Ancillary Sword

I have really mixed feelings on this book. I should really enjoy it, since the previous book in the series was one of my favourite reads of last year, introducing one of the most unique and interesting Sci-fi worlds I've ever read, having a main character completely different to any I've seen in the space, and just overall being really well written.

So going into Ancillary Sword, I had really high hopes, and I don't want to say that they were dashed, since that seems a tad extreme, but they certainly weren't met. This book is the definition of middle book syndrome. Almost nothing interesting actually happens throughout the novel, which is a crying shame, because, just like Ancillary Justice, the world is realized brilliantly, with every new detail we get about the culture, the history and the technology elevating the Radch Empire even further than it reached in the first book.

The major issues were, at least in my opinion, almost everything else.

The plot picks up a week after the last books ending, with Breq now being registered as a cousin of Anaander Mianaai, and being raised to the rank of Fleet Captain, and given her own ship to command. She chooses her lieutenants, one of whom is Seivarden from the previous book, the other Ekalu, a previous lieutenant of the ship.

She's sent to Athoek to safeguard it from the other Anaander, but also to guard her old captain's sister, who is stationed onboard the orbital station above Athoek.

The majority of the book takes place on this station, and makes sure that you understand the culture of the peoples that live aboard it through and through. The scope of the story is one of the biggest strengths. Too much epic Sci-fi makes a point to constantly system hop and explore as many planets as possible, even if it's to the detriment of the story. Leckie very clearly feels the same, since the next book in the series, is also set on the same station.

Leckie's prose is just as good as in the prior book, with her weaving every new environment in front of you effortlessly. It's nothing revolutionary, but it's really good.

Well, so far I've been very positive on the book, so it's time to explain where it went down to three stars. As I said, the worldbuilding is absolutely fantastic. It's just a shame that very few of the characters feel as well fleshed out. Physical descriptions are sparse, rarely going more than one or two sentences, the monogender making it difficult to even pin down the basic profile of a character. I say this despite the fact that I really like the monogender as a concept, I just wish Leckie had given more description for the characters.

The only characters I can say I genuinely like are Breq, who has a really strong voice as a PoV, and is just really fucking cool to boot, and Tisarwat, the young Lieutenant who had a personality transplant with a 3000 year old Emperor. Seivarden was a good character in the previous book, but she's missing for the majority of the story, only really having one major moment towards the end of the book.

The other main issue with the book, is that barely anything happens. There are 3 events of note.
Without specific spoilers, they were the shooting, the bomb, and the standoff. And that was it. The rest was quiet conversations and setup for the last book. I understand that writing a second book in a trilogy is a nightmarish balancing act, but oh my god, I was just interminably bored for the majority of the story.

These two issues compounded to make me really confused when I finished the book. I could point to things I really enjoyed, but I also found myself just sort of disinterested in continuing. I fully intend to see the series through, since the Anaander storyline is fascinating to me, and I really like being in Breqs head. If you enjoyed Ancillary Justice, I'd recommend going into this with tempered expectations. This isn't going to leave you with the same fulfilled feeling that Justice did, but you'll probably have a pretty good time with it.