Google Play eBook, 327 pages
English language
Published Feb. 22, 2013 by Hachette UK, Google Ireland Ltd.
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Once, she was the Justice of Toren--a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.
the comparisons to the Culture novels are apt. establishes itself slowly but overall satisfying
Really enjoyed this book. In some ways it's a classic space opera but there's enough twists on the formula that it feels super fresh. Fascinating explorations of identity, language, and class. The writing was fun and engaging, I ate this book up.
One of the potential pleasures of SF is being dumped in an unfamiliar world and suffering "future shock" - the specifically science fictional equivalent of the bewilderment known to travellers as culture shock. It's fun; you have to figure out what things mean; how this society is organised; what this tech actually does. The puzzle is the fun. Sometimes, though, it can be too confusing, initially, and detracts from being able to properly follow the story. That was the case here, at least for me, but the more the veils slowly lifted and I retrospectively understood things the more I enjoyed it.
The story is full of surprises and goes down easily and was exactly the kind of thing I needed in the moment.
