Ancillary Justice cover art

Ancillary Justice

The Imperial Radch series, Book 1

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Ancillary Justice

By: Ann Leckie
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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About this listen

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
Adventure Hard Science Fiction Military Science Fiction Space Opera Thriller & Suspense Space Fiction

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)

What listeners say about Ancillary Justice

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Ancillary Confusion

The narrator did a good job distinguishing the voices.
The story was convoluted and confusing. The AI of a ship is in it's last remaining body. It's true hard core sci-fi, in that it's so alien and confusing that you have to listen to half the book to get what is actually going on.
Yes it's a novel idea, and maybe that why it won so many awards, but it's slow to get to the action, and it's only by the very end of the book that you are actually getting into it - maybe worth it, if it was going to be a long series and you really wanted to get into it, but I've been put off and won't bother with the sequel.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow but interesting story

Built on some good concepts, but the story is prone to slow over-descriptive scenes that remove the momentum from the narrative, and predictable progression. Still an interesting journey.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Slow start but worth it in the end

The literal cold open was a slog to get through in both written and narrative mediums, but once you get past the early meandering to the central mysteries of "what, why and who stands to benefit?" the story finds its feet. To be fair, presenting a form of life that is markedly different from our own often has the effect of alienating the audience from the protagonist, so I can't fault the author for take her time to help us connect.
There were times when I questioned why 1-S took certain courses of action, which depending on your read of the story could either be her discovering herself as an independent entity or uncharitably as a plot contrivance.
As I have not read the book, past the first few pages on kindle, I don't know if the accents used were specified, but the use of South African accents for certain groups embodying apartheid sensibilities may strike some as a cunning literary device that brings you up to speed on the current tensions between the peoples and how they each think. Or it will feel so on the nose it seems crass.

Overall I enjoyed my time with 1-S and look forward to what happens next and I think that, more than anything, informed my overall impression.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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looking forward to the other books

I struggled to keep track of all the names of people and places but the nurator and story were fantastic

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    5 out of 5 stars
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a difficult yet rewarding listen.

it took me just over a 3rd of the book to get my ear in. and i still dont know all the names of the characters but it is an amazing story that i will listen to again now i know the overarching story.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow

I just loved the story, although it took some time to get used to the gender references

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. Great narration.

Apparently a review needs to be at least 15 words but the title is all I have to say.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A perfectly fine story

A pretty good sifi tale that has a great first act, solid second act and serviceable final act, mainly lost me when the past storyline wrapped up and didn’t really care by the last act.
would have liked to see more of the JoT being a gestalt AI as that was the most interesting part of the book, probably won’t bother with the sequels

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    5 out of 5 stars
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This series is my comfort read

Everything from the storyline, to the narrators beautiful voice. This book and the ones that follow are perfect

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Book, and a fantastic performance!

Any additional comments?

A brilliantly written adventure, with an intriguing premise! Breq is the last remaining part of a ship AI and is a very engaging character. This audiobook really kept me listening and is very suspenseful all the way through. The universe of the novel is well realised and seems plausible. Breq's difficulty with gender pronouns is a brilliant touch, which, while a little confusing at first really makes sense and is treated very consistently. The implied languages, societies, politics, religions and technology all hang together well. The different accents used by the Adjoah Andoh for the various characters were excellent and helped make sense of the social interactions in the story, indeed Adjoah certainly reads the book really well and made Breq a very believable character who engaged my sympathy. I thoroughly recommend this audiobook!

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