Ancillary Sword
[Imperial Radch #2]
By Ann Leckie
Published Year: 2014
Page Count: 310 pages
Medium Used: Kindle PW
Genre : Space Opera, Science Fiction, Artificial Intelligence, Ancillaries, Action, Adventure, 2025-read.
Rating : 3/5
Having finished this book, I feel incomplete and dissatisfied. I wanted to read more and digest more but the end came abruptly. I feel a void within myself as to why so little of the Radchaai saga is covered in this book. Compared to the first book in the series, this one is a no brainer. This one doesn't involve much in the way of using AI or ancillaries and hasn't got any interesting twists, suspense moments at all. It is insipid and bland to my taste but the writing is good and prose is gripping.
Breq is given second name as Mianaai and sent to protect and take control of an Athoek station. The gates around the station are damaged and they find a Sword of Atagaris ship standing near a ghost gate. In continuing from part one, where Anaandar Mianaai, the Lord of Radch, has split within herself into two opposite personalities - one thinking her fleets and stations are in good order, the other believing there is an infiltration from alien race. In the first book, we see Breq being the ship Justice of Thoren and its many ancillary bodies and how Anaandar is responsible for pulverising all the ancillaries save one which escaped.
Now,in this book, we come to station Athoek. We see how people and slaves from distant planetary systems are brought to work on gardens and tea plantations on the station in sub human conditions. Breq takes issue with this and goes onto making demands of the station authorities to make amends. The people are Valsaakyans and Ychans and other ethnic groups. Breq also notes that many of the Valsaakyans are missing from their suspension chambers and suspects that someone in power is selling them to unknown entities. And those that are defective upon waking from suspension are ruthlessly murdered. Breq puts himself in an inescapable,dangerous situation from which his ship and agents save him. That's it. That's part 2 in the series. We see the daughter of tea plantation owner ,Raughd, a spoilt and rich brat, sexually exploiting a servant girl and physically abusing another but that doesn't amount to more than indicating how ugly the situation on the station is. And also paves way to rebellion of sorts from the working class against the leadership.
I got a bit confused with all the people and ancillaries being female and yet some being called sir, lord etc. The main dearth I felt is the lack of suspense or the absence of an element of surprise. I am going to read the next book soon so that I could get a bit more into the narrative. So I could gain more from the saga and what the brilliant author wants to say!
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