Ancillary Justice

There's so many good bits and little shiny details in this epic redemption journey. In the past, a simple occupation mission by an atrocious all-conquering invasion force goes awry with a mysterious conspiracy coming to a head. The protagonist is an AI ship consciousness multiply embodied in enslaved human soldiers. A crisis builds under the watchful eye of an empress that rules from within thousands of bodies.

In the present, the aftermath of the crisis is our protagonist singly embodied, troubled by the atrocities it committed and dedicated to a hopeless mission of vengeance.

There is a lot of dealing with a... not an untrustworthy narrator but an extremely neurodivergent naive narrator. Lots of fun gender issues and language issues that present as interesting puzzles for the reader.

J’ai eu du mal à me mettre dedans, les règles grammaticales sur le genre étant non seulement confusante mais désagréable (j’ai eu l’occasion de lire un livre où tout était genré au féminin « elle pleut », « la bébé », mais ce n’est pas pareil).
Après quelques chapitres (et ayant appris que la version originale était aussi « perturbante » et que ce n’était pas une aberration de traduction), j’ai enfin profité du livre.
Une histoire complexe et très bien ficelée, originale, que j’ai trouvé très rafraîchissante.

There's a lot of death and destruction happening throughout the book and the Radch is quite an evil Empire. Nevertheless, the two main characters grew on me quickly. Great world-building but done in a restrained manner. The story itself is quite the wild ride. It also stands on its own, despite being the first book in a trilogy.

J'ai pris du temps à commencer à le lire après qu'il m'ait été recommandé mais je l'ai fini rapidement. Le livre est très prenant, le worldbuilding est excellent avec une civilisation construite en détail et complexe. Le traitement grammatical du genre est intéressant dans la traduction française même si du coup j'ai tendance à considérer tout les personnages comme féminins. La question de l'identité et de sa continuité, ainsi que de la viabilité d'une civilisation expansionniste et colonialiste sont posées de manière intéressante.

Leckie's novel explores so many different worlds and how the worlds see each other that it provides interesting insights into what makes something alien. The transhumanist space ship AI as a first-person character also asks questions about what it means to be alive. One of the central themes of a society with a genderless pronoun also forces the reader to consider if gender matters in this future world, while also examining why certain characters are expected to have a specified gender.

A fascinating exploration of colonialism, gender, and the question of human agency told through a remarkably human, arguably nonhuman protagonist. A must-read for anyone who enjoys outside-the-box thinking and sci-fi worldbuilding.

не певен... окремі фрагменти читаються цікаво й легко: ті, де події розвиваються швидко. решта — повільні, заплутані діалоги або монологи, в якх я плутався (на слух, бо аудіокнижка) як мале дитя... коротше кажучи, таке.

Inutilmente complicato e onestamente non mi ha entusiasmato. Forse non l'ho capito io o forse sono troppo legato all'hard scifi classica.

In today's world, everyone should be thinking deeply about issues of identity. Gender identity, national identity, identifying with a group, etc. And anyone who thinks deeply about issues of identity needs to read this book.

The book is set in the far future, and it has all the kinds of technology you'd expect, but it's all downplayed and in the background. No science details are discussed. That seems to put it into the "Space Opera" category of science fiction.

Ancillary Justice is a great science fiction story set in a richly detailed universe. It may be dangerous to compare it to such a classic, but this really is in the league of Dune.

The story is all about Breq and her mission. She is looking for revenge, something she’s not really supposed to feel, because she is an AI that used to lead 1000s of soldiers and had control over a ship that could destroy planets. All in the name of the Radch.

She has been in this mission of revenge for twenty years and the book tells the story what lead to the events and how it all ends.

It takes a bit of getting used to some of the peculiarities of the book (I don’t want to spoil anything) but once you enter its universe, there is no way back.

J'essayerai d'en dire plus plus tard, mais rapidement pour l'instant, voici mon avis.
une parenté stylistique évidente avec l'œuvre de Ian M Banks, et en particulier Excession, est forcément une bonne chose pour moi. Mais ce roman y ajoute une finesse, une subtilité dans les personnages et le monde (difficile puisque Banks était déjà un auteur de la finesse) qui sont extrêmement plaisants. En bonus, certains artefacts d'écriture rendent assez bien, et en particulier la grammaire de la langue où le féminin est le genre par défaut.
J'ai envie de dire que la relève du space-opera est assurée... Sauf que ça n'est qu'un premier tome...