Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie REVIEW

[@RobinWootton]

Good points. In terms of tracking the space opera, the video says you have to do your homework (5:45). I was already taking notes of names and places. Glad to see I'm not the only one?!

[@soniashapiro4827]

I enjoyed the trilogy very much. I wonder if the reason why I didn't have trouble keeping track was because I listened to the audiobooks instead of reading and the narrator had different voices for the characters. I recommend it highly. Thanks for a well done review which had no spoilers but still had lots to say.

[@evanparker]

this book is so strange and so wonderful. it's a real victory in the occasionally homogeneous world of scifi. it sticks out in the best possible way! i loved it.

[@ericgrabowski3896]

Just finished 2666. Like all Bolano that I've read the last hundred or so pages were brilliant. The whole book is great but from p.784 its jaw droppingly good. I did in fact drop my jaw on page 784. He is the kind of writer I love because he is so good but it is heartbreaking sometimes- I wish I was that good. I want to be that good. I'm sorry I haven't read this book you are reviewing here but wanted to let you know that when you get to 2666 you'll be reading a masterpiece. Published posthumously but he knew what he was doing and where it was going. Thanks for your great reviews and incite. I have the feeling we could talk for days about books and writers.

[@TheBookchemist]

Thanks for the input man! I plan to read 2666 this summer and I definitely can use the ecouragement :)

[@myreadinglife8816]

Great review! I found Ancillary Justice hard to get into at first for the reasons you describe e.g. gender and lack of character emotions, but I did feel invested by the end and do plan to continue reading the series.

[@MorbidGuardian]

I liked the first Ancillary book despite the Dune syndrome, but I found that the syndrome "worsened," so to speak, in the next two books and I just couldn't bring myself to care about the trilogy as a whole. I'm also glad I'm not the only one who had that same problem with Dune, though. My dislike of that book makes me feel like such an outsider, sometimes.

[@TheBookchemist]

Same here! And I'm glad you confirmed my hunch about the rest of the series :)

[@xw591]

Same. The following books were not great

[@LoyaFrostwind]

I found the writing to be very beautiful and poetic, but incomprehensible at times.

[@Braxant]

Regarding the Dune syndrome, it gets even worse in the 4th book when one character is essentially a god. Obviously I gave up after that book. Is gender the lynchpin of Ancillary Justice or is it the backround to something else that's going on?

[@TheBookchemist]

Background - gender topics aren't even a topic at all in the book per se.

[@ChrisTheo]

Honestly, I found the writing in this book to be so awful I couldn't continue beyond 70-80 pages.

[@MrArchie800]

I was similar but I pressed on and ended up thoroughly enjoyed it

[@james2529]

I read this whole trilogy. The first book was fine, not great but readable. The plot frequently comes to a screeching halt for long digressions on gender, customs, and etiquette but the world building is fine and it finishes fairly strongly. Book two is one of the worst books I have ever read. The main character is basically omni-present and omniscient for large parts of the novel which means there is no tension or threat at all. Huge swathes of the book are dedicated to scenes of people drinking tea, observing ettiquette and discussing simmering racial tensions on a planet which has no relation to the overall story. The supporting characters are all boring nothings with the emotional maturity of toddlers. Book three ties up some threads but is only slightly better than than book two. This was one of my first hate-reads. I was amazed how bad book two was and wanted to see how much worse it could get by the end of the series. As it turns out, pretty bad. Every single basic character or plotting problem was present here - unsympathetic characters, no real character arcs, no threat, no tension, big problems are resolved off screen or disregarded with a single sentence, the characters are saved by not one but two deus ex machinas, the main bad guy doesn't actually pose that much of a threat and is defeated by means entirely separate from the skill, knowledge or planning of any of the main characters. Genuinely one of the worst pieces of media I have ever experienced.

[@johannbadenhorst4920]

The gender thing sounds like a dystopian future where we are heading very quickly and that’s not a good thing.

[@yobebooo]

Johann Badenhorst I normally would agree with you, but I just read this book and found it really fascinating!

[@aquariumnite]

So I am a fan of the trilogy, and I think that you should take a swing at the second and third books. The reason is that the first book is mainly a revenge story, while the other two shows the more relatable human sides of characters and shows that they are not perfect. With several, including the main character having mental/emotional breakdowns at various points.