Ancillary Justice by Ann Lecke – March 31, 2023

It’s been a while (I’ve been busy) but I just finished another book and feel the need to share my review of it; unasked for, not needed, and yet, still shared (lol). Today’s unasked for book review is of “Ancillary Justice” by Ann Lecke.

So first off, I didn’t know what ancillary meant until I read this book. I had to look it up. It means “1. of lower or secondary class or rank: subordinate, subsidiary. 2. Providing additional help or support: auxiliary, supplemental.”

Once I knew the meaning of half of the books title, I was ready to dive in. This sci-fi book is bonkers.

Here’s the synopsis, “On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren—a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.”

The A.I.’s linked soldier hive mine (think “The Borg” from Star Trek) are the ancillaries. They were people. The Radch empire, ruled by an Emperor, goes around colonizing other planets. The Radch call it annexing. Once they violently take over, killing most of the wealthy and influential, they “harvest” (see kidnap) 1000’s of young people from the newly annexed planet, and put them in stasis (to eventually become an ancillary), or convert them immediately into ancillaries. This involves the A.I. taking over the persons brain and linking them into the hive mind of the space ship, effectively killing the person.

So, with that horrible and abominable exposition, we get to the story. This is a well written book with some compelling characters and good character development. The book goes back in forth in time, starting in the now, and then jumping back to 20 years prior, and then back to the now. The book tackles some heavy topics, such as colonization, the value of human life, slavery, trauma, free-will, and what can happen when a despot has been in power for far too long.

Oh, and the Radch don't refer to anyone by gender (they have genders, it's just not important to distinguish people by gender in their society) so everyone in the book is referred to as "she" by Breq, whether they are a she or not. Also, the higher class you are, the darker your skin is in the Radch.

I liked the book well enough to start the 2nd in the trilogy. It’s a solid book that I recommend.

This concludes today’s unasked for book review.