Ancillary Justice

The Imperial Radch series, Book 1

By: Ann Leckie

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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)

Distracting narration

Everything about this novel is great except that, for some reason, the narrator chose to impose a South African context on the story by using quite awkward African and Afrikaans accents for some of the characters. While this is no doubt fine for most listeners, it created an unwelcome political undertone to an otherwise spectacular feat of imagination. I've stopped listening to it and will have to read the book instead.

The most boring in my life

Cons: I forced myself to restart it 10-20 times, and got to the end eventually, took me 1,5 months. Awards are overrated. Absolutely uneventful story. Names are difficult not only to pronounce, but even to distinguish (long unadapted Hindu names).

Pros: New concept (AI etc). Socially correct topic of fighting control and dominance. Reading faces and guessing thoughts was good but I’d like it to be less.

Overall - torment, no fun. Good potential, would be a good short story, 1hour maximum. Why such a high rating? It’s not an entertaining book. For juries probably.

Superb story, great narration

Brilliant story, gripping chapters. Fascinating use of gender and one of the best narrated books I’ve ever listened too. Adjoa Andoh provides a full cast of characters!

Didn't understand a thing

Not a native speaker, I have listened to tens of English books of all types understanding with no problems.
This book, I couldn't understand a thing.
Not situations, not intentions, not conversations, not names, not character profiles, not even the few action scenes dynamics.
Considering the amount of awards it got it is probably my fault.
Unless you enjoy a book for the feeling of achievement that you can understand it, I would not recommend this one.

The reader is great.

the story

Well told original story with enough mystery, surprises and drama. Science fiction on the light side, easy to understand. Amazing performance by the voice actor, really enjoyed the experience.

Love this book

I’ve read this book twice and now had it read to me once. It never ceases to touch me as Breq discovers her human self and her potential to love and be loved.

The narration was excellent and I’m now going to get the Audible version of books 2 and 3, which I’ve also read twice but now want to hear performed.

pretty great

goes a lot further than the stereotypical questions surrounding AI, and accentuated by great performance.

Great story Great narrator

Really good narrator and an old school sci fi opera downloaded book 2 already!!!

Fantastic!

The sort of book you are excited to tell everyone you are reading. Complex and thought-provoking without sacrificing engaging plot. Could not stop listening. Narration was impeccable - great character voices and accents throughout. Added a sense of dry humour to the main character that really made her feel more "human". Highly recommended! I'm downloading the next one right now.

Riveting story, greatly told

This is an amazing story, very hard to not fall head over heels into. Narration is perfectly fitting to it.