Last year I read one of the best sci-fi trilogies ever: the Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie. My little review (I started May with a whiz bang 3 book series called Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie. Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy. The plot is Breq, a soldier who used to be a starship but now they are an ‘enhanced’ human. The 3 books are an engrossing, well plotted tale of interstellar intrigue as Breq confronts their past and navigates a new future as they both support and oppose the emperor. World building on a massive scale-check. Interesting and intriguing characters-check. Weird aliens and space battles-check. I really enjoyed the series and I will be looking at more books by Ann Leckie.) was so inadequate to the awesomeness of the series. It was so good I just couldn’t believe it. Now, let’s come into 2023 and a brand new book set in the Radch world!!
Wow, this is one of my best reads of 2023!! What does it mean to be human/alien/male/female or even family? Leckie tackles these big issues in the context of the intergalactic world of the Imperial Radch. The book has three main characters and as the story progresses, we learn who Enae, Reet, and Qven are, what they are, and how their stories connect, intertwine and merge. The basic plot is Enae takes on a diplomatic assignment to find a fugitive missing for 200 years while Reet (an adoptee) finds clues to his past at the same time Qven is learning to be a Presgr translator. Presgr, you say, dear reader? Oh, yes, the mysterious even more dangerously scary aliens than the other scary aliens from the previous books in the series. If you’ve read the other books you will immediately fall right into the plot. Newbies will have a bit of a learning curve to figure some things out but the book is very accessible to all readers. There is danger, conspiracies, space travel, etc as you expect, with the underlying theme of what makes you-you. Very well done and not just a good story, it sparked some conversations with those around me as we read. I was given a copy to share my opinion.