Scan barcode
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
TRANSLATION STATE is best read after the Imperial Radch trilogy and PROVENANCE, as some of the worldbuilding details reveal conclusions to situations encountered in those books. That being said, TRANSLATION STATE is a self-contained story which delves into the Presger in a manner beyond the scope of the previous stories. The series as a whole focuses on questions of personhood and community, different ways people can be connected, and ways that identity can be complicated by, or unrelated to, one’s physical form.
I continue to be impressed with the worldbuilding in this series. This explains thing things about the Presger Translators which are completely consistent with events in previous books, making it clear that much of the underlying situation had been thought out well in advance. I love it when an author clearly has already figured out their world at a level of detail that I usually don’t have to worry about as a reader. The internal consistency is so nice.
Enae was eir grandmaman's caretaker, but grandmaman is dead, and Enae is sent to find a Presger Translator who has been missing for 200 years. No one expects e to find them, but e wants to do a good job anyway.
Qven is meant to mate and become a Preger Translator; all of their development has been aimed at this goal. An incident leaves them altered in a way that the adults do not find acceptable, and their life is in jeopardy. If they cannot be useful, then they will never mate and they will die. One of the translators hopes to salvage the situation by making Qven merge with a newly discovered juvenile who grew up among humans.
Reet is adopted, just like his many siblings, but he’s always seemed odd to other people. His thoughts are filled with entrails and viscera, he desires to pull and tear to see the gorey insides of those around him. As part of some attempt at belonging, Reet ends up assigned to escort Enae around when they visit following the centuries old trail of the missing translator.
I like the three main characters, they comprise a great trio of perspectives. Even though their initial proximity is forced, I like the way Qven and Reet interact. They fit well with each other, and I hope to get more of them in future books.
While not a direct sequel, this provides a lot of information about the Presger Translators, details which explain several things from the previous books. The main storyline is entirely new, introducing and resolving the assorted troubles of the three main characters. There are various background details in this book, and the previous ones which will likely require several more stories to fully resolve, so I would be very surprised if this is intended to be the final book. Someone could quite easily start here and have a very satisfying reading experience: the kinds of things which are explained in detail are no better or worse of an entry point to the series, other than that they canonically happened after the previous four books. I can’t think of anything important that was explained enough detail to feel like a spoiler for someone who begins here and then later goes back for the other books.
Things I love, in no particular order: Qven's descriptions of growing up; the way the Presger Translators seem to have conflated being human with being Radchai – particularly the way that understanding shapes which humans ceremonies they practice.
I continue to be impressed with the worldbuilding in this series. This explains thing things about the Presger Translators which are completely consistent with events in previous books, making it clear that much of the underlying situation had been thought out well in advance. I love it when an author clearly has already figured out their world at a level of detail that I usually don’t have to worry about as a reader. The internal consistency is so nice.
Enae was eir grandmaman's caretaker, but grandmaman is dead, and Enae is sent to find a Presger Translator who has been missing for 200 years. No one expects e to find them, but e wants to do a good job anyway.
Qven is meant to mate and become a Preger Translator; all of their development has been aimed at this goal. An incident leaves them altered in a way that the adults do not find acceptable, and their life is in jeopardy. If they cannot be useful, then they will never mate and they will die. One of the translators hopes to salvage the situation by making Qven merge with a newly discovered juvenile who grew up among humans.
Reet is adopted, just like his many siblings, but he’s always seemed odd to other people. His thoughts are filled with entrails and viscera, he desires to pull and tear to see the gorey insides of those around him. As part of some attempt at belonging, Reet ends up assigned to escort Enae around when they visit following the centuries old trail of the missing translator.
I like the three main characters, they comprise a great trio of perspectives. Even though their initial proximity is forced, I like the way Qven and Reet interact. They fit well with each other, and I hope to get more of them in future books.
While not a direct sequel, this provides a lot of information about the Presger Translators, details which explain several things from the previous books. The main storyline is entirely new, introducing and resolving the assorted troubles of the three main characters. There are various background details in this book, and the previous ones which will likely require several more stories to fully resolve, so I would be very surprised if this is intended to be the final book. Someone could quite easily start here and have a very satisfying reading experience: the kinds of things which are explained in detail are no better or worse of an entry point to the series, other than that they canonically happened after the previous four books. I can’t think of anything important that was explained enough detail to feel like a spoiler for someone who begins here and then later goes back for the other books.
Things I love, in no particular order: Qven's descriptions of growing up; the way the Presger Translators seem to have conflated being human with being Radchai – particularly the way that understanding shapes which humans ceremonies they practice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Racism, Grief, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Gore, and Torture
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, War, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
keya_caivalur's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
If you're into politics, you'll like this book. I'm not into politics so I was not the intended audience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Blood, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Blood, Confinement, Deportation, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Body horror, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Classism, Gaslighting, Rape, and Abandonment
Minor: Trafficking, Transphobia, and War
hwesta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This book is so weird and I love it so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Confinement
Minor: War, Police brutality, Death of parent, Child death, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Death
Lots of thoughts of dismemberment or mentions of it happening to human-like persons in the pasthanz's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Abandonment, Cannibalism, War, and Body horror
woweewhoa's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Confinement, Racism, Violence, Genocide, Death, and Sexual assault
Minor: War
greymalkin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I was not a big fan of Provenance but I LOVED Translation State. I'd give it a full five stars except for the large amount of body horror and gore, which makes it a bit harder to want to re-read it many times. I enjoyed the characters and even found the romance convincing and enjoyable. I enjoy seeing the view of politics outside of Radch space.
While I admire the use of neo-pronouns, the use of pronouns as a plot point felt a bit clunky. I guess it was an important contrast to the Radchii mis-gendering almost everyone, but I guess I wanted the identity of being human tied to something other than feeling strongly gendered. I also felt like the character who insisted that their pronoun is "e" but then following it immediately with "a princex in disguise" made it feel less about an issue of pronouns and more like a full identity as a "princex in disguise". They didn't say "e just like Reet's parent" or just "e". And I found the "princex in disguise" aspect interesting and wanted more follow up on that. But no one commented on it. Shouldn't it mean something that a juvenile Presger Translator identifies with a powerful royal in hiding?
I also really liked Enae but it seems like sie was more of a plot point for Reet and Qven. Once they met up, Enae sort of disappeared except as an epilogue narrator, which is disappointing. I wanted more of hir story. Reet and Qven were so unformed and childlike, I was less interested in their story. I wanted to see Enae bloom more. I wanted to see hir on a date with hir cousin. I wanted to see hir really stretch hir wings and discover more about hirself. Oh well.
I also really liked Enae but it seems like sie was more of a plot point for Reet and Qven. Once they met up, Enae sort of disappeared except as an epilogue narrator, which is disappointing. I wanted more of hir story. Reet and Qven were so unformed and childlike, I was less interested in their story. I wanted to see Enae bloom more. I wanted to see hir on a date with hir cousin. I wanted to see hir really stretch hir wings and discover more about hirself. Oh well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Genocide and War
More...