Ancillary Mercy spoilers
Nov. 3rd, 2015 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackI read Ancillary Mercy. I have all the thoughts.
I enjoyed most of it. I especially love the flashes of whimsical humour between Breq and Sphene, or the translator, I'd like to see Ann Leckie write something more whimsical in tone without being outright parody.
I have All the Interesting Thoughts and Questions, which I generally count as a win for a book.
I'm sadly disappointed we didn't discover more though. I so hoped we'd find out more about what had been in the original Radch, and how it had changed since. And find out more about the other aliens and more about the Presgr.
I am interested in the ultimate direction at the end of the book, using the Presgr treaty as leverage to establish a more equal society. I am worried it seems too convenient, you're arguing about whether it's better to subject to by Aander Mianii or to AIs, but either way you're still completely at the mercy of the Presgr.
If simply arguing the Presgr into something can upset the status quo ever, you'd think it would be a major feature of previous political manoeuvring, of people trying to sneak an audience with translators and manipulate them. (Or maybe it was, but we don't see the effects of it.)
Cutting Aander Mianii's ties to the AIs is really quite like founding the culture. I hope it turns out as well. I am still scared by it, because the AIs we see are really quite benevolent, but there's no good check on them if they're not. But I agree with the argument that they're on the whole less tyrannical than Aander, so it's the ethical thing to do, even if there's a risk.
In general I found the first book more interesting because it seemed to cover a wider swathe of interesting bits of the universe. But I found the second and third easier to read because they had a more consistent story and characters from beginning to end.
Other thoughts, might the Presgr be some sort of distributed intelligence (probably not a single one, but maybe somewhere between)? I doubt there's a single answer, but some people have suggested it would fit their peculiarities from a human perspective.
Someone asked Ann Leckie for some confirmation. The Radch are not "the good guys". The tea is tea like we have (but varies from place to place).
I enjoyed most of it. I especially love the flashes of whimsical humour between Breq and Sphene, or the translator, I'd like to see Ann Leckie write something more whimsical in tone without being outright parody.
I have All the Interesting Thoughts and Questions, which I generally count as a win for a book.
I'm sadly disappointed we didn't discover more though. I so hoped we'd find out more about what had been in the original Radch, and how it had changed since. And find out more about the other aliens and more about the Presgr.
I am interested in the ultimate direction at the end of the book, using the Presgr treaty as leverage to establish a more equal society. I am worried it seems too convenient, you're arguing about whether it's better to subject to by Aander Mianii or to AIs, but either way you're still completely at the mercy of the Presgr.
If simply arguing the Presgr into something can upset the status quo ever, you'd think it would be a major feature of previous political manoeuvring, of people trying to sneak an audience with translators and manipulate them. (Or maybe it was, but we don't see the effects of it.)
Cutting Aander Mianii's ties to the AIs is really quite like founding the culture. I hope it turns out as well. I am still scared by it, because the AIs we see are really quite benevolent, but there's no good check on them if they're not. But I agree with the argument that they're on the whole less tyrannical than Aander, so it's the ethical thing to do, even if there's a risk.
In general I found the first book more interesting because it seemed to cover a wider swathe of interesting bits of the universe. But I found the second and third easier to read because they had a more consistent story and characters from beginning to end.
Other thoughts, might the Presgr be some sort of distributed intelligence (probably not a single one, but maybe somewhere between)? I doubt there's a single answer, but some people have suggested it would fit their peculiarities from a human perspective.
Someone asked Ann Leckie for some confirmation. The Radch are not "the good guys". The tea is tea like we have (but varies from place to place).
no subject
Date: 2015-11-03 08:34 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I believe it either, but it's possible and I think it fills a few of the gaps in.
I think there's always SOME human who will think "it can't be that bad, I'm sure I know what I'm doing"...
Well, isn't that the Garsedd? I think that's why Leckie repeats the thing about why the Presger bullets stop multiple times, because it emphasizes that this kind of weird consequence is what happens when you try to play politics with the Presger.