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shottel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Sci-fi has a mold, sets of well-worn tropes that make it comforting and familiar. Leckie is very comfortable with taking you well outside that mold. It somewhat resembles Star Wars in that it presents a world so far off, in time and space, from our own that it has morphed into something with science we simply couldn’t recognize. But while Star Wars smuggles fantasy into sci-fi, Ancillary Justice trades in exotic political systems and societies.
What happens when one person can be many people? When an AI can control numerous bodies? When time begins to become less and less meaningful with medical and technological advancements? Things definitely begin to look a little sideways.
It’s in this world full of unfamiliar, society-defining technologies that Leckie explores several big themes: What does it mean to be civilized, or to exist in civilization? What makes a person? What makes a political system legitimate? What does gender or sex mean when technologically-assisted reproduction is commonplace? Is the self a coherent unity or is it just a useful fiction? Taking on these big questions in less than 400 pages of fiction is a huge ask, one that Leckie handles mostly well; my sole critique of Ancillary Justice is that sometimes it does get a bit in-your-face about its philosophical questions. I love thoughtful fiction, but Leckie does get a little unsubtle at times.
Nevertheless, this is an absolutely genre-defining piece of fiction, innovative and engaging as it comes. I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in sci-fi or philosophically-minded fiction.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Classism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, War, Racism, Addiction, and Colonisation
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Rape, and Sexual assault
scifi_rat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Addiction, Blood, Drug abuse, Medical content, Slavery, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
Moderate: Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Genocide, War, and Body horror
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed this and I'm very interested in where things go from here. I like the questions raised nearly as much as I appreciate not being given trite answers.
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Grief, Racism, Drug abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Drug use, Slavery, Colonisation, and Death
Minor: Grief, Vomit, Alcohol, Rape, and War
liviamello's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Gun violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry
petrel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: War, Gun violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Genocide, and Murder
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Genocide, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Minor: Body horror, Vomit, and Religious bigotry
pvbobrien's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, Addiction, and Drug abuse
Minor: Murder, Body horror, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, War, and Medical content
minechatz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Colonisation, War, and Gun violence
Moderate: Drug abuse and Genocide
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Religious bigotry
troisha's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Genocide, Death, Drug use, and Grief
Minor: Body horror, Sexual content, Ableism, Alcohol, Medical content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Vomit, and Gore