greater Good.

I began the third book, Ancillary Mercy, with a lot of trepidation. The worries about Breq’s death were soon sorted out. Make no mistake, the writing is top-notch here too. The politics, the economy, the military, the civilian life, everything is blended and intertwined seamlessly. In the first two books we saw Leckie’s “breadth” of imagination, now we see its “depths”.

But… Perhaps the only biggest fault of Ancillary Mercy is that it’s not the first book. The same world building that hits you like lightning in Book 1 is old hat by now. For the first 25% of the book, I felt I was reading about the same situation again: Breq and her crew managing a space station till something more ominous comes through the gates.

I expected full-blown war with the alien Presger forces. I expected the Lord of the Radch to show a dozen more faces. And Breq to save the day (and die, of course, let’s not forget that part). I felt continuously that some disaster was looming and would explode any minute. I kept waiting for a battle to break out.

None of this happens, and ultimately, peace trumps warmongering. At the end, Ancillary Mercy turned out to be a micro-cosmic book about bonding, more than wars. We talk of ships and their preferences for captains. We talk of Breq’s crew and their interdependence. We talk of small actions cascading into something larger in the long run. We speak of ordinary people managing praiseworthy endeavors and how that may be more than enough.

As always, Leckie’s use of “she” as the common gender pronoun for all beings continues to trip you over subconsciously. An example: when a particular character is described as “beautiful” and later as “crying”, did the mind flash it as “male”? Even while you are reading the book, your mind unconsciously keeps trying to tag the voice with a gender, and there is no craftier way than Leckie’s to subvert gender stereotypes.

I listened to the audio versions of the first 2 books. Ancillary Justice, narrated by Celeste Ciulla, was a treat. Ciulla has a clear voice that conjures Breq very vividly, and also provides excellent modulations for other characters (such as the nasal twang for the aristocratic and whiney Seivarden). Ancillary Sword’s narration by Adjoa Andoh was a bit disappointing; Breq was too soft, and the other voices were modulated to the point of screeching. The pronunciation was also very, very different from the first audiobook, which was perplexing. For example, the ruler of Radch space, ‘Anaander’ was “Un-ander” in the first book and “Anna Ander” in the second book. Minor differences (but even mosquitoes are annoying), so watch out!

From what I had last heard, there were plans of turning these books into TV shows. But sadly, it has been a while now.