Ancillary Sword

The Imperial Radch series, Book 2

By: Ann Leckie

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

"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)

Really growing on me!

Took the first book to get into the storyline but now I’m hooked and invested in the characters and plot. The narration is excellent and the unique and consistent character voices keep me engaged. Recommend this series!

An excellent follow on from Ancillary Justice

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I already have - a new angle on SciFi that is beautifully written and narrated. Not quite as tight a story as the first book, clearly positioning for the third...but it can't come soon enough.

Ms Andoh is a brilliant narrator.

Have you listened to any of Adjoa Andoh’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Ancillary Justice - and she's still great.

Competent but sluggish sequel

I read Ancillary Justice back when it was released in 2014 and enjoyed it very much. I recently decided to finish the trilogy and got both it and this, Ancillary Sword, as audiobooks.

The performance of the narrator on both is great and while Ancillary Justice holds up just as well as I remember it was, Sword is a bit sluggish. Great initial chapters, competently written, expands upon the world we dived into in the original novel, it quickly pulls you in. Unfortunately, about a third in, it becomes a slog. The story barely moves forward and while I do not mind scifi novels devoid of action set pieces, I do mind numerous chapters where people just sit and talk without anything of consequence happening.

It suddenly picks up about three chapters before the end and wraps up nicely, setting up for a sequel but it also makes for a very, very rushed ending.

Also, I feel some of the social commentary was way too heavy handed, something that I didn't notice (or certainly didn't irritate me) in the first novel.

Still, Breq remains a main character you find yourself easily cheering for and the world has enough depth and width to keep it interesting. Definitely planning on finishing the third book and I do hope this was just the "slow middle part".

Still, be warned - it is a very slow middle part...

5/5 for narration
4.5/5 for writing style
3/5 for the story

Brilliant

story was gripping. can't wait to listen to the third novel . Ajoah Andoh is a genius. Now want to listen to all her narrations.

Even Better

The second book finds Breq and Seivarden in the aftermath of a secret civil war but the story is more intimate. Its so good and so heartfelt.

We're treated to some new characters who give us a variety of motivations, including, love, loyalty, hatred and revenge ... and not in the most traditional of pairings

An excellent read, read excellently

it was a little jarring going from one book directly to the next with a different nerator, especially as a lot of the names are quite unique and probably are only known to Anne Leckie.
Adjoa seems the perfect well spoken person with a neutral British accent and sympathy for the ex colonies who seems to exemplify the forward thinking tone of the book. It took about a third of the book but after then I really appreciated the obvious effort she took in understanding all the characters and bringing them to life.

interesting take on what space cultures could be like

for me, a complete waste of time. After such an inspiring and interesting first novel, I was disappointed by what I can only describe as a soap opera on a different planet

Ultimately satisfying but slow

This follow-up to Ancillary Justice continues to intrigue as the author expands her unique universe and its inhabitants, but the plot evolves at a glacial pace. That said, the characters are interesting, the social commentary is good and new characters settle well into the story line. Those who like lots of action and techno-wizardry in their SF might wish to look elsewhere, but this book builds on the first novel in a satisfying manner. Although the pace of the story can dawdle at times, I'm still keen to listen to the next instalment in the series when it arrives.

The narration by Adjoa Andoh is very good, with a pleasing variety of voices. I really liked her work in Alastair Reynolds "On the Steel Breeze" and this work is just as good.

Recommended if you like a slow burning SF story with a social conscience.

Nice second part, Waiting for the third book!

Originally published at: A Girl that Likes Books

First impression

After really loving the first book on the Imperial Radch series, Ancillary Justice, and seeing that I was not the only one (is there any price Leckie didn’t win?) it was a no brainer to continue with the series. It was hard to though, because as it turns out, the changed the narrator (First book was read by Celeste Ciulla and this one is Adjoa Andoh) and so several of the pronunciations, names, etc changed and for the first quarter of the book it was hard to fully engage. Once I was past this, the story was great. Leckie has a gift in building and sharing this new different cultural groups and the Radch universe can be very dark and very colorful at the same time.

Final thoughts

While the first book was intended to be obviously the introduction to the world and developed the revenge sentiment in Breq, this book went deeper into her as character, and that was great. I really appreciated the character growth and development not only for Breq, but for Seivarden and all the rest of the team in Mercy of Kalr.

Breq is still the main voice in the story, but as she herself points out, she is missing her extra ancillaries, and while she still has the connection to Ship, there is a void on how she can “see” or perceive multiple events, compared to what she was in her past with Lieutenant Awn. Her getting accustomed to her new “unique” self was a very different part of the story, but one I really did enjoy, actually feeling her confusion and somewhat sadness to “just be one”.

At first I disliked Lieutenant Tisarwat but by the end of it I was quite fond of her and I am hoping to see her again in Ancillary Mercy. While in this book the focus is settled in character development I feel there is still room for surprise from all the main characters.

The book is set in Athoek Station, far away from the lord of the Radch, but certainly not far from political intrigue. In case you haven’t noticed, the Radch are very keen to maintaining or improving their social status and what is “proper” might change according to what is convenient. Not for Breq; in my own opinion she sticks to the parameters of being a Radchaai even better than any other character even if she despises a big deal of this façade based behaviour.

As much as I liked the book and even if I wasn’t expecting the final twist (no spoilers, don’t worry) there was something missing and I can’t help but to think that this feeling comes from the struggle to engage with the story at the beginning, due to the change of narrator. While both narrators did a terrific job, I am used to a certain continuity of voices by now when I am listening to a series.

This does not dissuade me from waiting anxiously for the next book. I still loved the whole world that Leckie has constructed for us, and contrary to some reviews I saw, I didn’t feel like the political critique was heavy or obscured the rest of the story; on the contrary I think that it is one of the sides I enjoy the most of the series. Let’s hope the trilogy closes with all the spirit and strength present in AJ.

Horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE! narration

How could the performance have been better?

The story aside - which you will pretty much know if you like by having read the first instalment in this series - the narration in this audiobook makes listening to it almost insufferable. Apparently the narrator have the idea that everyone speaking is either dead drunk or high on helium. This makes the narration go from almost impossible to decifer to eardrum shattering high-pitched. Furthermore it has the effect of making the story seem like a caricature giving this otherwise thoughtful book an unintended comical aura. In summary, i really HATED the narration.