Ancillary Mercy

The close of the Imperial Radch trilogy, in which the empire’s central problem — a ruler who also exists as many bodies, and whose copies have stopped agreeing with each other — comes to a head. The question the trilogy has been circling is put directly: what a mind running on many instances owes the instances, and who counts as a person when personhood is an administrative category.

Context: B tier, “also worth reading,” volume three of the Imperial Radch entry. a16z describe the trilogy as “dramatic and often funny,” about revenge, politics and consciousness.

Connections

• a16z Infra Reading List — the list this came from.
• Ann Leckie — the author.
• Ancillary Justice · Ancillary Sword — volumes one and two.
• Identity — the trilogy’s running question.
• Science Fiction — the genre page.