Set in the Imperial Radch world this is a story of Qven, created to be a Presger Translator who is going to make a match some day and become an intermediary between the Presger and humanity. It's an upbringing that is strange and very alien there's a veneer of humanity pressed into it. Chance brings them into contact with Enae, a diplomat who is sent on a mission she isn't expected to solve, to find someone who went missing over two hundred years ago, it's a job to reward her for putting up with Greatmaman for a long time. Meant as a sinecure, it's an opportunity to travel the universe and have some enjoyable experiences. Only she finds Reet, an adopted mechanic who has always felt out of place in his world what happens to the three of them will change things forever.

I didn't realise when I reserved this that it was in fact part of the Imperial Radch universe which I have only read the first book of the series. It did make me want to read some of the other titles in the series. ( )

2024 book #22. 2023. Searching for an alien which disappeared 200 years ago, Enae finds that alien's grown child, living as a human. An interstellar incident kicks off. Part of Leckie's "Imperial Radch" series. Not being familiar with the series, this was a bit of a hard read. ( )

Another intriguing work from Leckie. This is a standalone set in the Radach universe a little bit after the conclusion to the sword trilogy.

As is common with her work, pronouns are somewhat optional and can be confusing. By default the Radach refer to everyone as she, whereas the other political factions have other conventions which are not fully explained - but it was generally very clear who was being referred to. We follow two humans and one of the Preseger's 'Translators' who are intermediaries between the alien and humankind. Enae is the grand-daughter of a prestigious family, but when they fall on hard times she is sent off on a 'errand' into local space. Being of dedicated personality she takes it more seriously than expected and soon meets Reet. He is an orphan adopted into a loving family of an oppressed underclass and have never quite felt he has fitted into any of the social circles he moves in. Interspersed with these two stories, we have the very weird Qven, who is growing up and learning the boundaries of 'acceptable' behaviour which doesn't include eating anyone. Somewhere half-way through the plot Reet is deemed to be potentially Preseger, and abruptly rushed to the Radach Central facility. Enae and his family pursue with lawyers in tow, and Reet meets Qven.

It is weird, and in places weirder than Ancillary Sword. The AI do feature, as do the other aliens. It is also slightly gruesome as the Preseger have a very odd way of replicating and interacting with other species. Well worth reading though. ( )

I didn't like this as much as Leckie's other books, but that's too high a bar because those include some of my favorite books of all time. I was extremely interested and invested and I had a great time reading this and learning more about Presger Translators. Really Alien Aliens for the win, as always, especially when the Really Alien Aliens are based on human genetic code and then more or less raised by wolves.

I think Leckie has read Murderbot, lol.

The ethics of armed resistance and the [mal]adaptive ways of embracing your ethnic identity stuff is never not relevant, but hoooooeee that gave me a lot of feelings as a human living on Earth and reading this novel in November-December 2023. ( )

An intriguing expansion of the universe established in earlier books, this focuses on the mysterious Presger Translators, whose psychology and biology are in an uncanny valley of human/alien that humans find rather horrifying. The character of Qven is soon revealed to be a young potential Translator (if things go well), and some of these early scenes have a serial killer and body horror creepiness to them that I found intriguing. This drops away as the book progresses, but an emotional story about finding acceptance and a place in the world takes its place in a rewarding way. If there is one criticism I would make, it's that a certain "cozy" vibe eventually takes hold that lowers the dramatic stakes, but I really enjoyed this book and its focus on freedom and self-determination. And it was great to see some fun characters from previous books reappear. I love Sphene! ( )