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)

Great exploration of AI ideas. Flat ending.

What did you love best about Ancillary Justice?

The idea of AI running facilities was great.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Orn, completely loyal to the end.

Which character – as performed by Adjoa Andoh – was your favorite?

Eskia (spelling). Great voice. So many African intonations.

Wish the narration was clearer

Narration was very irritating. However story intrigued me and I bought it on Kindle. I am glad I did. Looking forward to reading next ones

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.

Overrated question mark

Half way through I quit. Voice acting is unclear sometimes and I did not find story interesting. This book got so many awards, perhaps it is better in written format.

Riveting story, greatly told

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

Large scale Sci-Fi.

Good story improving towards end. Can't wait taking on the next book in the series!

OMFG the narration is amazing

The book is great, but the narration is next level. multiple different accents and voices for different groups, but it all makes such sense.

a bunch of racist aliens in south African accents... omg. so good.

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!

Almost good

Didn't enjoy this book much.
It starts too slow, with jumps in thw narrative that are hard to understand and most importantly, to care. By the time the plot unfolds and everything made sense, I was just trying to finish it, not really enjoying it too much.
The second half of the book is better, and as always gives an iteresting cliffhanger for the next one.
I just don't care.

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.

Interestingly feminist SciFi

That headline might do the novel more harm than good but I mean it in a totally inclusive engaged way, I'm male and the book feels written by a woman in command of her view of the future, a future just a dystopian as a million others but there's something really different here, I was believing, the world created is complete and different while being relatable... OK I'm not writing this well, just try it, it's really intelligent.

Brilliant! A great story and characters

What made the experience of listening to Ancillary Justice the most enjoyable?

Narration was excellent, full of depth and really bought the characters to life. The story moved well and kept true to its central premise.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot is excellent, how the lead character deals with and explains her/its predicament is brilliant, really keeps you in, and surrounded by, the story.

What does Adjoa Andoh bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She understands the book extremely well, she uses the subtle intonations of her voice to perfectly build the characters and really helps you get a mental image of them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Its not how I listen to audiobooks in general but I think it benefitted from occasional breaks to let the concepts sink in.

Any additional comments?

I'd recommend this and I can't wait for the sequel.

Excellent narration

The story isn't the easiest to follow but the narrator's use of accents helps a great deal. She does a brilliant job with the complexity of the names, particularly the lesser. I'm not sure the book is up to all the hype -- I've read more exciting SF books but it's intriguing enough. Worth a listen.

space opera for beginners

Well, it was descibed as a space opera but rather lacks the depth and complexity of its peers that define the segment. Unfortunatetly the story did not grip and the associated narration was vaguely soporific leading to lapses in attention. An average story and reading.

Once in a while comes a book with rave reviews ...

... that leaves you wondering why.

For around 3/4s to 4/5s of the book it bounces between the past and the present so you know what is happening and why. Nothing so wrong in this but in both cases, at no point is there any pace or excitement. The story just goes on like a second paragraph making you wonder when the story is really going to start. Even when it starts to pick up it still feels flat and unexciting. It's more a fantasy novel with a sci-fi back ground, but again that is no problem if it works, here it's just fluff on the side, what you're left with is almost a monologue.

The final chapter was actually quite good and lead to excitement over the next book, but I won't be going there as that could well be the same, lots of chapters of nothing then one or two leading you on to the next stage.

There is then the actual reading of the story. For the most part Adjoa Andoh does a very god job, however she uses different accents to fit different character backgrounds. One of them is rasta in style and I found that one very hard at times to listen too as words became indistinct. I think at times she was just forcing it too much.

In summary, I for one can not understand the fuss. This is not a well written story with a sci fi background, but more a plod along leaving you trying to stay awake.

Stick with it

Any additional comments?

Found this very confusing and irritating, but then listened again! Something I don't do very often.

Excellent narrator

Sucks you in as it builds up to a great ending with a really classy hero/heroine.

Repetitive and confusing

Would you try another book written by Ann Leckie or narrated by Adjoa Andoh?

Not likely

Would you ever listen to anything by Ann Leckie again?

Probably not, I didn't like the book but since I haven't read anything else by her I cannot say.

What didn’t you like about Adjoa Andoh’s performance?

It was well read but the accents and a lot of pronounciations made the book harder to take in.

What character would you cut from Ancillary Justice?

Cutting a character wouldn't help the story.

Any additional comments?

It's written as a piece that develops over time and you are supposed to have several aha moments as it progresses but halfway through the characters are flat and uninteresting while also succeeding in being predictable.
Unlike Banks use of weapons none of the characters are likeable and I felt rather cheated by the way it ended in a Hollywood style tying up of loose ends while still leaving it open enough for a series of books hooked into this one.

Left me divided but intrigued

I can't really decide if this is really rather brilliant or whether I have been taken in by the glowing reviews. Certainly the idea that the main character is a spaceship is compelling, and I really was quite won over by this singing warrior. My problem is that I did find the first three quarters of this story incredibly confusing, with characters occupying multiple bodies, and being referred to as both male and female. I found it only really started to make sense towards the end. I also thought there was a slight corniness to the story line but maybe I am just being cynical. One part of me wants to go on and listen to the rest of the series and another part thinks once is enough. I am full of admiration for the narrator who had to tackle some really tongue twisting names but did think some of her accents were distractingly peculiar.
If you are a lover of science fiction and are able to devote your complete attention to the story then I think you would find this rewarding.

Clever, big idea space opera with some smart ideas

What made the experience of listening to Ancillary Justice the most enjoyable?

Some of the reviews have compared Ann Leckie to Iain Banks, but I think Arthur c Clarke is a more apt comparison. Leckie has none of the world building disease that can both enliven and infect banks novels, instead her style is very minimalistic in its exploration of the world in which her characters inhabit. Her style reminds me more of Arthur Clarke's foundation series than anything Banks has written. Very enjoyable, and a delightful and very skilful take on casting nearly all the primary characters as female or gender neutral. The plot falls a bit flat in spots, but still a very very worthwhile read for anyone who's enjoyed proper big idea sci fi. Can't wait for the next one.