Ancillary Sword

Volume two of the Imperial Radch trilogy, and a deliberate narrowing after the first book’s sweep: the former warship is given a command and sent to a single station and the planet under it, where the empire’s problems show up as one place’s labour arrangements, tea plantations and resentments. The politics get smaller and sharper rather than bigger.

Context: B tier, “also worth reading,” volume two of the Imperial Radch entry. Not a starting point — it assumes Ancillary Justice’s setup about ship minds and ancillaries.

Connections

• a16z Infra Reading List — the list this came from.
• Ann Leckie — the author.
• Ancillary Justice — volume one, and the necessary starting point.
• Ancillary Mercy — volume three.
• Identity — the trilogy’s running question.
• Science Fiction — the genre page.