Patrick's Reviews > Ancillary Justice

This book caught my eye mostly because it's been winning just about every award ever this year.

So I picked it up when I was on tour. And as soon as I started it, I could see why it was getting such attention. It's exceptionally well-written. I was almost immediately pulled in.

I should mention here, it's Science Fiction. I don't review much sci-fi these days because I mostly read fantasy. For the most part, what's where my taste lies these days.

But that wasn't always the case. When I was younger, I read sci-fi almost exclusively. It's pretty much all I read for several years....

So in some ways, reading this book was like going home again. I could feel it stretching my brain in ways it hasn't been stretched in a while. Making me think in different directions than I'm used to.

It was good, gritty, realistic sci-fi. Far-future. Big differences in tech. But what really makes this book great are the big *cultural* differences in the world. I've read a fair chuck of sci-fi, but I've never run into anything like this before. I love it when I run into something fresh and new.

This book will make you work a little. It's not going to spoon feed you. It's going to drop you in the middle of the story and let you figure out what the hell is going on by yourself, no long explanations of how the culture developed because of blah blah blah.

Nope, this is a novel that leave you to make up your own mind about things. It leaves room for ambiguity. That's a rare thing in books these days.

And I love it. I've already ordered the sequel, so I can see where the next piece of story leads.

If you're willing to work a little, this book is absolutely worth your time.