Translation State by Ann Leckie
Aug. 3rd, 2023 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightreadsTranslation State
3/5. Really hard to summarize – this is a political drama about an alien (sort of) raised by humans and what species they belong to legally speaking, which has big political implications.
Ann Leckie’s brain is a weird place. Sometimes I vibe with it and sometimes I don’t. This book, which changed gears every few chapters, sometimes worked for me and sometimes didn’t. First we were doing journey of self-discovery, then we were doing family drama, then we were doing mystery, then sharp left turn into cannibalistic gore?, okay now it’s a legal thriller, now it’s alien coming of age….?, okay back to political thriller, now it’s . . . body horror arranged marriage? (you had to be there), now it’s space adventure, okay now it’s a . . . romance? Sort of?
It's just a weird book, okay. Not her best, certainly – the characters all come across as angsty teenagers, including the several of them who definitely are not, to name just one problem. But it sure does go places.
Content notes: Aliens eating each other as part of the life cycle, some alien body horror stuff with an overtone of rape metaphor
3/5. Really hard to summarize – this is a political drama about an alien (sort of) raised by humans and what species they belong to legally speaking, which has big political implications.
Ann Leckie’s brain is a weird place. Sometimes I vibe with it and sometimes I don’t. This book, which changed gears every few chapters, sometimes worked for me and sometimes didn’t. First we were doing journey of self-discovery, then we were doing family drama, then we were doing mystery, then sharp left turn into cannibalistic gore?, okay now it’s a legal thriller, now it’s alien coming of age….?, okay back to political thriller, now it’s . . . body horror arranged marriage? (you had to be there), now it’s space adventure, okay now it’s a . . . romance? Sort of?
It's just a weird book, okay. Not her best, certainly – the characters all come across as angsty teenagers, including the several of them who definitely are not, to name just one problem. But it sure does go places.
Content notes: Aliens eating each other as part of the life cycle, some alien body horror stuff with an overtone of rape metaphor