Ancillary MercyAnn Leckie
Orbit
October 6th, 2015
Third in the groundbreaking Imperial Radch trilogy, Breq searches the Athoek Station’s slums and uncovers someone who shouldn’t exist. She also needs to confront the divided and insane Anaander Mianaai, ruler of an ever expanding empire.
This is a solid nomination for a Hugo award, as the first of the trilogy, Ancillary Justice, won the 2014 Hugo. Leckie’s use of a singular gender to describe the viewpoint of Breq and the nature of the Radchaai language was something that effects the reader more than the characters themselves. When the language and society of the main character have no markers to indicate gender, it forces the reader to think about it, and if it really matters to the story in the first place.
JL Jamieson is a strange book nerd who writes technical documents by day, and book news, reviews, and other assorted opinions for you by night. She is working on her own fiction, and spends time making jewelry to sell at local conventions, as well as stalking the social media accounts of all your favorite writers.