Provenance: A new novel set in the world of the Hugo, Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke Award-Winning ANCILLARY JUSTICE (The imperial Radch)

A splendid follow-up to the Ancillary series. Some really mind stretching ideas about relations between truly alien species who aren't remotely human and don't necessarily have much regard for human notions. And alongside the hard sf there's the very engaging character of Ingray Aughskold. She's a sort of Cinderella brought up in a wealthy household but feeling rather sidelined by her foster mother and foster brother. She comes up with a cunning plan to upstage her brother, but it very rapidly goes seriously pear-shaped. She tries to pick up the pieces and make the best of it - in the process making some unlikely friends. An impressive finale - read it to find out! And Ingray? Well, she gets what she didn't know she wanted and decides (like Dorothy) there's no place like home and friends you can trust.

Wow, Ann Leckie surprise!

She's written a classic comedy of manners, with added "adventure sprinkles." What fun! Lovely new protagonist, Ingray, whom I saw in my mind throughout the book as Ann Leckie herself! WOOT !

We start with a well-written "standard" sci-fi adventure setup. Interesting character, familiar Raadch universe, great stuff. Then things "start to go wrong" and before you know it, the pacing grows faster and more fun. Throughout the book, there is a lightness to the action and settings, wonderfully presented.

Terrific world-building, great prose. I kept thinking what a great London West-End play this would make!

Unfortunately, chapters 12-15 were awfully confused and long-winded, but don't worry. Nothing much happens there, anyway.

Chapter 16 picks up the action again, and very clever plotting, good dialogue and characters.

This continues on through to the last couple of chapters, in which an info-dump of "what happened" follow by "what might happen in the next book (perhaps)". A bit too much tell-not-shown for my tastes.

Still, a very good book. 3.5 stars.

12.0% ".... Wonderful. Leckie is such a fine author, and this is so much fun to read!"

20.0% "... Leckie's world-building and dialogue are wonderful. The setup in the first 1/4 of the book is perfect."

21% ...

The front wall of the reception room was blue and green ruin glass, but the wall opposite the door where Ingray and Garal came in was all broad windows, plain and clear, looking out onto the rain-washed garden, moss-lined stones and silver-wet willows, three stone benches, swaths of flowers bent by the rain, their colors faded-looking in the gray light. The other walls were hung with slubbed silk, rough-woven in waving bands of red and yellow and green.

39.0% ".... what great fun this is! Complex and fast-paced and full of terrific dialogue!"

44.0% ".... this would make a great play in the West End of London! What fun!"

54.0% "... chapter 12 is a dull and confusing. Long-winded .... sadly and badly bogged down in dull dialogue"

75.0% "chapters 12-15 are hard going, very dull, useless plot, but then chapter 16 picks up the pacing quite a bit. Awesome"

Not a departure for Leckie, as such, but a lighter and ultimately less satisfying entry in her Radchaai canon. The Ancillary novels are genuinely ground-breaking, albeit very much in descending order of ultimate quality as you progress through the trilogy, and they explore issues of gender identity and what it means to be sentient and to have rights of self-determination, in deep and satisfying ways. This, on the other hand, is more of a comedy of manners combined with a Victorian thriller. It seems to approach matters of gender identity in a boringly fashionable way; the characters are psychologically much closer to 21st century Western norms than the Radchaai.

Leckie is, of course, a real author, so the writing never jars and the use of language is elegant, but again it feels less elegaic than the Ancillary trilogy, almost as if it had an eye on the YA market. The characters, too, feel simplified (or perhaps just young) and the love interest I found rather unconvincing. I enjoyed the book, but was not as excited by the ideas or the language as I had been with her previous works.

Ultimately C.J.Cherryh does, or at least did, this kind of thing rather better, both the imagining of an alien culture, and the necessary darkness of political manoeuvring. I will read Leckie's next work, but am no longer as anxious for it to appear as I was before.

Although I'm an enormous fan of the Ancillary series, this is far and away my favourite book by this author. In addition to the ongoing examination of gender dynamics and cultural imperialism which have been an ongoing theme, Provenance puts a focus on family and self perception. Superficially a "comedy of manners", as other reviewers have said, the book does a beautiful job of showing the violence that can take place under superficial politeness. Anyway, it's also really exciting. I ripped through it in about two days, and I'm certain I'll read it again soon.

Ann Leckie has once again delivered a sci-fi novel with heart and depth, set in the same world as her 'Ancillary' trilogy. The novel is set shortly after the events of the third novel in that set, but features a completely separate set of characters. It might be somewhat helpful to have read the original three first - a few references will make more sense if you have - but it's probably not essential.

Ingray, the heroine of 'Provenance', is a likeable character, supported by a cast of similarly interesting and sympathetic supporting players. The novel opens with Ingray, adopted daughter of a powerful political family, taking a massive gamble in the hope of gaining prestige with her mother. Things don't turn out as she'd planned though, and she finds herself caught up in events way beyond her usual concerns - events that could threaten thousands of lives.

As with all Leckie's novels, I really enjoyed reading it. She creates great characters that you can care about, coupled with an exciting plot, good dialogue and even some humour. It's hard not to like a book that delivers all those things. My four star rating seems a bit ungenerous, and is partly to distinguish it from her other solid five-star offerings. The concepts underpinning the novel are quite hard to get your head around and are never fully explained. There could also have done with being a bit more development of the relationships, some of which seemed to progress very fast - generally in terms of how quickly Ingray seemed able to impress people and earn undying loyalty.

However those are minor quibbles - it really is a great sci-fi book and a welcome addition to the books set in this space-age universe. I'm looking forwards to more!

She is a wonderful storyteller and her characters are many-sided and engaging. The only mystery is why Amazon doesn’t recommend more books of this quality rather than the generic garbage that they push into our feeds.

Up for a science fiction comedy of manners with a naive reluctant heroine? 'Provenance' is the book for you!

If you're familiar with Ann Leckie's "Ancillary" books, this is set in a byeway of the same universe where events touch on those of the Radch Empire. Our heroine Ingray is trying to negotiate the politics of succession on Hwae and find a secure future for herself but becomes involved in a plot revolving around the validity and authenticity of significant antiquities. Provenance is everything in this culture, both in terms of the relative importance of 'vestiges' for socio-poltical status and of interlinked personal relationships.

The novel is a winning mix of the familiar (family squabbles, budding romance) and the science-fictional (remotely-piloted mechs, prison planets, a space-elevator) if decidedly less 'significant' than those of the Imperial Radch books. There are also nicely-judged moments of comedy and the final moments of Ingray realizing that all she wants is the quiet of home rather than the life of significance she has (unintentionally) earned, feel somehow right.

It would be easy to find 'Provenance' a little shallow and insignificant after the novels of the

"Ancillary" trilogy, but taken on its own terms it's an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable romp which expands the world of the Imperial Radch in a minor but fascinating way.

I first encountered Ann’s work through Ancillary Justice and the two following books in the series. Her storytelling is engaging and characters are easy to relate to. This book is definitely worth your time!

L'anno scorso ho letto la trilogia Raadchai di Ann Leckie e mi si è aperto un mondo (ho intenzione perfino di fare una rilettura: non so quando ma la rifarò). L'avevo letta in italiano, ma lo stile di scrittura e i temi che Leckie è riuscita a inserire, in quella trilogia, le riflessioni a cui mi hanno portata, mi ha fatto capire che questa autrice è perfettamente nelle mie corde. Così, sono andata a leggere anche il romanzo stand-alone ambientato nello stesso universo, "Provenance".

Dalla trama non avevo capito molto. Ed effettivamente, la storia è molto più intricata. L'eredità e la "provenienza" sono i due temi portanti del romanzo, ma c'è molto di più: in maniera condensata (forse troppo per me) ci sono le stesse tematiche che avevo amato nella trilogia principale: i difficili rapporti interplanetari, la questione dell'identità personale, un pizzico di critica al colonialismo che non guasta mai (qui rispetto alla trilogia ce n'è di meno). Avrei voluto dare un voto pieno a questo romanzo, ma ci sono state delle cose che, sebbene abbia letto le ultime 150 pagine in un giorno non mi hanno convinta al 100% (mentre l'inizio era andato a rilento causa impegni, e questo forse non me l'ha fatto apprezzare al massimo).

Il punto più critico è stato l'identificazione con i personaggi. La protagonista Ingray, che è l'unico punto di vista, non mi ha fatto scattare la scintilla. Mentre le sue relazioni con gli altri personaggi, anche minori, mi hanno convinta, è stata proprio la sua individualità come personaggio a sé, preso da solo, che non mi ha trascinata. Specifico: non mi stava antipatica, non l'ho trovata stupida o fuori posto. Semplicemente non mi si è acceso l'interruttore. Ero interessa a quello che faceva, a come lo faceva e ai suoi obiettivi, proprio perchè i suoi conflitti esterni erano ben gestiti e avevano un certo peso. La sua freddezza, per come l'ho percepita, mi ha colpita perchè è stato inevitabile fare il paragone con (**mezzo spoiler per la trilogia Raadchai**) Breq della trilogia "Ancillary": Breq non è un'umana a tutti gli effetti, pertanto la percezione da parte di chi legge dovrebbe essere influenzata da questo. Breq *è* fredda, ma è anche incredibilmente umana, impulsiva e personalmente non riesco a non adorarla. Ingray, invece, è stata il suo esatto contrario.

Comunque, questo libro può essere letto da solo senza aver mai letto nulla dell'altra trilogia. Personalmente, lo trovo un ottimo libro, tolta appunto la criticità che ho appena detto e che secondo me è anche voluta, a livello proprio di personaggio. In ogni caso, per me Ann Leckie ormai è una garanzia. Mi dispiace di non aver ancora recuperato il suo fantasy (La Torre del Corvo), ma sul fronte fantascienza è un'autrice per me vale molto. Ho già messo in lista "Translation State", uscito da poco, sempre nell'universo Raadchai, e non vedo l'ora di leggerlo.

This is set in the same universe as the Ancillary Justice trilogy, just after the events in those novels.

On the backwater world of Hwae, a young woman has arranged to bring back a convict from "Compassionate Removal" to use him as a political weapon. At the same time, various interstellar species are preparing for a great Conclave and that also impacts Hwae. The plot is complex, including a murder and political interventions by both aliens and other human civilizations.

One of the major themes is the true origins of both people and things. The exact history of the returned convict is highly ambiguous. Our heroine's own background is problematic. A helpful starship captain has his own complex past. The planet of Hwae makes a cult of "vestiges" which are symbolic remnants, sometimes of great historic moments, sometimes of minor social events. But the provenance of some key vestiges turns out to be distinctly unreliable.

Our heroine Ingray is a complex character. Seen through her own eyes, she often appears weak, inept and out of her depth. But seen through other eyes she is a very different beast. This tension between how she sees herself and how others see her is a key theme and a key message.

I generally found the writing to be good and gripping, but it was sometimes hard to keep track of the detailed politics, especially the internal politics within the contending factions. There is a murder, but the murder mystery isn't really a "who-dunnit", but rather a complex political "why-dunnit".

Overall I enjoyed this considerably, although it isn't quite up to the admittedly high bar set by Ancillary Justice.

A new set of intrigues and misdirections pulled me beck into Leckies gripping universe. This time deeper into the machinations of interplanetary politics and cultures through the fabulously engaging world view of Miss Ingray Aughskold. I particularly enjoyed the personal pronoun modifications and fluid representation of different gendered cultural expectations and alien races. It reminded me strongly of the brilliant Louis McMaster Bujold. I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Mi ingles no es tan bueno para leer con soltura, algo aceptable. Que pena que no se hagan mas traducciones de estos libros

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