[book review] Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch book 2)
Sequel to: Ancillary Justice
Breq is now in command of her own ship and has reached the station outpost for Athotek, an agricultural planet responsible for the cultivation of a great deal of the Radch’s beloved tea. Given that she doesn’t know who to trust given the impending civil war it’s fortuitous that there is a portion of the station cut off from surveillance-but also cut off from amenities and medical help. While the apathy of the ruling Radchaai benefits her in that regard it certainly does not benefit the residents of the Undergarden, minorities who live in isolated squalor. Breq’s attempt at re-unifying the station aren’t appreciated by anybody, Undergarden residents included, who have learned that the neglect of the Radchaai is preferable to their involvement. Somebody stirs up the already-delicate situation between station authorities and the Undergardeners and a confrontation ends with a representative of a fearsome empire dead, and Breq travels to the planet’s tea plantation as part of an attempt to figure out what happened.
Among many issues discussed are the divide and conquer tactics that pit marginalized groups against one another. On Athotek station as elsewhere there is a hierarchy of power and people in the middle of the hierarchy keep stomping on the people at the bottom, because as long as somebody else is as the bottom, they are not. The elites in the society also hold the view that those below them (servant classes, serf classes) should be grateful for all they have been provided, and that protest is perfectly okay, of course, but only silently and “peacefully”, peaceful in this circumstance meaning not disruptive of the status quo. When the oppressed are ignored long enough and finally start to agitate, the upper classes have the luxury of calling them the instigators. There is also the issue of marginalized people avoiding needed services for fear (warranted or not) of backlash, and elites saying this is proof that they are trying everything they can, offering these ungrateful people everything, but they just want to stir up trouble and complain.
At points the blatant way the elites talk about the lower classes seems like overwrought parody, the issue being, other than the affront of bad writing, that it makes real-life bigots seem reasonable by comparison. I noticed this in the first book, as well, but I have to remind myself how I have heard people talk about minorities when they think they are in private, or with people of a sympathetic mindset. The exchanged looks, let’s drop the bullshit sort of thing. People stating some commonly held prejudice (“They’re just lazy”, “They’re just not as smart as we are”, etc) in a half-mocking tone as though anticipating objection, making a characterization of themselves before somebody else can do it. But, they insist, it’s true; or, they say, well, that’s a simplification, and there are exceptions, but overall it really is true. They see themselves as brave souls speaking truth when nobody will speak publically about the emperor’s clothes, able to see the reality in front of them while progressives engage in mental gymnastics and doublethink to keep to a politically correct party line. I seem to have gotten a little carried away. But god damn if I haven’t witnessed those talks as white.
Anyway. All of this is very timely, and never stopped being so, but it has been at the forefront of public consciousness recently, most notably in the States from the Ferguson protests and resulting awareness of police brutality against people of color. This book came out in October 2014-again, timely, but timeless. Maybe it will be a primer for many young readers to attach a narrative to concerns of social justice, or serve as a counterpoint to the commentary their elders provide on current events.
While the issues aren’t subtle they aren’t preachy, either, so adult readers should not find this a tedious book. Quite the contrary, it’s a delightful sequel to the heavily-decorated Ancillary Justice, and my comments on atmosphere and tone from that review still apply here. Here we have again what is really a very simple and classic story just told very well, filtered through futuristic concerns.
Breq is now in command of her own ship and has reached the station outpost for Athotek, an agricultural planet responsible for the cultivation of a great deal of the Radch’s beloved tea. Given that she doesn’t know who to trust given the impending civil war it’s fortuitous that there is a portion of the station cut off from surveillance-but also cut off from amenities and medical help. While the apathy of the ruling Radchaai benefits her in that regard it certainly does not benefit the residents of the Undergarden, minorities who live in isolated squalor. Breq’s attempt at re-unifying the station aren’t appreciated by anybody, Undergarden residents included, who have learned that the neglect of the Radchaai is preferable to their involvement. Somebody stirs up the already-delicate situation between station authorities and the Undergardeners and a confrontation ends with a representative of a fearsome empire dead, and Breq travels to the planet’s tea plantation as part of an attempt to figure out what happened.
Among many issues discussed are the divide and conquer tactics that pit marginalized groups against one another. On Athotek station as elsewhere there is a hierarchy of power and people in the middle of the hierarchy keep stomping on the people at the bottom, because as long as somebody else is as the bottom, they are not. The elites in the society also hold the view that those below them (servant classes, serf classes) should be grateful for all they have been provided, and that protest is perfectly okay, of course, but only silently and “peacefully”, peaceful in this circumstance meaning not disruptive of the status quo. When the oppressed are ignored long enough and finally start to agitate, the upper classes have the luxury of calling them the instigators. There is also the issue of marginalized people avoiding needed services for fear (warranted or not) of backlash, and elites saying this is proof that they are trying everything they can, offering these ungrateful people everything, but they just want to stir up trouble and complain.
At points the blatant way the elites talk about the lower classes seems like overwrought parody, the issue being, other than the affront of bad writing, that it makes real-life bigots seem reasonable by comparison. I noticed this in the first book, as well, but I have to remind myself how I have heard people talk about minorities when they think they are in private, or with people of a sympathetic mindset. The exchanged looks, let’s drop the bullshit sort of thing. People stating some commonly held prejudice (“They’re just lazy”, “They’re just not as smart as we are”, etc) in a half-mocking tone as though anticipating objection, making a characterization of themselves before somebody else can do it. But, they insist, it’s true; or, they say, well, that’s a simplification, and there are exceptions, but overall it really is true. They see themselves as brave souls speaking truth when nobody will speak publically about the emperor’s clothes, able to see the reality in front of them while progressives engage in mental gymnastics and doublethink to keep to a politically correct party line. I seem to have gotten a little carried away. But god damn if I haven’t witnessed those talks as white.
Anyway. All of this is very timely, and never stopped being so, but it has been at the forefront of public consciousness recently, most notably in the States from the Ferguson protests and resulting awareness of police brutality against people of color. This book came out in October 2014-again, timely, but timeless. Maybe it will be a primer for many young readers to attach a narrative to concerns of social justice, or serve as a counterpoint to the commentary their elders provide on current events.
While the issues aren’t subtle they aren’t preachy, either, so adult readers should not find this a tedious book. Quite the contrary, it’s a delightful sequel to the heavily-decorated Ancillary Justice, and my comments on atmosphere and tone from that review still apply here. Here we have again what is really a very simple and classic story just told very well, filtered through futuristic concerns.