Ancillary Justice

A welcome and enjoyable change from "same-old, same-old" Science Fiction novels

(this is first in a series; to be followed by "Ancillary Sword")

First of all, I will say that I *really* enjoyed this book - and I've read several thousand books in my lifetime (mostly science-fiction and fantasy). So I was curious as to what the reviewers who gave it only 2 or 3 stars had to say about it.

There are several points made by negative reviewers that I'd like to address:

* Criticism: The author does not provide a detailed explanation of unusual terminology, and a lot of the world she's created is therefore hard to understand.
* My response: This is true. The author has avoided including huge info-dumps and does not give detailed explanations of what various words mean, of the cultural and governmental background for the various alien races, or of exactly who and what the main character is. Instead, as the story unfolds, the reader gradually puts all the pieces together in building an understanding of the protagonist's true nature, what has happened in the past, and details of this universe. I'm not a fan of big info-dumps - I think it's a lazy writing technique - and I actually quite enjoyed the mystery of puzzling out what things mean and how everything works, gradually building up a rich world full of unique customs and objects.

* Criticism: The author does not explain how the various types of technology actually work, and their scientific plausibility is questionable.

* My response: This is also true. If you're one of those people who eagerly pores over schematics and detailed explanations of ships, weapons, power sources, and battles, you will probably find this book rather unsatisfying. However, if your primary enjoyment in a book comes from the action, the character interaction, and the psychology behind what happens, I think you will find this book quite absorbing and enjoyable.

* Criticism: The book is written using almost exclusively female pronouns, which is incredibly distracting.

* My response: Right at first, this approach *is* incongruous and a bit distracting. But it didn't take too long for me to just accept that whenever the word "she" appeared, it might be referring to a male or a female - and that gender was not really important in terms of understanding the characters and their actions. And then I realised: we read books all the time where the pronouns "he", "him", and "his" are used almost exclusively, but this is not distracting because we as a society accept the male pronouns as a neutral default when gender is unknown. By removing gendering from the story, the author makes us able to concentrate on characters' actions and motivations without imparting our own gender biases on their words, deeds, and roles.

* Criticism: The book alternates between flashbacks and current events, making it hard to keep straight what is happening in the various timelines.

* My response: Yes, the narrative does alternate in this way - but in my opinion, (and I've read a significant number of books which employ this literary technique) the author does this quite successfully. I never had a problem recognising in which timestream I was reading - and I did not find it difficult after a switch to pick up where a timestream had left off.

* Criticism: The book is written in a rather dispassionate and unemotional style, making it hard to empathise with or care about the characters.

* My response: This is certainly true about the writing style; however, as the book is written from the first person perspective of the protagonist, the style is a reflection of the narrator's thought process. The protagonist does not perceive herself/himself as a human being, and describes even illogical events and actions in a logical manner. As the story comes to its fruition, we come to realise that, despite the narrative's dispassionate nature, the narrator is far more "human" and compassionate than many of the humans with whom she/he has interacted. I found myself caring a great deal about the protagonist, very early in the story.

The Bottom Line: This novel employs some interesting and unusual storytelling methods to create an intriguing, absorbing narrative. While it's not a full-on action-adventure, I still found the story gripping enough that I could not put the book down. If you are looking for a fast, easy read - this is probably not that novel. But, in my opinion, the emotional payoff for being willing to invest some thought and attention in this book is large and satisfying.