Let me start by saying that I have not read the rest of this series. I will say that after reading this, I really, really need to get my hands on the rest of the series. This stands alone as it's own story. I'm sure there are clever things I missed that would have been rather impressive if I had done my homework, but this is a gem in it's own right. It is part reluctant romance and part political process novel. There are moments where I was reminded of the personhood debates from TNG around Data. That's what really moves the story here, the question of what makes a person and what rights that person should have. The fantastic character portrayals just make it all the richer.

Dear Ms. Leckie,

I had read and enjoyed all four of your prior Imperial Radch books so when I saw that you had a new one coming out, I requested it. I was particularly excited since the book featured one of the mysterious Presger translators. They are very dangerous and in this book we find out why.


The book is set in the far future. There are three POV characters, Enae, Reet, and Qven. The Qven chapters are narrated in first person whereas Reet and Enae’s chapters are written in third person. The chapters always alternate in the same order: Enae, Reet, and then Qven.

Enae is human and Qven a Presger translator. As for Reet, what he is a question that doesn’t get answered right away so I won’t spoil the answer.

The book starts with fifty-something Enae (hir pronouns are sie/hir, and hir surname is Athtur) who has spent hir life taking care of hir demanding, critical grandmaman. Enae’s grandmaman has just died and Enae’s greedy cousins and relatives show up hoping to make off with Enae’s inheritance.

Only it turns out there isn’t an inheritance. Enae’s grandmaman, they soon find out, had no money but she did have an old venerated family name, and that is something that is very valuable in their world. It confers privilege, carries respect and can be leveraged in many ways. So Enae’s grandmaman made a deal with a wealthy parvenu, Zemil Igoeto. Zemil supported her extravagant lifestyle in exchange for being adopted by her, with the stipulation that the adoption wouldn’t be revealed until the time of her death.

This makes Enae Zemil’s niece. While Enae isn’t greedy, sie wasn’t expecting to be without financial resources. Fortunately hir grandmaman made certain that Zemil would provide hir with some means of survival. And indeed a job has been found for hir in the Office of Diplomacy. One of Zemil’s other nieces (not from Enae’s original family), Caphing, will be hir supervisor.

(Enae and Caphing hit it off and after only one on-page conversation come to care very much about each other. Because we didn’t see them together much this friendship felt somewhat unearned. I didn’t mind too much because I was glad for Enae).

Enae is torn about the job at first. Sie always wanted to travel and see the other space stations and planets but grandmaman discouraged it while she was alive. Now Enae is essentially forced into the position but it is a way to earn a living.

It’s essentially a nothing job—the Presger, terrifying aliens, are part of a peace treaty that is about to be renegotiated. They have asked for a fugitive murderer to be tracked down but the murder is 200 years old and the murderer a Presger translator (unlike the Presger themselves, the translator have human form, but a lot of their biology is alien and scary). No one actually expects Enae to do hir job, they just want hir to travel around asking questions on various planets so they can say they did due diligence. Enae starts out traveling in high style, as a new cousin recommended sie do, but sie’s quickly bored and decides to actually do the job no one expects of hir so that sie will have a sense of purpose.

A second character is Reet. Reet lives on a space station far from Enae’s home. He is the adopted / foster child of loving parents, but he’s never felt he belonged. He has disturbing impulses to dismember and/or eat people. He’s horrified by this himself and has never done it but the impulse is a powerful one. Reet was found as a baby and his DNA was tested for identification, but turned out to be very strange and unlike anyone else’s.

Now Reet works in isolation, essentially fixing conduits, or rather fixing the robots that break down in the course of trying to fix conduits. In some ways it’s ideal because he’s not around anyone he might eat or dissect, but it makes Reet lonely.

A group of Hikipi, a minority on his planet, approach Reet because they believe him to be a Schan, the last survivor of the ruling family of a space station that was destroyed centuries ago. Since Reet is only thirty this seems unlikely, but they make a persuasive case and eventually he joins their meetings and befriends them. One of them gets him a job in the local office of diplomacy that involves escorting prominent visitors.

Qven, the third character, is an adolescent Presger translator recounting their life from early childhood (I’m using “they” and “their” but the Presger don’t have the concept of gender so for most of the book Qven has no pronouns. I won’t spoil what ends up happening with that). Qven is from a high clade (a clade is a class or caste that shares the same lineage) and this gives them a lot of protection.

Presger translator children and adolescents are horrifyingly violent—they kill, eat, and/or dismember each other. In adulthood this urge subsides. Qven has participated in this enthusiastically so I really disliked them at first and found their sections disturbing for the first third or so of the book.

When the Presger translators reach adulthood, they are expected to merge with another Presger translator, becoming one person where there were two. Qven witnesses such a merging and it horrifies and terrifies them because it entails extreme vulnerability. They don’t want to do it but are told they have no choice—if they don’t they’ll be killed.

(I mention that Presger translator adults think nothing of killing children who don’t conform? Yes.)

Qven is eventually attacked in adolescence by another adolescent, Tzam, a student at their school. Tzam tries to force a merge on Qven. Qven fights them off and cuts them away except for a hand which Qven absorbs into their shoulder. This tarnishes Qven and they are no longer eligible for the prestigious match that was planned for them. Instead they’ll be “lucky” to merge with anyone, no matter how low clade. They’ll only get to do that if they are extremely well behaved and follow every rule and expectation. If they are not, they’ll just be disposed of.

Qven is watched like a hawk and has to hide the fact that they plan to escape. They are terrified by the thought of merging with anyone, all the more so after what happened to them.

Meanwhile, Enae arrives on Reet’s space station and he is assigned the job of escorting hir during hir investigation of the murder. Serendipitously, through hir exposure to Reet, Enae figures out that hir escort Reet is not a Schan but the child of the Presger translator fugitive sie is looking for.

The fugitive is assumed dead but despite that and even though sie likes Reet a lot, Eane reports hir finding to hir Office of Diplomacy, which notifies the Presger. Now the Presger translators want custody of Reet, and since Reet is still an adolescent in terms of Presger translator aging, he has little say in the matter. Reet wants to stay on the space station near his adoptive parents.

What will happen to the three characters? Will Reet get his wishes, and Enae hirs (she wants Reet to have the freedom she unintentionally cost him)? Will Qven escape having to merge, or will they have to? Also hanging in the balance is the crucial treaty. Any killing by one side or the other could tank the whole thing.

I started out really freaked out by Qven and the other Presger translator kids, and by Reet’s body horror storyline (he’s changing and doesn’t know what it means). Eventually these things either died down or decreased and then the book became really enjoyable. I liked all three characters by the end. Surprisingly, Qven actually became my favorite.

The plot was intricate and original as was the world building, typical of Leckie. The book kept me turning the pages—I read it in three days, that’s fast for me. Leckie’s characters are always interesting and unusual, too. This is a B+ and a recommended read for me.

Translation State was my very first (though not my last!) Ann Leckie book. Which means two things for this review. First: I can confidently assert that it reads well as a standalone, even for those not familiar with Ann Leckie's work in particular, or who aren't voracious sci-fi readers in general. Second: a lot of what I'm going to talk about loving in this book is probably true of Leckie's work as a whole, but for those looking for a first encounter with it, this book is still a good place to start.

Translation State is fiendishly hard to summarize. The book is certainly propulsive and gripping - it always feels like plenty is happening - but it's low on individual, describable plot events. Character and world-building are the engines, and the story fundamentally centers characters figuring out who they are and what space they want to occupy, in the world and in relationship to each other. It's a story that is generous to its readers (it never feels like it's confusing you or leaving you behind on purpose), careful with its characters, immersively disorienting, contemplative, fundamentally queer, and somehow both relatable and strange. I enjoyed it so much.

The three main characters in the text are Enae, Reet, and Qven, who narrate in cycles of alternating POV chapters. The first half of each of the first three chapters felt disorienting and difficult for me to follow, meeting three unfamiliar people in unfamiliar worlds. But stick with it, because by the end of each chapter everything starts to feel easier and more accessible. It's a clever kind of spiraling entryway into the book - pulling you out of the narrative and placing you back into it as you cycle through each new character- which ends up having some thematic resonance later in the book. (view spoiler)

The basic information needed to get you into the story is all there in the first few chapters. Enae has just lost hir Grandmaman and has been sent by the family on a mission to find a kind of... alien-to-human translator who was lost in space centuries ago. Reet is the possibly-human, possibly-descendant of said translator, who is trying to figure out who his biological parents were, what family and species he belongs to. Qven is... ok, bear with me here, some kind of collectively-raised ungendered blob monster who turns out to maybe be one of these human-to-alien translator things currently going through Human Finishing School who isn't sure e wants to be human or alien or anything at all, and who is FAR AND AWAY the best character of the book. The plot brings them all into contact with each other in interesting and spoilery ways that don't matter as much as what they mean to each other.

As that bare-bones summary probably suggests, the world-building in this story is intense. I am NOT a person who would label herself as "liking" intense world-building, but here, I absolutely loved it. The thing is, it isn't world-building in the sense of tons of names to memorize or made-up planets to navigate or strange laws and rule to comprehend. It's a fundamental re-imagining of what the universe could look like. It takes readers so far into alienation from the familiar that they start to rediscover what they find fundamentally and inalienably relatable. I am 1000% going to fail to do this justice, but it's one of the coolest and more original things I've ever read?

The thing is, this book feels very aware of how sci-fi world-building traditionally works, and plays with it in a way that feels both incredibly smart, and fundamentally generous to the reader. A lot of typical surface-level world-building tweaks for sci-fi, like the existence of space-travel, are actually rendered more familiar to readers here, as in this amazing description of space travel which is clearly just the experience of flying commercial economy class:

“The shuttle was cold and cramped. Enae badly needed sleep, but there was barely room to sit comfortably, and the compartment was excessively well lit, every surface covered in glaring warnings of various ways one might die if one made some wrong move. Enae noticed the person in dark gray a few rows behind hir—they seemed to have settled in and gone immediately to sleep, and for a moment sie was tempted to ask them how in the world they’d managed that. But it would mean climbing over other passengers, and no doubt somewhere on the walls or floor was a huge, screaming warning against doing exactly that. So instead sie closed hir eyes and relaxed as well as sie could manage.”


At the same time, a lot of the things sci-fi touches less often and less radically - like sexual attraction, romance, and kinship relationships between autonomous individuals with fixed gender identities - are fundamentally rearranged here. Qven, for example, belongs to a species that does something called "matching" - to human readers, matching sounds a little bit like sex, a little bit like monogamy, and (alarmingly) a little bit like cannibalism - but actually isn't any of those. Or, it's a little bit of all of them, and none of them at once? The nature of what matching is remains fundamentally unstable throughout the text. But instead of feeling like a central part of the book is left unexplained, it feels like it's just... left open to infinite interpretative possibility. So when Qven is told that e will be socially required to match with someone, and e realizes e DESPERATELY doesn't want to do it... that feeling somehow becomes familiar, even if we still don't know what the eff "matching" is. In a way that is just delightfully queer down to its bones, the reader can recognize the feeling of being pushed into a social mold of how to conceive of oneself and relate to others. And how actually deciding what parts of that mold to accept, and what of it to reject, means discovering gender (and what it means to have one), and radical ways of relating to other beings in the world. It's really an incredible thing to read.

I could go on for ages, listing tiny world-building details that blew my mind, and bigger themes that made me think. But instead, I'm just going to move to my final sales pitch: if, like me, you're one of those people who has always wanted to like intense, world-buildy sci-fi, but find that the way it traditionally operates just doesn't mesh with your brain, definitely give Translation State a try. It will probably change the way you see sci-fi, and possibly the way you see the entire world along with it.

Anyone who knows me knows that the Imperial Radch trilogy is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi series. It has been nearly eight years since I was last immersed in that universe, and I have to say, reading Translation State felt like I had never missed a beat. Right from the first page, this was an accessible and highly immersive story, and I think it's going to be enjoyable whether you're a long-standing fan of the series or if this book is your first introduction to the world!

Whereas the original Ancillary Justice trilogy is more focused on AI, futuristic tech, and revenge against an empirical tyrant, Translation State is a more intimate and interior-focused sci-fi story. It feels much "closer" than the original in many ways, and it deals more directly with issues of diplomacy and political machinations of war rather than war itself.

I enjoy how this story makes use of the classic alternating POV structure to bring together three incredibly disparate characters in ways that you wouldn't expect. I think the story is smart in opening with Enae's perspective, which really grounds the reader in the story, and establishes a plotline that's familiar and incredibly easy to parse: hir grandmother has recently passed away, and while hir other relatives bicker over the inheritance, Enae is sent off on a diplomatic goose chase to keep hirself busy and out of their affairs.

The story gradually spirals out from there, and just like the original trilogy, I found it to be innovative, challenging, and an exciting take on the sci-fi genre. It blends together classic elements of sci-fi with aspects of mystery and themes about self-discovery and found family. The characters are fascinating and complex (but not unknowable), and the trajectory of their overlapping paths is surprisingly endearing.

Translation State is a story that poses questions about what it means to belong, how we understand what is true about ourselves, and what we do when those beliefs are tested. It's about how we can only learn new things about ourselves when we're given an opportunity to learn more about the vastness of the world—and what it looks like to shatter the limitations that keep us from doing that. It reminds me of the phrase "we can only do better when we know better," and all three characters are having their resolve and sense of self tested throughout this story, in ways that bring them that much-needed clarity to know themselves better.

As I said before, this is more of a political, philosophical take on sci-fi. It's a quieter and more reflective take on all of these questions rather than an action-forward story. That's not to say it doesn't feature its fair share of action and intrigue, especially towards the end, but I wouldn't say that's the central focus and I also wouldn't say the story suffers for it by any means. It's a story that manages to walk the fine line between adventure and introspectiveness in a way that I really enjoyed.

For me, this was a four-star read because towards the end, I didn't feel like the POVs were equally balanced. Reet and Qven are deeply integral to the plot and climax of the story, and towards the end Enae feels ancillary at best (no pun intended). Hir storyline is more about kickstarting the plot, but I didn't sense as much character growth from hir as opposed to the two other characters. Many times sie felt like a side character as opposed to a main character despite the fact that sie is one of the main POVs.

But with that aside, I appreciate all the questions this book sets out to explore. It's a prime example of how sci-fi can take us to these incredible new worlds so far-removed from our understanding of reality and yet hit so close to home with themes and concepts that can be easily extracted and mapped out onto the all-too-human issues we face on a day-to-day basis. I loved returning to this world so much, and I definitely think this is a worthwhile companion to a very beloved sci-fi series!

Amazon Review pending system approval
Will be featured on next Youtube Recent Reads (estimated post date June 20th)
Blog Post scheduled for June 20th

This is one of those situations where I am kicking myself for not picking up Ann Leckie previously. Her Imperial Radch series has been on my TBR shelves since possibly they came out, but I've never reached for them. In fact, my request of this on Netgalley was a him (I didn't think I'd get it!). Now that I've read it however I'm in a pickle. I have plenty to read and review but now all I want to do is return to this world. In short - I loved this.

We follow three points of view, starting with Enae as hir grandmaman's funeral. After this Enae is presented with a job opportunity that is cushy gig. Just travel the galaxy, occasionally talk to an official and ask 'Have you seen this person?' sign a report and travel some more. It's a gift, and meant to be a reprieve but sie decides sie is going to pursue it and solve it. We then meet Reet, who has no past that he's aware of. He was adopted as an infant after being found on a ship abandoned and he has always wondered, why is just a little different than everyone else? Finally Qven, a Presgr Translator who is ripped from the future laid out for them after an attack. The three eventually all come together, and their stories intermingle.

Our characters are engaging and wonderfully drawn. Each voice is unique and genuinely brought so much to the story. Enae gives us a cozy feeling, and a foundation to the story. Hir job takes hir out and really kickstarts the story, especially when sie meets Reet. Reet does start a bit dull but he develops into a stronger character once we see him get his feet and see a future. But Qven gives us the spice, the first few chapters of Qvens read like a horror novel. I'm not going to spoil them, but trust me. The story still manages to take a cannibalistic alien character and make them adorable, and force you to almost fall in love by the end.

I can't say how well this ties into the rest of the Radch, as I mentioned I've not read them. However, from context I can tell we're getting cameos and information on the world at large after the end of the first trilogy and rather than confuse me, this made me interested and invested in seeing more. The story is engaging, and moves fast (especially after the half way mark). I cannot recommend this one enough for hard SF fans or fans of her original trilogy as I feel like there is a lot to take away here.

And I honestly want to know, who else found this cozy feeling? It seems improbable but here we are. A fantastic read - give it a try.

Set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch Trilogy (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy) and Provenance.

Huge thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC - I was having Imperial Radch withdrawal symptoms, and I loved this book! If not for the multistate move and a few other family obligations that came up in May, I definitely would have finished this sooner. I am actually shocked that I managed to not forsake all other responsibilities in order to binge a new Ann Leckie book – there is a first for everything!

I’m so happy to be back in this universe. I used to consider it the Radch Universe, but what I love so much about this book (and Provenance) is getting a view of planetary systems and peoples that are NOT part of the Radch society and systems, and getting that outside look at the Radch.. there’s a whole lot of different people and cultures out there!

The Imperial Radch is one of my favorite trilogies ever, and I love that there are now 2 additional books set in the same universe. I love the inventive sci-fi, the human and nonhuman characters, the creative use of pronouns, the thoughtful approach to gender and how language and norms impact it, the view of pretty much everything as a spectrum, and being presented with alien cultures that make us question so much of what we take for granted as “normal”.

I fell totally in love with all 3 of the main characters in this book, all so very different yet able to form important connections. I’m amped that we get so much more background on the Presgr translators (the title should have tipped me off to this!) was so excited for references to and cameos by some characters from previous books.

I also think this would be totally fine as a standalone if you haven’t read the series or Provenance, but if you are an Imperial Radch stan like me, you get that extra excitement when we see some of our favorite past characters pop up.

I loved the ending! <3

The great thing about Ann Leckie’s “Imperial Radch” universe is how it portrays some of the aliens as, actually, totally alien. Yes, AI “ship” intelligences often act a little too human and the Geck (a spider-like race) sometimes seem too familiar as well (“the Geck ambassador reminded Enae of hir grandmaman”), but the Presger are satisfyingly incomprehensible. They are, indeed, so absolutely powerful, violent and unknowable that the humans and the more-knowable aliens are desperate to maintain the treaty with them at all costs.


https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/book-review-ann-leckie-translation-state/

The latest entry in the Imperial Radch series continues to explore gender, identity, and complicated space diplomacy, while still being a suspenseful and often funny story. This isn't an easy read, the names of characters, planets, and alien species are complicated enough, to say nothing of the political maneuvering, but it is well worth it. This somehow had touches of a coming of age story, a mystery, a political thriller, a romance, and above all else, the families we make.

Book of my heart!!!!! I loved Ann Leslie’s writing from the first time I read Ancillary Justice (which I have reread and listened to the audiobook of several times). I so enjoyed the Imperial Radch universe and adored each book in that trilogy. Provenance surprised me by being so different while still being in that universe and being so wonderful. So I was utterly delighted when Orbit and NetGalley gave me an eARC of Translation State in exchange for an honest review.

I bounced off the first chapter the first time I tried to read this book. But then I remembered how all of Ann Leckie’s prior books had a barrier to entry, and once I broke the meniscus I could dive right in and never look back. )Provenance is a particular example of this.) So I tried it again a few days later and I fell in love with Enae! This book has three protagonists that alternate chapters and Enae was my favorite. We don’t get a lot of middle-aged single people who get to be protagonists and have adventures and I just fell in love with Enae right away. I also loved Reet, and Qven took a little longer to love - Leckie is a whiz at capturing an alien mindset.

I don’t want to a point the plot points because they were too good and I want you to find them out by reading. This is probably the best book of 2023 and I anticipate it being a strong Hugo contender for best novel (and maybe a Best Series nod?) next year.

Buy this book! Now!

Two centuries a go, a translator went missing.. What happened has never been solved. After her grandmother dies and a stranger takes over the estate, Enae is suddenly thrust into the galaxy. She has been assigned the cold case of the missing translator,. She is not expected to solve it. She is expected to use the generous salary to travel the universe in style.

Enae, being Enae, can’t help but try to solve the case. As she slowly unravels the case, she inadvertently turns other lives upside down. When she sets out to make things right, she finds herself up against traditions and powers she does not entirely understand.

As ever, Ann Leckie has managed to create characters whose reality is very different from our own. Yet again, she evolves those weirdly unfamiliar characters so that they become not only familiar, but something like close friends or family (at least for those of us who are often seen as weirdly unfamiliar). It is what I have always loved about her work, and once again she works her magic.

Ann Leckie has gives us another book that is compulsively readable. Along the way, she explores the meaning of family and what it takes to stand for what is is right.

This was unlike any book in the series preceding it, though clearly built from the same mind and of the same core elements: a detailed, thought-experiment exploration of cultures and beings that, while still of a human basis, are imaginatively alien. It was wildly, violently, viscerally gross, and I couldn't put it down. A must-read for Ann Leckie fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was so wonderful to return to the Imperial Radch universe in Translation State! Although this one is a standalone, I don't think it would work well as an introduction to the series just because there is a lot of earlier worldbuilding that you're assumed to understand, and callbacks to previous stories in the series.

The novel has three separate POVs that it cycles through--Enae, Reet, and Qven. This is normally a bit of a turn-off for me, but I think Leckie did a good job weaving these disparate threads together. Although I really enjoyed the novel overall, I did find Enae's chapters dragged the most. While Enae's story of recovering from trauma is impactful, this character just didn't have the personal mystery that drove me into Reen and Qven's POVs.

Qven's POV was always a high point. I love an alien perspective and getting to learn more about Presger Translators was absolutely delightful. They were creepy but interesting, and although we get the viewpoint of one in this novel, they still retain a certain mystique and many unanswered questions, which I really loved.

I came into this without having read the Imperial Radch trilogy. In fact, I was probably a third of the way through the book before I even noticed (by chance, poking around Goodreads for other purposes) that this was part of the Imperial Radch universe at all.

Good news, everyone! This works perfectly well as a standalone. Luckily.

There are three POV characters in this, each receiving about equal weight: Enae, left unmoored by the death of her grandmother, given a bit of make-work looking for a translator the alien Presgr lost track of two centuries before; Qven, a juvenile translator nearing adulthood; and Reet, an orphan with no knowledge of his past who has never quite fit in with everyone around him. No one expected Enae to succeed in her assignment, or even really try, but they gave it a sincere effort and found the missing translator’s offspring (Reet, of course - Leckie doesn’t try to hold the reader in suspense here). The Presgr translators want Reet back, but Reet (and his adoptive parents and friends) consider him human, thus triggering a diplomatic conflict.

Journeys of self discovery. High stakes negotiations. Cloak-and-dagger intrigues. Eshcer-esque landscapes. Cannibalism. This book has a lot going on, and I’m kind of amazed at how well it all managed to fit together. It’s both a very personal story and mind-bending science fiction.

As I said at the beginning here, this works as a standalone, no problem. But, that being said, I have the distinct feeling this would have had more *weight* if I’d read the Imperial Radch trilogy. I feel quite certain that there are crossover characters whom I would have recognized, and things like the Presgr and the Radch aren’t really given the introduction that I think they deserve - some degree of familiarity is assumed. So I give it four stars, but I feel like I might bump it up to five once I read the Imperial Radch trilogy. Which will be a high priority given how good this was.

This is more of a 3.5 star book for me, but rounding up to 4 stars. Set in the same world as other books by this author, it’s relatively easy to slide back into the world. It’s not action packed, but it’s also not some lyrical journey either. I’m not sure how to describe it. The characters are fine and the story is fine. It’s probably more aligned with who and what am I type stories than a sci fi/fantasy book. Overall, not bad, but could be confusing if you haven’t read the other books set in this world.

Though outside of Radch-controlled space, the characters in Ann Leckie's latest are aware of the personhood discussion rumblings far from them. Enae has smaller concerns, but no less important. Her fractious grandmother has died, and all the greedy relatives have descended on the house, looking to win big when their grandmother's will is read. Enae has been taking care of the old woman for years, ignoring her own desires, and she's resentful and upset by all the naked greed, then outrage, displayed by the relatives, whose financial gains end up being thwarted.

Enae herself is left without money directly, but the new head of the house sends Enae on a diplomatic mission to find a missing Presger individual. The trail is 200 years cold, but Enae gamely sets out, as she finally gets a chance to have a paid adventure.

Meanwhile, we meet two other individuals:
-a young Presger translator-in training, Qven, is learning how to behave like a human, while also dealing with her frightening growing pains, and
-a young man, Reet, whose adopted parents love him, no matter that he used to have a tendency to bite, is also is undergoing strange pains.

It's inevitable that these three persons' lives will become entangled, but the fun is watching it happen. Then the troubles that ensue once they do.

Though this is a standalone story, its loose tie to the Imperial Radch trilogy becomes much more solid when a certain sarcastic character from that trilogy appears. That they're there for Radch reasons goes without saying, but they're also interested in the events here because of a somewhat similar situation developing with Reet. Reet's origin is of political interest to certain parties in this space; his humanity is under debate, and once he and Qven meet, the desired trajectories of their lives become the source of frustration for them, considering their lack of power and the multiple political powers vying for control over them.

Leckie continues use her Radch novels to pose questions about what is a person, how does one's origin play into one's place in the world, and what are one's choices when one has no power. She uses compelling characters, whose behaviour and intentions are under contention by others, and who are struggling to define their own identities, irrespective of others.

Leckie also deals with the intersection of biological need versus politically-driven arranged marriages, and how this can affect the mental health of the parties being matched. And though there is development of a romance over the course of the book, the emphasis is on consent, despite the wrangling of others.

(As an aside, being a tea lover, I was so happy that tea had such a big presence in the lives of all the characters.)

I liked this book a lot, and am always happy returning to Leckie's complex Radch stories, and all that they say and provoke.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Translation State starts with three separately interesting characters, and weaves their stories together to create a unique coming-of-age tale within one of my favorite settings.

I love how Leckie creates side stories in the universe of the Imperial Radch; stories with compelling, impactful stakes, but without escalating them to galactic or apocalyptic scale.

Every new detail fills in blanks about the peoples and systems of that world, but not enough to stifle my curiosity for more.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

I feel like I need to state up front that at the time of requesting this, I did not know this was a standalone/prequel (?) to an existing series, and realizing that halfway through definitely cleared up why I felt thrown in the deep end, plot-wise. If you liked the Imperial Radch trilogy, I think you're going to like this. If you, like me, are starting here, go back to those books first - there's a bunch of lore happening that I tried to use as guides to what I should be going "omg" to, and I think you're going to have a better time if you understand what the easter eggs are for.

As it is, this is the sort of space opera that is generally not my particular flavor of sci-fi - if you're all in for Space Diplomacy between different species, you're going to have a good time, but overall this one was Not For Me, but I enjoyed the time I spent with it anyways. It's well-written Not My Thing, and that's not to be unappreciated.

Translation State is a return to Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch universe. This time we follow three individuals searching for purpose in their lives. We have Enae, whose strict and controlling gradmaman has just died, leaving her bereft of her job managing the household, ignored by the rest of the family who only want wealth. Reet, who knows nothing of his past, but has been adopted into a family and spends his days as part of a space station maintenance. And Qven, a translator in training for the mysterious Presgr.

The narrative changes between these three individuals, at first individually, until events bring them altogether. What fuels that, is Enae’s new job as a diplomat seeking someone who has been missing for over 200 years.

Having only read Ancillary Justice I feel like there was a lot I missed that served as callbacks or linkages to other works in this universe. Leckie amply provides a lot of detail or explanations of the differing species and motivations. A lot of this work centers on an inter-species treaty that has helped avoid conflict by allowing representatives to come together and reach an accord.

Compared to other works of space opera, this one leans much more heavily into the politics then warfare, though there is some conflict. It is much more a conflict of identity and the battle for the rights of the individual against the “greater good.”

Some of the Qven sections read as horror, of how an unknown world operates and its bloody life, but overall found the book difficult to stay engaged with. The fact that the dramatic end was approaching and I had no problem setting it down for the night speaks to that. Fans of the other imperial Radch will probably enjoy this, and who knows if I read the rest of the series and come back to this I might find it more enjoyable.

A really fun entry into the Ancillary Justice "cinematic universe" which I don't think you need to have read any other books to enjoy (Sphene shows up toward the end and Translator Dlique is mentioned but otherwise no repeat characters, I think). As with the original trilogy, it's a satisfying reflection on personhood and somewhat incidentally on gender and language (we're no longer in Imperial Radch space and there are characters who use he, she, they, e, and sie, and some conversation about the concepts of pronouns and misgendering, although it's mostly an uncommented-upon feature of the universe). Translation State has a rather slow start, but I liked all three POV characters enough to keep meandering along with them without worrying too much about where we were going, and once they finally meet things really get going quick! At the heart of the story is a question about immigration and citizenship and self-determination, and without giving spoilers, I thought the crisis was resolved in a really emotionally satisfying way, while giving ample space to consider all the political roadblocks placed in the way.

I like the Imperial Radch books so I was eager to read this one. It’s in that universe, but it’s a standalone book. You don’t have to read any of the others to understand this one. It takes place after the trilogy. The story starts with a search for someone who disappeared two hundred years ago but ends up being something that can break a treaty that has been keeping the peace for years. It’s also about self-determination and what makes someone human.

I enjoyed it. I liked learning more about the Imperial Radch universe and couldn’t put this short book down. I flew through it. It’s a good story, and I definitely recommend it if you liked the other books. It comes out Tuesday. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for my copy.