Ancillary Justice

By: Ann Leckie

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

The only novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards and the first audiobook in Ann Leckie's New York Times best-selling trilogy.

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. 

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance. 

In the Ancillary world:

1. Ancillary Justice
2. Ancillary Sword
3. Ancillary Mercy

For more from Ann Leckie, check out:

Provenance

©2013 Ann Leckie (P)2018 Hachette Audio

So happy this was re-recorded with Adjoa Andoh

I love this book and series and the only thing that ever bugged me about the audio books was that the first book was from Recorded Books and had a different narrator. When I saw it was now being offered with narration by the incredible Adjoa Andoh, I didn't hesitate for a second and bought it again so I could have the entire series with the same amazing narrator. I can't wait to listen to it all again!

17 of 18 people found this review helpful

There is a reason this one has won so many accolades!

I'm not one to pay much attention to the "awards" any particular book has won (after all, awards are a dime a dozen), but damned if this one doesn't have a hell of a pedigree of accolades that actually mean something! Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice may not be completely unique, but it does combine a lot of interesting SciFi concepts into a new amalgamation that has something to say. Add in a tangible Jane Austen type influence to the character interactions and you've got something that stands out in modern science fiction. Although the story often comes off as kind of a lone space ronin out for justice, it's more or less framed a bit like a '70s grindhouse film (you did catch my earlier assertion that it's a bit of an amalgamation of stories). Over all I enjoyed the story, but I more so enjoyed the actual mechanics of the writing (it had much more of a mature audience feel to it than the typical modern SciFi fanboy writing that is often touted as great science fiction). As for the narration of Adjoa Andoh. I vacillated back-and-forth on it. At times her silky exotic voice was near pitch perfect for the character, but more often than not, Andoh's narration felt a bit flat to me. Although I may not find myself revisiting Radch Empire many times in the future, I did enjoy the trip while I was there!

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Keeping information from the reader is boring

This book does not provide you with the necessary context at the start, resulting in annoyance and you putting the book down feeling like you wasted time. The book splits into two time-lines, the past and present day. Information that all the characters know is slowly revealed to you (who/what is the main character? How did s/he end up where s/he is?). All that is left to keep you reading is the curiosity about what is going on. This works in books where the character being followed also doesn't know all the information. In this case the characters know what is going on but you don't. I kept thinking "just tell me already what the heck is going on - you, the character know!", Googled a plot summary, was disappointed, and put the book down.

Also, the constant use of "she" at the beginning was annoying. If you want an ungendered pronoun it already exists: ze or they (yes, "they" does not need to be plural). Picking "she" just felt awkward and took me out of the story.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

2nd attempt... i give up

I returned the previous edition due to poor audio quality. When i learned that a new narration had been done, I eagerly grabbed it and was very let down with the performance.

Why are the aliens portrayed as Africans by this narrator? They're ALIEN not African. I can't understand a single word when she's doing her terrible bad African accents. It's incomprehensible. So, so disappointed. I've tried to read the book several times and found it so boring, such a slog, that I haven't gotten past 35% after six months. So, i bought the trade paperback, hoping the paper edition would encourage me to spend more time with it, to no avail.

I must give up on this novel at the 1/3rd point. Whatever greatness earned all the awards must be further into the story, which i am unable to get to due to bad writing and bad narration, which together are a barrier to my ability to finish that acclaimed novel. Yes, I said it, it's just not interesting or enjoyable in my opinion.

Anyone want my trilogy boxed set?

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

The Singing

Great space opera- unexpected burst of action and motivations and amazing climax - the fact that multiple characters and accents and even songs were done exceptionally well kept m listening -

I think I need to read this one

difficult to understand and follow in audio format while doing something other than sitting down and doing nothing stop listening. it's probably just me but I might have been better off reading this

Ms. Andoh is a Waay better narrator

See my other version review. Had to buy this version to enjoy the writer's work.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

confusing and annoying.

The authors nonuse or misuse of gender pronouns is both confusing and annoying. She constantly uses she/her for every character, male and female. it was extremely hard to get a picture of characters and was constantly distracting. I would not recommend this book.

5 of 24 people found this review helpful

So happy this was re-recorded with Adjoa Andoh

I love this book and series and the only thing that ever bugged me about the audio books was that the first book was from Recorded Books and had a different narrator. When I saw it was now being offered with narration by the incredible Adjoa Andoh, I didn't hesitate for a second and bought it again so I could have the entire series with the same amazing narrator. I can't wait to listen to it all again!

17 of 18 people found this review helpful

There is a reason this one has won so many accolades!

I'm not one to pay much attention to the "awards" any particular book has won (after all, awards are a dime a dozen), but damned if this one doesn't have a hell of a pedigree of accolades that actually mean something! Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice may not be completely unique, but it does combine a lot of interesting SciFi concepts into a new amalgamation that has something to say. Add in a tangible Jane Austen type influence to the character interactions and you've got something that stands out in modern science fiction. Although the story often comes off as kind of a lone space ronin out for justice, it's more or less framed a bit like a '70s grindhouse film (you did catch my earlier assertion that it's a bit of an amalgamation of stories). Over all I enjoyed the story, but I more so enjoyed the actual mechanics of the writing (it had much more of a mature audience feel to it than the typical modern SciFi fanboy writing that is often touted as great science fiction). As for the narration of Adjoa Andoh. I vacillated back-and-forth on it. At times her silky exotic voice was near pitch perfect for the character, but more often than not, Andoh's narration felt a bit flat to me. Although I may not find myself revisiting Radch Empire many times in the future, I did enjoy the trip while I was there!

12 of 13 people found this review helpful

Keeping information from the reader is boring

This book does not provide you with the necessary context at the start, resulting in annoyance and you putting the book down feeling like you wasted time. The book splits into two time-lines, the past and present day. Information that all the characters know is slowly revealed to you (who/what is the main character? How did s/he end up where s/he is?). All that is left to keep you reading is the curiosity about what is going on. This works in books where the character being followed also doesn't know all the information. In this case the characters know what is going on but you don't. I kept thinking "just tell me already what the heck is going on - you, the character know!", Googled a plot summary, was disappointed, and put the book down.

Also, the constant use of "she" at the beginning was annoying. If you want an ungendered pronoun it already exists: ze or they (yes, "they" does not need to be plural). Picking "she" just felt awkward and took me out of the story.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

2nd attempt... i give up

I returned the previous edition due to poor audio quality. When i learned that a new narration had been done, I eagerly grabbed it and was very let down with the performance.

Why are the aliens portrayed as Africans by this narrator? They're ALIEN not African. I can't understand a single word when she's doing her terrible bad African accents. It's incomprehensible. So, so disappointed. I've tried to read the book several times and found it so boring, such a slog, that I haven't gotten past 35% after six months. So, i bought the trade paperback, hoping the paper edition would encourage me to spend more time with it, to no avail.

I must give up on this novel at the 1/3rd point. Whatever greatness earned all the awards must be further into the story, which i am unable to get to due to bad writing and bad narration, which together are a barrier to my ability to finish that acclaimed novel. Yes, I said it, it's just not interesting or enjoyable in my opinion.

Anyone want my trilogy boxed set?

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

The Singing

Great space opera- unexpected burst of action and motivations and amazing climax - the fact that multiple characters and accents and even songs were done exceptionally well kept m listening -

I think I need to read this one

difficult to understand and follow in audio format while doing something other than sitting down and doing nothing stop listening. it's probably just me but I might have been better off reading this

Ms. Andoh is a Waay better narrator

See my other version review. Had to buy this version to enjoy the writer's work.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

confusing and annoying.

The authors nonuse or misuse of gender pronouns is both confusing and annoying. She constantly uses she/her for every character, male and female. it was extremely hard to get a picture of characters and was constantly distracting. I would not recommend this book.

5 of 24 people found this review helpful