RaveThe New York Journal of Books... it is a great joy to find Ann Leckie, who not only writes with a strong, clear voice, but who writes science fiction that is intelligent, inventive, and richly textured ... a simple tale of intrigue, betrayal, and vengeance but it is set in a future world that is finely drawn and beautifully imagined ... t is the detailed world-building of the Radch and its surrounding human and alien polities that sets Ancillary Justice apart from most sci-fi you will find on the shelves. The cultures, the religions, the songs, the clothing, the languages—all beautifully done ... [Leckie] demonstrates a mastery of the technology of her world and trusts the reader to know enough science (or at least to have read enough sci-fi) to know what she means when she says a character will \'take the tether\' or \'open a gate\' in the appropriate context ... is not without some faults. The plot develops a definite wobble about three-quarters of the way through when Breq seems to realise what the reader has been uncomfortably aware of for some time, that her plan is probably completely futile. This makes the ending seem a little fortuitous for our hero. It is an ending that also raises the difficult question of whether, given the devastating consequences that must follow, Breq did a good thing or a bad thing—a question it would be good to see addressed in subsequent volumes ... The fact that Breq is an AI is part of the charm of the book and the character\'s peculiar ways of thinking are very nicely and consistently portrayed; however, the story is a third person telling from Breq\'s perspective and, after a while, the flat, almost emotionless voice of the narrator becomes wearing ... One longs for some more emotional color, for a less monotonous voice. It is to the author\'s credit that she maintains Breq\'s voice to the very end (a small technical triumph, actually), but especially during moments of high drama that absence of emotion creates a disconnect between Breq and the reader ... Nevertheless, this is an excellent book by a writer who deserves a large and loyal following. It was an impressive first novel. By most writers\' standards, it would be an impressive last novel.
