Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

"For a moment, things seemed to be under control for Breq, the soldier who used to be a warship. Then a search of Athoek Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist, and a messenger from the mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai--ruler of an empire at war with itself"--Page 4 of cover.

In the stunning conclusion to the Imperial Radch trilogy, a search of Athoek Station's slums turns up someone who shouldn't exist. A messenger from the mysterious Presger empire arrives, as does Breq's enemy, the divided and quite possibly insane Anaander Mianaai, ruler of an empire at war with itself. Breq refuses to flee with her ship and crew, because that would leave the people of Athoek in terrible danger. The odds aren't good, but that's never stopped her before.

I enjoyed the introduction of Presger translators (so very alien in culture). Also, more ships, a conclusion! But reading the trilogy straight through made me feel a little over the Imperial Radch setting, which I think, again is on me, rather than Leckie.

I can't believe that it took me so long to read this series! I had tried the first book some time ago, and got stuck somewhere in the first 20 or so pages - it just hadn't grabbed me.

Once I tried again, and got past that section, I fell right into this world.

Very much enjoyed, and hoping to get a sequel at some point. More with Presger translators!

This whole trilogy has been a bit weird for me. I had heard so many good things about it from some of my favorite authors, so I couldn't resist buying all the audiobooks. And I can't say that I didn't enjoy them, but they also aren't my favorites. It's just that I found them compelling enough to continue.

I didn't remember much of what happened towards the end of Ancillary Sword, and I never checkout the blurb for this finale, so didn't at all realize that the proceedings would still remain in Athoek station this time as well. While a significant part of the book was about being ready in case of any attack on the station or on Breq, I felt that this book was mainly about the characters and their relationships. We get to see Seivarden in her most vulnerable moments, while also getting to maybe understand her snobby privileged behavior. Tisarwat is still struggling to separate her own thoughts with that of Anaander Mianaai but is making progress and is generally a great asset in troubling situations despite being pretty high strung. We have significant appearances from all the previous side characters and it's fun watching them again. And Breq is just trying to take one step at a time.

It's mostly still a slice of life kinda story but with the characters' lives in some kind of danger. But there are no elaborate battles or shrewd strategizing here - it's just a group of people (and non humans) trying hard to do the right thing and save as many innocents as possible. There's also quite an understated theme about what what it means to be human, the feelings of ships and AIs and if they all should respect each other's agency and coexist peacefully. I was quite surprised to see how the author used these themes to kinda resolve the story towards the end because I didn't see it coming. But I'm also not used to open ended trilogies, so this felt a bit unsatisfactory. However, on thinking a bit more, I think it's the perfect climax for this trilogy but I wouldn't mind knowing what happens to these characters in the future.

It was fun, but I hope this is the last in the Justice of Toren series. [b:Ancillary Justice 17333324 Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) Ann Leckie https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397215917s/17333324.jpg 24064628] was groundbreaking, brilliant, exceptional, stunning, I could go on. But Leckie has painted herself into a corner with some of her initial world setup and I think she's just coasting now: Breq is now a Mary Sue, all-knowing and all-wise; her one too-brief moment of self-doubt resolved unsatisfyingly. The Lord of the Radch is a shallow and disappointing caricature; Tisawat starts off with some hope of growth but ultimately remains Breq's puppy. Seivarden flails. Nobody really develops.Leckie is capable of much, much better. She clearly ponders deep ethical questions, and wants her readers to do so. I'm eagerly looking forward to more of that.