Ancillary Sword cover art

Ancillary Sword

The Imperial Radch series, Book 2

 Preview

Audible Standard 1-month free trial

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo + applicable tax after 30-day trial. Cancel Anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

Ancillary Sword

Written by: Ann Leckie
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.08

Buy Now for $28.08

Justice for all

Breq - the soldier who used to be a spaceship - is serving the emperor she swore to destroy. She's been given her own warship, her own crew, and ordered to the only place in the galaxy she would have agreed to go: to Athoek Station, to protect the family of the lieutenant she murdered in cold blood. Athoek was annexed by the Empire some 600 years ago, and by now everyone is fully 'civilised'. Or should be - but everything is not as tranquil as it appears. Old divisions are still troublesome, Athoek Station's AI is restless, and it looks like the alien Presger might have taken an interest in what's going on. With no guarantees that their interest is benevolent.

©2014 Ann Leckie (P)2014 Hachette Audio Adventure Fiction Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera Solider
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

What the critics say

"Leckie proves she's no mere flash in the pan with this follow-up to her multiple-award-winning debut space opera, Ancillary Justice." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Continue the series
Ancillary Mercy cover art
Ancillary Mercy Written by: Ann Leckie
All stars
Most Relevant
this series does a fantastic job of taking you into the perspective of an artificial intelligence. The ever present 'He' of so many fantasy stories is imverted. Indeed there are so many 'she's that you think, maybe that's just how this consciousness perceives humans.

Being 'wired' to be utterly assimilated by an intelligence capable of being in many places simultaneously, the protagonist, Justice of Torins, frequently collapses the experiences of a single moment from disparate locations.

This narrative technique can be disorienting, and I could certainly see how some readers would find unpleasantly challenging. There are a lot of unfamiliar names, and a whole galactic history that the reader needs to keep tabs on in addition to the interesting narrative play. That can be a lot if you just want to disappear into a story you've read a hundred times by different names.

Mature readers should enjoy this book. The action that it offers is subdued. It is more 2001 Space Odyssey than it is Michael Bay's Transformers. Like does a great job of constructing a compelling diplomatic adventure. It is a kind of clever stories we need more of.

best feminist science fiction out there.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the play on perspectives that the protagonist continually brings and the exploration of gender in this culture where all use she/her pronouns. Complex to follow sometimes but narrator does a great job with diverse voices. I'm definitely hooked and excited for the next book.

Diverse perspectives

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Narration for this book was, by far, the worst I have heard on audible. The screeching voice for certain characters made it almost unlistenable. Painful to listen to. The story was fine, but why they chose this painful narrator is beyond me.

Terrible narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.