Ancillary Justice — A Space Opera
The Nebula awards were held on May 18, and the winner is…. Ancillary Justice. Ancillary Justice is part 1 of a new three part series of science fiction novels. The story is about a sole survivor of a starship and her revenge upon her civilization’s ruler. It is set thousands of years into the future, where the Radch empire has put artificial intelligence chips in all of their subjects. Breq, the main character, fights against the regime.
Ancillary Justice is a space opera, one of the most beloved genres in the science fiction arsenal. Star Wars is far and away the most famous of the sub-genre, whose rights recently went to Disney who has hired a cast of celebrities for an upcoming movie. The rising popularity of the genre is undeniable with shows and movies like Hunger Games, Defiance, and Game of Thrones. But, while the mainstream audience watches on Tivo, the sci-fi/fantasy world is already reading the next great set of books.
Perhaps most interesting is the author, Ann Leckie, whose debut novel is truly a winner. The Nebula award she received is often said to be the most important science fiction awards. Though this is her debut novel she is not new by any means to science fiction having written many short stories while staying at home with her two children. The first incarnation of Ancillary Justice came in 2002 when her sci-fi writing bug was still nascent. She submitted a story about the Radchaai empire to the National Novel Writing Month. She has been working on it on and off ever since, not having a finished product until 2012. Her short story, Night’s Slow Poison, is set in the same fictional universe as Ancillary Justice.
Leckie has a uniquely female voice in her writing and interestingly, the empire in this fictional universe does not categorize people by gender. She is also a mother of two, has worked as a waitress, a receptionist and a recording engineer while pursuing her passion of science fiction writing. As a child, Leckie parents were not thrilled about her affinity for the sci-fi genre, but they eventually gave in.
Leckie’s award comes at a time when after the science fiction community had come under some degree of scrutiny about sexism and misogyny. Perhaps coincidentally 2013 was the first time the Nebula awards awarded only women. Though even she admits the timing was suspect, the success is undeniable with sales rising
above 30,000 copies, translation into 10 languages and critical acclaim.
The community is anxiously awaiting the next two books in the series.
