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Ancillary Justice

The Imperial Radch series, Book 1

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Ancillary Justice

By: Ann Leckie
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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About this listen

The record-breaking debut novel that won every major science fiction award in 2014, Ancillary Justice is the story of a warship trapped in a human body and her search for revenge.

Ann Leckie is the first author to win the Arthur C. Clarke, the Nebula and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in the same year.

They made me kill thousands, but I only have one target now.

The Radch are conquerors to be feared - resist and they'll turn you into a 'corpse soldier' - one of an army of dead prisoners animated by a warship's AI mind. Whole planets are conquered by their own people.

The colossal warship called The Justice of Toren has been destroyed - but one ship-possessed soldier has escaped the devastation. Used to controlling thousands of hands, thousands of mouths, The Justice now has only two hands, and one mouth with which to tell her tale.

But one fragile, human body might just be enough to take revenge against those who destroyed her.

The Imperial Radch trilogy begins with Ancillary Justice, continues in Ancillary Sword and concludes with Ancillary Mercy.

Also available now: Provenance is a stunning standalone adventure set in the same world as Ancillary Justice.

©2013 Ann Leckie (P)2014 Hachette Audio
Adventure Hard Science Fiction Military Science Fiction Space Opera Thriller & Suspense Space Fiction Suspense
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Critic reviews

"Thrilling, moving and awe-inspiring." (Guardian)

"Signals the arrival of a hard science fiction author who just might fill the gap left by Iain M. Banks. Ancillary Justice is a highly original novel...an intelligent slow-burner. Highly recommended." (Independent on Sunday)

"You will be truly astounded at how Leckie has fully fleshed out a universe and is asking and attempting to answer the difficult questions that many authors never even address in science fiction." (Buzzfeed)

"Unexpected, compelling and very cool - Ann Leckie nails it. I've never met a heroine like Breq before. I consider this a very good thing indeed." (John Scalzi, Hugo Award-winning author of Redshirts)

What listeners say about Ancillary Justice

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  • Overall
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just okay

I listened to this book because of the huge number of awards it got. Ann Leckie is technically an excellent writer and the narrator did a very good job with lots of different accents etc for the characters. However although overall I quite enjoyed this book I found it quite dry and I'm not sure why it has won so many awards. I am going to carry on with the series though!

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Worth the effort

This is a very good listen. Just keep in mind it is very hard to keep track of who is who at the beginning due to the genderless language used ('she' is used for everyone). It makes it a very interesting concept to follow along. This book is incredibly unique and worth your time.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Challenging & dizzying in equal measure

The story spirals up and out from humble but complec planetary beginnings, but manages to unfold until it reaches across vast distances and epochal timescales. Adjoah Andoah is sublime as usual.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Just the best

This is one of my absolutely favourite books. Having it on audio as well is a treat.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Eloquent, well written but at times dull

A very polished piece of writing, precisely crafted and full of detail. but at times overly long and dull... second half is best.

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Wonderful

Ajoa Andoh‘s graceful rendering of this great Ann Leckie novel adds layer upon layer of pleasure. Very gripping, too!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Took a long time to get going.

This was a perfectly OK book. Nothing too special but equally it took me until about 8 hours in before I started to care if anyone lived or died. The plot revolves around one objective and I'm still not sure how that worked out.

The flashbacky nature of every other chapter was a bit annoying but you get used to it. The pronoun thing (everyone in the culture the book is set in is she/her even if male) was really distracting to start with, possibly because of the audiobook format where voices are distinctly gendered. Once I got over this though it was fine. It was interesting to read a story with all one pronoun but unless you have strong gender roles in your head it won't be revoluntionary.

The characters were... OK. Again, I never cared too much for them one way or another. I'm not sure who you're meant to support and without a 'better' side in the story's conflict it can seem a bit dull.

Narration was good if lacking zest. That may have been intentional though.

Overall, I'd say this book is fine. It isn't something you can't stop listening to nor something you can't wait to stop listening to. Throughly OK. I won't be reading the sequels though.

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Good read, though a tad hard to follow.

Great book, but a bit hard to follow as the universe is very complex.

a glosary is recommended. 🤣🤣🤣

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Great book!

Loved it! Great book and totally enjoyed the narrator too. Highly recommended to all, AI:s and humans a like

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

British Empire goes space

Can’t say more than this without dropping spoilers: I was expecting (and looking forward to) the plot to unfold one way, but the book delivered something so completely different that I felt cheated.

Narration is good though.

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