The unique twist here is that each ship has hundreds of what are called “ancillaries,” human bodies augmented by cybernetics and controlled by the ship. Their warships are built with advanced artificial intelligence that give them personalities and the ability to act as an independent entity (with programmed safeguards for putting the safety of its crew, officers, and captain first). The Imperial Radch is extremely expansionist and has been for centuries. Instead, humanity, now known as Radchaii, has spread out across the galaxy as an empire. Planet Earth is a barely remembered legend that is hardly mentioned over the course of the narrative.
You see, the story of Ancillary Justice takes place in the far, far distant future.
Breq is, without putting too fine a point on it, a spaceship. The first novel, Ancillary Justice, introduces the reader to its protagonist and narrator, Breq. The trilogy is imaginative, challenging, and fun it examines thought-provoking themes while still telling a gripping space opera. The series has been completed for six years now, but I read through it over the period of the past couple years, with a few other books in between each title. Such is the case with Anne Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy. When someone comes along with something truly creative, you can’t help but take notice. At the same time, so much of popular SF falls into the same cliches that have been explored for decades by more inventive writers. Not only do the often futuristic and astral settings make for some cool stories, but the genre is particularly adept at investigating nuanced and far-ranging ideas in novel ways. In the same spirit, I’ll occasionally write about a book or book series that particularly stands out to me, and tell a little about what makes it so worth checking out.Īs I’ve made clear before, I’m a big fan of science-fiction.
While Then Play On is first and foremost a music blog, I’ve spilled plenty of ink on my thoughts on various movies and television shows.
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