Originally shared by John Jainschigg

Originally shared by John Jainschigg

Immediately Read This Book

You know how, every time you click on an Amazon recommendation, it takes you (of course, YMMV) down into the long tail of the catalog, into realms of cringeworthy, self-published weirdness and dinosaur porn? Well ... very occasionally, it may also take you to Ann Leckie, my new favorite sci-fi author, who came out of relative obscurity about three years ago to sweep the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, and other awards (I believe the first time that's ever happened) with her first (non bodice-ripper, apparently) novel, Ancillary Justice, the start of a highly-successful trilogy.

I'm only a couple-hundred pages in, at this point -- but here's my first pass on an exec summary: if you like Ursula ("Left Hand of Darkness," etc.) LeGuin and Iain (The Culture series) Banks, run -- do not walk -- to your nearest device (or bookstore -- you know you can browse in bookstores without scrolling and popups?) and buy this book.

Great imagineering on every level. The Radchaai are an imperialist/autocratic/annexationist/diversity-tolerant Roman- (or British-Raj)-plan (all annexed people get citizenship and participate in the slightly-corrupt meritocracy) version of The Culture, with sentient starships but still-limited energy and resources (thus no emergent post-scarcity libertarianism). And they're post-gender-differentiating (except presumably in sexual terrain), which has obliged Leckie to develop new ways of writing in English from subjective viewpoints. The Radch and its various clients cultures and neighbors have also apparently moved off in directions very different from our own culture's trends: certain kinds of very high technology are universally available, but others (like ubiquitous mobile phones, a chatty internet, packaged foods) are absent, which is also fascinating.

Really first-rate, groundbreaking stuff.
http://www.amazon.com/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch-Leckie/dp/031624662X

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