To preface, I just want to point out how much I enjoyed Ancillary Justice, the first book in this series by Ann Leckie. It’s impossible to deny the implications that come from referring to every character as she, and that really informs her vision of this future for humanity. I thought the characters were interesting, the plot was engrossing, and I immediately went and put the subsequent books on hold for Libby. I waited a long time and finally read Ancillary Sword.

And I have thoughts…

I’ve been sitting on my hands for a minute concerning this book, really trying to soak in what I thought about. Like I’ve said before when dealing with books I have mixed feelings about, remember that just because something didn’t jive with me doesn’t mean the book isn’t “good”, which I’m inclined to think here. I think Ancillary Sword is objectively a good book in its own right, and does all of the things it wants to do and does them well.

For those who haven’t read either book, know that this is getting into spoiler space for BOTH of these novels. Both of them are good in their way, and other people will certainly feel differently than I, so go read them, both. Support Ann Leckie, she’s doing great work in trying to diversify the future, it’s all a good thing. Read them both first and then come back if you have some thoughts, even if they’re different than mine.

Back to the Future

In quick summation, for those who don’t like Sci-Fi or need a refresher about the first book in the series, Ancillary Justice follows a woman named Breq, the last remnant of an AI connected to a warship for a conquering galactic empire. When she learns things about the empire that she’s not supposed to and is ordered to do things that go against her beliefs, her ship is destroyed, all except her, an ancillary, or a human body connected to the AI of the commanding ship. From there, she sets out to take revenge and right the wrongs that she’s committed against the seemingly immortal ruler of said empire.

It was a Hell of a ride, one that I was happy to take in the first book. There was a sense of scale in what Breq was trying to accomplish, so even though she was a super soldier with a super brain with a super gun, it still seemed like an incredibly difficult mission to accomplish. What’s more, Leckie has an amazing ability to incorporate multiple scenes at once, due to the rules of her world where the same person can be in different places at the same time. It gives tense moments a cinematic feel that I haven’t really read in a book before, and I was really stunned when I watched her just write two, sometimes three scenes right on top of each other as someone experiences many different points of view simultaneously.

Second Time Around

Because of how much I enjoyed the first one, I was embarrassed to admit that there were several moments where I was bored with the second. Ancillary Sword helped me realize some of the thoughts that had been nagging me all the way since the first book – things I didn’t have language for the first time through. After everything was said and done, I would say that I enjoyed the book overall. Yet I have to admit there were moments where I contemplated putting the book down.

Most significantly, the plot of Ancillary Sword seemed to wander. The first book seemed very focused on what it wanted to accomplish, and we knew the stakes of the conflict and how impossible it all seemed. Even when stranger things were happening – like steeling transport ships or falling off a cliff – things seemed to have a purpose, even if it wasn’t immediately apparent until later. But in the second book, it felt like going on a tangent. Athoek – planet and space station – don’t seem to have much to offer in the way of the plot we knew from the first book. Although Breq continues to denounce whichever ruler is out there, she’s still serving one of them. Meandering off to a tea growing planet just to break some chains seemed unnecessary – we already know that Breq wants to take the oppressive systems down. This just yields more proof to a fact we already knew about the protagonist and the empire she’s fighting against. It feels redundant.

Perhaps just as important, there were moments in the second book that brought to light concerns I didn’t even know I had with the first. Breq’s character is refreshing in a lot of ways – strong (physically and mentally), capable, resourceful, intelligent, diverse, driven. All of the traits of a strong, female lead – the kind me and like-minded people have been asking for.

But there is a different kind of strength that I think is important. In the first novel, Breq always felt like she was fighting back from the brink. She didn’t have a ton of resources, her mission was nigh impossible to achieve, and her physical feats could only get her so far toward her goal. Thus, in that case, it wasn’t so noticeable.

In this book, with her own ship to command and officers and soldiers at her disposal, and everyone listening to her since she’s the Fleet Captain, it just feels like Breq is good at almost everything. It makes it hard to see her grow as a character. There’s something to be said that much of her growth is emotional, but even on those fronts, she almost always says the right thing. And even if she doesn’t to a particular character, the audience is privy to her thoughts – if they could only just understand where Breq was coming from, what she was unable to tell them, they would go along with whatever she was trying to convey. The first book portrayed Breq and her mission as being an underdog. If that’s still supposed to be the case, it’s harder to identify in this book. It was frustrating sometimes to see Breq accurately navigate even the most difficult conversations with impunity – always knowing what the other party was going to say, even if she didn’t have a neural link with them.

Strong characters can make mistakes. Hell, they don’t have to be good at anything. But strength arises in characters when they have to overcome those challenges, from within and without. Breq is so amazing at all of the things she’s required to do and always knows what all of the characters in the book are thinking, or can at least guess with startling accuracy. It really brought me out of the experience when I could think of the most logical thing that could happen in a conversation and then see Breq say those exact things, never missing a beat. Sometimes, it took the challenge out of scenes I thought could use it.

Like I said, I really enjoyed the book. The ONLY other thing I would comment on is the climax, which was very intense and satisfying for the most part. But why did Hetnys have a knife? That just seemed like an odd choice, because if she had a gun, things would have gone differently. But this is the future… And she’s holding a knife to her throat like a cartoon villain? An officer in command of a warship with planet destroying weaponry just pulls a knife on a lady? Weird choice.

And Beyond

Like I said, read the book for yourself and judge. Maybe you’re the kind of person that doesn’t care about spoilers, so go see for yourself and make your own opinions about it. Because I could get through this one and still have fun, I have to finish the series, to see if things get back on track from the first one. Fingers crossed.

Keep reading.