Ancillary Mercy
by Ann Leckie · first published 2015
50% recommend50% neutral
For a moment, things seemed to be under control for Breq, the soldier who used to be a warship. Then a search of Atheok Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist, and a messenger from the mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai - ruler of an empire at war with itself. Breq refuses to flee with her ship and crew, because that would leave the people of Athoek in terrible danger. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.
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Ann Leckie has written a great sci-fi series, Ancillary Justice/Ancillary Sword/Ancillary Mercy, where the main character assumes everyone is a she and keeps referring to them as that all the way through (though it becomes fairly obvious to the reader which are hes and shes). I found it actually…
on “Perseverance Rover lands on Mars [video]” ↗Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie (admittedly end 2015) Very good closing of the Hugo&Nebula Award series (Justice, Sword, Mercy) exploring the questions of identity and consciousness of individuals, androids and hive minds…
on “Ask HN: What is the best sci-fi you read this year?” ↗Also came here to suggest "Ancillary Justice". About halfway through the last in the trilogy, "Ancillary Mercy" and they've all been amazing and incredibly though-provoking books. Leckie released a book, "Provenance", this year that takes place in the same universe and at the same time as the "Imperial Radch"…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2017?” ↗…Body Problem - The Dark Forest - Death's End --- Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie (A spaceship's AI becomes confined to a single human body and seeks revenge) - Ancillary Justice - Ancillary Sword - Ancillary Mercy --- Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin (Earth really hates humans, but some people have the power to control the earthquakes) - The Fifth Season - The Obelisk Gate - The Stone Sky
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…incomplete) - Superintelligence - Nexus, Crux (incomplete) - Another Fine Myth - The Annihilation Score - The Man with the Golden Torc, Daemons are Forever - The Fractal Prince (incomplete) - Crooked - Ancillary Mercy - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - The Traitor Baru Cormarant - Excession - Hive Mind - Seveneves
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗…the 2017 Hugo, I'd say Cixian Liu's "Death's End" was a much better novel than "The Obelisk Gate", and would have given it to that book. For the 2016 Hugo I've read 3 of the finalist("Fifth Season", "Ancillary Mercy", "Seveneves"), but I don't think any of them were all that great... guess just a weak year.
on “N. K. Jemisin’s Dream Worlds” ↗