Ancillary Justice (Science Fiction Novel)

“Why is this novel such a big deal?” I wondered as I saw Worlds Without End’s listing of award nominees. As of this posting, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie has been nominated for the 2013 Nebula, 2013 PKD, 2014 Clarke, and 2014 Hugo awards and is the winner of the 2013 BSFA. I was more than a little curious. What I found is a novel with a fresh spin on the Space Opera genre. It is masterfully written and does an expert job of world building.

Ancillary Justice is written in the “first person.” Trying to explain that “first person” is not so easy and helps clarify why this novel is so refreshing. The narrator is an “ancillary.” In the world of Ancillary Justice, space ships are artificial intelligences. The physical part of an AI is composed not only of the ship, but also of the ancillaries virtually connected to it. Think of a traffic monitoring system with all the various cameras and monitors connected to it. But in this case the AI is connected to the bodies of what used to be living people, often those conquered by the Radch. The AI can not only receive information through each ancillary, but it can also act through each one; they are an extension of it. In some ways the relationship is also holographic, because each ancillary contains the memories and information of the whole AI. The narrator is both an ancillary known as “One Esk” and what remains of Justice of Toren, a ship that was destroyed. The narrator also calls itself “Breq.”

In some ways Ancillary Justice is a traditional space opera because of the scope the storyline. It covers over a thousand years. It describes an empire, the Radch, whose chief concern is expansion, “annexing” civilizations. The ruler herself has lived thousands of years and at one time can have over a thousand different bodies. Yet unlike most space operas, Ancillary Justice has a very personal story, partially because of the narrator. Breq is not some cold AI, but an individual who likes to sing and repeatedly demonstrates compassion. In the beginning of the novel, we learn that Breq’s goal is to seek revenge for the death of her favorite human, Lieutenant Awn. Much of the early part of the novel involves revealing the circumstances around Awn’s death. To complication matters, Breq discovers and takes care of Seivarden, who as a young lieutenant served on Justice of Toren. She is described as “not one of one of my favorites.” The once arrogant officer from a respected family was in suspended animation in an escape pod for almost a thousand years and is now an addict. Seivarden is both a hindrance and a sidekick as Breq goes about fulfilling her revenge.

Ancillary Justice is touching at moments, interesting most of the time, and even horrifying in a few spots. It takes some of the best qualities of a space opera and combines them with the character development that I associate with a novel that has a less grandiose setting. It works; I loved the book. The biggest flaw that I noticed in the novel is that Seivarden at times, especially near the end of the story, seems a bit of a caricature. All in all, I definitely think that Ancillary Justice is award worthy.

Nova Swing (Book)

Rickshaws Driven By Annies. Prostitutes Called Monas. Tailors Who Alter Bodies. Nanotechnology. Illegal Artifacts. Accordions. Travel Diaries. Being New. Black and White Cats.

Once I started reading M. John Harrison’s Nova Swing, winner of the 2007 Clarke and Philip K. Dick Awards, I was convinced that I wouldn’t like it, yet I was motivated to continue reading out of curiosity. After finishing the book, I feel quizzical—Can a person feel a question mark in their mind like they feel a tiny gas bubble in their gut?— The book is definitely surreal. I know that there are parts of the book that I will think about for a long time (see quotes at the end of the blog). On the other hand, I am not sure how to neatly describe the book and I am certainly not sure that I would recommend it. The book is what I sometimes describe as experiential, in that it requires the reader to vividly imagine the setting and what is taking place. This experience is perhaps more important than the plot.

Briefly, Vic Serotonin describes himself as a travel guide to the Saudade event site, which is never neatly defined in the book. It is like a dangerous, living dreamscape. At the beginning of the story, Vic takes a woman into the site and loses her. Later on, she desperately wants Vic to take her back into the site. Vic also illegally sells an artifact from the site. The artifact physically bonds with the courier and begins to turn his body into something strange. Later, it does something similar to the crime boss who procured the artifact from Vic. Another major character is Len Aschemann, a detective who is obsessed with his dead wife. At first he is wants to catch Vic doing something grossly illegal. Later he wants Vic to take him into the site. Len is accompanied by an assistant, who is never given a name despite her importance in parts of the plot. There are assorted other side plots.

Nova Swing is the Sequel to Light, which I did not read. Based on what I have read on the internet, I am not sure it mattered. I think books like Nova Swing are an acquired taste. Part of me wants to bury my head in traditional books and never come out again. Part of me is glad that I had this experience.

I found two beautiful quotes amongst all the surrealism:

Not many people get two chances to be new.

That was how life went. A single moment seemed to extend forever, then suddenly you were snapped out of it. The forward motion of time stretched whatever rubbery glue-like substance had fixed you there until it failed catastrophically. You weren’t the person you were before you were trapped; you weren’t the person you were while you were trapped: the merciless thing about it, Liv discovered, was that you weren’t someone entirely different either.