Book of the Month:
“Ancillary Justice” by Ann Leckie
Last month’s selection “Sea of Rust” did not disappoint. It’s an engaging story that is one part spaghetti western and one part Terminator; all told by a robot’s perspective. Lots of fun and it brings up some deep philosophical questions. It’s difficult to walk the line between an action-packed story and a deep emotional dive about loss and what it is to be human. “Sea of Rust” was hard to put down.
So, on the heels of the full-on robot apocalypse, we thought it would be interesting to look into what life would look like if an ultimate intelligence made its way off-planet and ranged out among the stars. Nebula and Clarke-winning novel “Ancillary Justice” uses this concept as a foundation to tell a story about personhood and the concept of self. It is challenging at times but this space opera is absolutely worth the journey.
This first book of Leckie’s “Imperial Radch” trilogy works as a standalone story but offers a vast universe to investigate if you like where “Justice” takes you.
io9 has a great review of the book here (spoiler warning, you might just want to read the beginning): https://io9.gizmodo.com/ancillary-justice-is-the-mind-blowing-space-opera-youv-1430076479
Tor also has a shining less-spoiler-y review here: https://www.tor.com/2013/09/06/book-review-ann-leckie-ancillary-justice/
