#ancillary sword

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Guests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Fantasy, portal fantasy, mystery, magical realism, boarding school, novella, series, adult

Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Provenance, Translation State, and other stories) by Ann Leckie

Endorsement from submitter: "Breq/Justice of Toren is a ship AI and doesn't have a gender. The Radchaai language only has one pronoun for people, so (almost) everyone in the empire is she/her, to the point that they're infamous for failing to correctly guess which pronoun to use with outsiders."

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Science fiction, space opera, far future, series, adult

[nasty-little-guy]

I just really love that every time Station Administrator Celar's looks are mentioned, Breq is like, "You need to know two things about this woman: she is FAT and she is SEXY. EVERYONE has a crush on this woman because she is so BIG. This woman is WIDE and everyone wants a RIDE." And literally everyone else makes a point to be like, "That large woman is a DREAMBOAT, maybe someday her daughter will be HUGE and BEAUTIFUL like her." And honestly we love Ann Leckie for doing this.

[a-side-character]

I am once again thinking about Breq and Mercy of Kalr.

Specifically, I'm thinking about how and why their relationship is so different from any other relationship in this series, and what that means for them as characters.

I'm thinking about Breq's response to being told by other people, often people she likes or respects, that they don't see her as an ancillary. Because they (for the most part) mean it as a compliment, a way of validating her and expressing that they care about or think highly of her. But she never takes it as such, and is always made uncomfortable by it.

Because she IS an ancillary, and by using "I don't think anyone here sees you as an ancillary" as a compliment, or as a reason why her life matters and she deserves to be taken care of, only furthers her belief that what she IS is wrong, is inherently less deserving.

I'm thinking about how the only time people use it/its pronouns - the identity she used for 2,000 years and continues to use to refer to her cousins and fellow AI - to refer to her is when they're trying to disrespect or demean her. How her crew looks at her, horrified, and says "sir, none of us would ever call you it" while continuing to use those same pronouns to refer to their own ship. It shows her that the only reason people think they care about her is because they're too caught up in the version of her she pretends to be (human, Radchaai, she), however wrong that viewpoint may be.

I'm thinking about how, in Ancillary Mercy when Breq breaks down and repeats the line "ships don't love other ships", Mercy of Kalr responds with "ships love people who could be captains." It doesn't say 'well that's okay, because I don't see you as a ship', it doesn't treat her as some exception to the supposed rule that ships and ancillaries aren't people worthy of love, it tells her 'you, Breq, Justice of Toren, One Esk Nineteen, YOU are my captain, and I can't help but love you.'

I'm just. thinking

[tvrnvs]

My dealer: got some straight gas 🔥😝 this strain is called "the destruction of Garsedd" 😳 you’ll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

Me: yeah whatever. I don't feel shit.

Five minutes later: dude I swear I just saw some Presger in the forest

My fellow Anaander Mianaai pacing: Anaander Mianaai is plotting against us

[cassyblue]

I made a imperial radch tumblr community. I dont know how this community stuff works. But it's a companion to the radchdome 3.0 public fan server. (invite: https://discord.gg/WNMwPQSD)

🐢🐢🐢-> Radchome Tumblr Community <-🐢 🐢🐢

EDIT: pls comment for an add bc apparently I gotta do it manually.

[arwainian]

so the fact that imperial radch defaults to she/her for everyone human but indicates when characters arent speaking radchaai that some get gendered male and some dont obviously invites a bit of speculation about the sexes of different characters

it certainly was something i took note of in reading as an interesting point, but i'd like to throw in some additional complication: which of those instances are gender essentialist presumptions and which are not necessarily?

like seivarden is radchaai through and through, probably would not ID as a man of her own will, so her getting gendered as male outside radchaai space is mostly indicative about what she looks like physically but little else. but uran and grandfather are both gendered male in their native language by their community and family, so it can reasonably be said that they're men, and while the genitalia festival might also give us some presumptions to make about culture, it is still up in the air what assigned at birth sex either of them actually would be

and then there's also Anaander Mianaai! is her getting he/him-ed in non-Radchaai languages because of a) something about what her many bodies look like, b) people hearing her title of Lord of the Radch and making an incorrect guess, and/or c) a patriarchal assumption that of course the god-emperor is a man....? or many other reasons that could plausibly come up with if i took the time!

[laurelnose]

I am currently being oppressed by the Libby holds queue for Translation State >:( have this Breq speedpaint from back when I finished Ancillary Sword

[chaotic-neutral-knitter]

I described the imperial radch trilogy to my partner as "people passive aggressively drinking tea at each other in space (affectionate)" and I don't think that's technically wrong but on my re-read I am remembering how much of that is due to Kalr Five, who appears to primarily express admiration and affection via dish selection. I love her so much.

[winter-wise]

Actually hilarious that Breq found out that Anaander hijacked Tisarwat's brain and instead of getting the fascist tyrant out of her ship straight away, she made the Lord of the Radch, Lord of Mianaai, The Tyrant, do a bunch of gross chores first.

[g4rchomp]

nothing but respect for 17 years old Tisarwat who saw her kinda terrifying fleet commandant put herself in a weirdly vulnerable position of offering to make someone she (apparently) just met her heir only to get unequivocally turned down and instead of turning away went "weellll she said she doesn't want to speak to you ever again but can you at least let me shoot my shot?🥺"

[forsooth-verily]

Oh TREE

where's my ASSSSS

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Adult SFF Books Bracket: Round 3

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Provenance, Translation State, and other stories) by Ann Leckie

Endorsement from submitter: "Breq/Justice of Toren is a ship AI and doesn't have a gender. The Radchaai language only has one pronoun for people, so (almost) everyone in the empire is she/her, to the point that they're infamous for failing to correctly guess which pronoun to use with outsiders."

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.

Science fiction, space opera, far future, series, adult

Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland

Endorsement from submitter: "Utterly hilarious romp. No actual sex, but somehow hornier than 90% of books with actual sex in them that I have read."

Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Araşti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world―and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea.

To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār. They are far from happy to see him, but together, they hatch a plan: take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls, fence it, profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Araşti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who’s got his eyes on Avra’s every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.

But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings―and, more important, they’ll be legends.

Fantasy, humor, adventure, secondary world, queernorm, adult

[nasty-little-guy]

Every time Breq says she makes the motion of casting omens I picture her making the jerkoff motion and rolling her eyes. "It'll be as Amaat wills" more like "it'll be as *I* will" *does a kickflip* *shoots anaander mianaai*

[a-side-character]

Special Edition: Imperial Radch as SONGS in my phone

Pt. 1 , Pt. 2 , Pt. 3 , Pt. 4 , Pt. 5 , Pt. 6 , Pt. 7 , Pt. 8

Starting with Breq, because I have the most for her:

"The Astronomer" by Dave Malloy

"If I Had a Hammer"" by The Weavers (I just love the Peter Paul & Mary version tho)

"Big Houses" by Squalloscope

"Ship in a Bottle" by fin

"The Villain I Appear to Be" by Connor Spiotto

"I'll Sing Your Song" by Louie Zong (C'mon, she's a singing ai, how could I NOT have a Miku song?)

Seivarden:

"Are You Satisfied?" by MARINA

"Do What You Want" by Fitz and the Tantrums

"Sweet Hibiscus Tea" by Penelope Scott

"Love Like You" by Rebecca Sugar

"Heart of Gold" by Foreign Figures

Some characters I only have a few songs for:

Tisarwat:

"Starchild" by Dave Malloy

"The Record Player Song" by Daisy the Great

Mercy of Kalr:

"Birdhouse in your Soul" by They Might be Giants (yes it's about a night-light, but I need you to see the vision okay)

Sphene:

"Sirens" by Bear Ghost

Annander Mianaai:

"Kiss Me, Son of God" by They Might be Giants

"Over & Over" by Rio Romeo

Bonus Presger Translator songs:

Reet and Qven:

"Under My Skin" by Jukebox the Ghost

"The Calculation" by Regina Spektor

"Grow as We Go" by Ben Platt

[the-bot-marg0t]

I like to think that when Breq does the "gesture of tossing the omens" she's actually just doing the jerk-off motion. Half contemptuous half thats sorta the way the tossing of the omens works

[crouchabout]

tisarwat is fascinating bc she's basically "what if anaander mianaai had a good role model and friends" AU. still ambitious and calculating but with her own new motives and ties. leckie is very deliberate about documenting how everyone who comes into contact with breq's kindness comes away changed, no matter how slightly. even the people she couldn't do much for like the tea plantation workers are a shade changed. sometimes that makes all the difference. and of course that all started with awn's many small kindnesses to one esk. and that's da whole series for ya