Short story prequel from the same setting as Ancillary Justice. ( )

It was kind of a mix between aztec sports and a political rally. I'd like to say that it was different from any other democratic circus, but the deaths at the end only seems poetical.

One thing I loved about the story were the character's names. They evoke such strong imagery. ( )

There are few topics as boring as sportsball games, but this goes to show that Ann Leckie can make anything interesting! ( )

I took ages to get around to reading this. I knew it was set prior to Leckie's Ancillary trilogy, but I think I was put off by the convoluted names of the characters.

Anyway, after seeing reference to Breq's actions in the story, I decided to try again. I liked it! It builds upon things referred to in the trilogy in ways I didn't expect, and it is interesting seeing Breq from an outside perspective - a child who knows nothing of Breq's history and who is still learning about the political quagmires of his own world. ( )

I appreciated this taste of what Breq was doing before we met her in Ancillary Justice. The worldbuilding of this place where elections are decided by ballgame (and also monks are involved? somehow?) was intruiging. ( )