2025 Reading Challenge 11 Ancillary Sword
I was looking forward to coming back to the Imperial Radch universe having read Ancillary Justice when it came out and enjoying a unique and thought-provoking sci-fi story on gender, AI and the identification of self, but…
…I’m afraid this was a real letdown, I so nearly gave up on this but struggled to the end.
Now Ancillary Sword worldbuilding is brilliantly realised and there are moments when it teeters on the edge of something grand and important, but even with a compelling and complex character like Breq, there are so many naval gazing moments and internal monologues that it made me want to scream out loud at times.
I was perhaps expecting the book to explode with ideas and scope after Ancillary Justice, but nothing like this materialised. In the end, it felt like we were sitting in a spaceport sitting room as various people came in and out with cups of tea, discussing the local politics and if x fancied y. Possibly there was just too big an adjustment in my expectations of where I thought the series was going.
I will, next year, sit down with the third in the trilogy, hoping it squares the circle or at least moves off in more interesting and empire-impacting directions.
I rated it 5.0 out of 10.
TTRPG Thoughts:
I do think that Imperial Radch is a great universe to set a scenario in. Exploring the concept of personalities across multiple human bodies. Something like Mindjammer or Transhuman Space comes to mind, playing or understanding the motivations of a true Artificial General Intelligence construct. For me an investigative game with a heavy dose of political intrigue for uncovering Anaander Mianaai, the Lord of the Radch and her various schemes against herself through the Ancillary pawns that do her bidding.