Ancillary Justice
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| Author | Ann Leckie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | John Harris |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
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Publication date
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1 October 2013 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 409 |
| ISBN | 978-0-316-24662-0 |
| Followed by | Ancillary Sword |
Ancillary Justice is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in 2013. It is Leckie's debut novel and the first in her "Imperial Radch" trilogy of space opera novels. The novel follows Breq — the sole survivor of a starship destroyed by treachery, and the vessel of that ship's artificial consciousness — as she attempts to avenge herself on the ruler of her civilization.
Ancillary Justice received critical praise, won the Hugo Award,[1] Nebula Award, BSFA Award, Arthur C. Clarke Award and Locus Award, and was nominated for several other science fiction awards. The cover art is by John Harris.
A 2012 short story by Leckie, Night’s Slow Poison, is set in the same fictional universe.[2]
Plot summary[edit]
Ancillary Justice is a space opera set thousands of years in the future, where the primary galactic power is the expansionist Radch empire, which houses fragments of AIs in human bodies known as ancillaries. A notable conceit of the novel is that the Radchaai do not distinguish people by gender. Leckie conveys this by using female personal pronouns for everybody, or by having the Radchaai main character guess wrongly when she has to use languages with gender-specific pronouns.
The book starts some years after the disappearance of a Radch starship, the Justice of Toren. At the start of the novel the sole surviving ancillary (and fragment of the Justice of Toren's consciousness), Breq, encounters a former comrade, Seivarden, on an ice planet. The narrative switches between two plot strands: Breq's "present day" quest for justice for the Justice of Toren's destruction and several flashback sequences set nineteen years earlier with the Justice of Toren in orbit around the planet of Shis'urna, which is about to be formally brought into the Radchaai empire. Breq eventually finds out that the Justice of Toren's destruction was the result of a covert war between two opposed strands of consciousness of the Lord of the Radch, Anaander Mianaai, who uses multiple synchronized bodies to rule her far-flung empire. At the end of the novel, Breq associates herself with the more pacific aspect of Anaander Mianaai while waiting for an opportunity to enact her revenge.
Critical reception[edit]
The novel received widespread acclaim and recognition. Russell Letson's Locus review appreciated the ambitious structure of Leckie's novel, which interweaves several past and present strands of action in a manner reminiscent of Iain M. Banks's Use of Weapons, and its engagement with the tropes of recent space opera as established by Banks, Ursula K. Le Guin, C. J. Cherryh and others. He concluded that "[t]his is not entry-level SF, and its payoff is correspondingly greater because of that."[3]
In the opinion of Genevieve Valentine, writing for NPR, the "assured, gripping and stylish" novel succeeded both on the large and on the small scale, as the tale of an empire and as a character study.[4] Tor.com’s Liz Bourke praised Leckie's worldbuilding and her writing as "clear and muscular, with a strong forward impetus, like the best of thriller writing", concluding that Ancillary Justice was "both an immensely fun novel, and a conceptually ambitious one".[5]
Nina Allan's review in Arc was more critical: while she found "nothing lazy, cynical or even particularly commercial-minded" in the novel, she criticized its characterization and considered that its uncritical adoption of space opera tropes and the "disappointingly simple" ideas it conveyed (such as that empires are evil) made Ancillary Justice "an SF novel of the old school: tireless in its recapitulation of genre norms and more or less impenetrable to outsiders".[6]
Awards[edit]
Ancillary Justice won the following awards:
- 2014 Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), announced at the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention (Loncon 3) in London on 17 August 2014.[7][8]
- Kitschies Golden Tentacle for best debut novel of 2013. The Golden Tentacle is awarded to “the debut novel that best fits the criteria of progressive, intelligent and entertaining”.[9]
- Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of the year.[10]
- British Science Fiction Association BSFA Award for Best Novel of 2013,[11] in a tie with Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L. Powell.[12]
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Award for Best Novel.[13]
- Locus Award for Best First Novel.[14]
The novel was also nominated for the following awards:
- Shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time in 2013 in the United States.[15] Countdown City by Ben H. Winters won the award.[16]
- Named to the Tiptree Award Honor List for 2013. The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is given for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender. Rupetta by N. A. Sulway won the award.[17]
- Finalist for the 2013 Compton Crook Award for best first science fiction/fantasy/horror novel from the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.[18] Fire with Fire by Charles Gannon won the award.[19]
References[edit]
- ^ "2014 Hugo Award Winners". The Hugo Awards. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ Leckie, Ann. "Night’s Slow Poison". Tor.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ Letson, Russell (27 October 2013). "Russell Letson reviews Ann Leckie". Locus. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ Valentine, Genevieve (8 October 2013). "A Skillfully Composed Space Opera In 'Ancillary Justice'". NPR. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ Bourke, Liz (6 September 2013). ""Nothing quite clarifies your thoughts like thinking you’re about to die." Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ^ Allan, Nina (January 2014). "We’re reading ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie". Archived from the original on 10 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
- ^ "2014 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
- ^ "Hugo Award Nominees 2013". Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Golden Tentacle Winner 2013". Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Arthur C. Clarke Winner 2013". Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "BSFA Shortlist 2013". Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "BSFA Winners 2013". Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "2013 Nebula Awards Winners Announced". Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ Gallo, Irene. "Announcing the 2014 Locus Award Winners". Tor.com. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "Phillip K. Dick Shortlist 2013". Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Phillip K. Dick Winners 2013". Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Tiptree Winners and Honorees 2013". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Compton Crook Nominees 2013 (.pdf)". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ "Gannon Wins Compton Crook Award".
