This was OK, but nowhere near as good as Ancillary Justice, the first book in the trilogy. I’m hoping that the final book will get back up to that standard. This just felt a bit like ‘a sagging middle’.

This criticism aside, Leckie still does a really good of depicting a society where gender is disregarded and the language does not distinguish between genders. Leckie does this by referring to everyone as ‘she’ and it’s surprising how quickly you accept this. Although I thought that she had a difficulty when she started referring to someone’s ‘mother’ but never mentioning the person’s ‘father’, since Leckie would like us to assume that word does not exist.

I’m not sure that works, since presumably even in such a society there is a difference between the sperm provider and the individual who bears the child to term. Would ‘mother’ only be used for the latter, or for both? ( )

Not quite as good as the predecessor, [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)|Ann Leckie|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg|24064628], but pretty close. If you haven't already read Ancillary Justice, then do so. If you have, then go ahead and read this one. I doubt you will be disappointed. ( )

The quoted reviews of the second of the trilogy bear testament to the continuation of a great space opera series. It is self evidently, but what strikes one more is that these are dramas of some sophistication about personality, class, manners. This is even more marked of course in 'Provenace', which came after the ‘Imperial Radch’ trilogy, but this middle book of the series demonstrates Leckie’s intelligence and skill, painting a picture on what could seem a familiar canvas in a new way. ( )

I enjoyed this one more than the first. ( )

This sequel was... not what I expected? Returning to the Radchaai empire was a lot of fun, and I really like the opening scenes on Breq's new ship, Mercy of Kalr, as she finds her footing as a captain, and a singular person.

Alas, I found the middle very slow, with a lot of political maneuvering and minor characters who didn't capture my interest. I was surprised we were given a story that didn't feel personal for Breq, even with the obvious parallels between ancillaries and the underclass of Athoek. And after Ancillary Justice pretty much exploded the Radchaai empire, this book felt very parochial in its scale and concerns.

All this sounds terribly negative, yet I still enjoyed spending time in this world, and there were moments near the end that really worked in terms of emotional payoff for the characters. This was so clearly the awkward second book of a trilogy, with all the moving parts wheeling in place for the finale, that I'm hoping the last book recaptures some of the narrative energy this one was lacking. ( )