Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
I think it was on the basis of a review by Alias that I decided to purchase the first volume of the Imperial Radch trilogy. There was a reference to Becky Chambers and while the two are very different, that was enough to convince me. I don't regret it even though I have to say that at this stage I did not enjoy Ancillary Justice as much as I loved the Wayfarer series, but that's an unfair comparison. Ancillary Justice is really quite good and in many ways introduces a concept I haven't seen treated much in Sci-Fi, at the intersection of artificial intelligence and multiple connected units sharing the same intelligence (the "bodies" of such an artificial intelligence are called "ancillaries".) Ancillary Justice explores two timelines set 20 years apart, and the past one explains the present one. Despite a somewhat acrobatic premise with many parallel viewpoints by the same narrator and multiple timelines, Ancillary Justice is surprisingly easy to get into and appreciate. I'm not sure where the story goes from the end of this first volume and, in all honesty, I found the ending a bit anti-climactic. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it, and will likely get the next two volumes when the opportunity arises.
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