Paperback, 330 pages
English language
Published Dec. 26, 2015 by Orbit.
For just a moment, things seem to be under control for the soldier known as Breq.
Then a search of Athoek Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist — someone who might be a refugee from a ship that's been hiding beyond the empire's reach for three thousand years.
In the meantime a messenger from the alien and mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai —ruler of an empire that's at war with itself.
Anaander is heavily armed and extremely unhappy with Breq. She could take her ship and crew and flee, but that would leave everyone at Athoek in terrible danger.
Breq has a desperate plan. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.
For just a moment, things seem to be under control for the soldier known as Breq.
Then a search of Athoek Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist — someone who might be a refugee from a ship that's been hiding beyond the empire's reach for three thousand years.
In the meantime a messenger from the alien and mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai —ruler of an empire that's at war with itself.
Anaander is heavily armed and extremely unhappy with Breq. She could take her ship and crew and flee, but that would leave everyone at Athoek in terrible danger.
Breq has a desperate plan. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.
I did enjoy this one a lot great ending for the series, and I liked the kind of open ending for this book. fun.
This trilogy was so great. I love everything that the author did with gender and language. I love everything about how the series spends so much time on the question of who deserves respect and why...or perhaps rather why we attribute respect to certain individuals.
It's just so good. I'm so excited to read the standalone novels as well. Especially because I want to learn more about the Presger!
This trilogy was so great. I love everything that the author did with gender and language. I love everything about how the series spends so much time on the question of who deserves respect and why...or perhaps rather why we attribute respect to certain individuals.
It's just so good. I'm so excited to read the standalone novels as well. Especially because I want to learn more about the Presger!
This final book in the Breq trilogy is so satisfying. We get action and infiltration, we get multiple emotional tangles from Seivarden and Breq, we get station politics and the protest line, and we get plenty of thematic discussion around self-determination.
The Translator Zeiat and Sphene comedy routine in this book is also so good, even if it feels tonally out of place at times. (I also think Zeiat and Dlique work better on a reread where Translation State has provided some more context about the Translators and it feels less wacky.)
In the end it’s only ever been one step, and then the next.
I think this trilogy could be unsatisfying to some, in that nothing gets fixed or is truly resolved. To me, it feels like a satisfying model for incremental change, starting with making things better for the people and spaces around …
This final book in the Breq trilogy is so satisfying. We get action and infiltration, we get multiple emotional tangles from Seivarden and Breq, we get station politics and the protest line, and we get plenty of thematic discussion around self-determination.
The Translator Zeiat and Sphene comedy routine in this book is also so good, even if it feels tonally out of place at times. (I also think Zeiat and Dlique work better on a reread where Translation State has provided some more context about the Translators and it feels less wacky.)
In the end it’s only ever been one step, and then the next.
I think this trilogy could be unsatisfying to some, in that nothing gets fixed or is truly resolved. To me, it feels like a satisfying model for incremental change, starting with making things better for the people and spaces around you.
This was definitely my least favorite of the trilogy. It trended preachy, and while there was some cool gate-jumping action, the vast majority of this book was people getting lectured by Breq on how to be better people. Which made for a relatively boring read.
This book leans away from the beautiful melancholy of the first in the series, with a more optimistic (occasionally hilarious) tone. I loved every moment Sphene and Zeiat spent together. The ending surprised me just as much as it surprised the characters, but I suppose it had been brewing underneath my notice. There was a Chekhov's gun obligation that I'm not sure was entirely discharged, but I'm still definitely prepared to rate the book five stars for the enjoyment I got reading it.
This book leans away from the beautiful melancholy of the first in the series, with a more optimistic (occasionally hilarious) tone. I loved every moment Sphene and Zeiat spent together. The ending surprised me just as much as it surprised the characters, but I suppose it had been brewing underneath my notice. There was a Chekhov's gun obligation that I'm not sure was entirely discharged, but I'm still definitely prepared to rate the book five stars for the enjoyment I got reading it.
This is the final part in the Radch trilogy. I read the Dutch translation, which was again spot on.
The story stays with Brecq who is now trying her best to protect the Athoek station. This gets quite complicated when the war between the Radch leader arrives in the solar system.
This is an exiting conclusion to the trilogy and a must read if you have read the previous two books. There's a lot more happening than in the 2nd book which I really enjoyed.
Similar to previous books in the trilogy, the story is also used to discuss some of the choices that the human race has made or will need to make in the future and some possible outcomes.
Unlike in Ancillary Sword, the choices in this final book seemed much more far-reaching and important. Much more like you would expect in a truly great work of science-fiction.
This is the final part in the Radch trilogy. I read the Dutch translation, which was again spot on.
The story stays with Brecq who is now trying her best to protect the Athoek station. This gets quite complicated when the war between the Radch leader arrives in the solar system.
This is an exiting conclusion to the trilogy and a must read if you have read the previous two books. There's a lot more happening than in the 2nd book which I really enjoyed.
Similar to previous books in the trilogy, the story is also used to discuss some of the choices that the human race has made or will need to make in the future and some possible outcomes.
Unlike in Ancillary Sword, the choices in this final book seemed much more far-reaching and important. Much more like you would expect in a truly great work of science-fiction.
Bit silly in places, but overall an enjoyable conclusion to an innovative series. I liked the subversive idea that empathic AIs might make better rulers than humans and the best option might be to remove rather than impose any high level overrides.
Bit silly in places, but overall an enjoyable conclusion to an innovative series. I liked the subversive idea that empathic AIs might make better rulers than humans and the best option might be to remove rather than impose any high level overrides.
Sad to see Breq go. I could just imagine her years bring occupied by the provisional system.
