The Lord of the Radch has given Breq command of the ship Mercy of Kalr and sent her to the only place she would have agreed to go — to Athoek Station, where Lieutenant Awn’s sister works in Horticulture.
Athoek was annexed some six hundred years ago, and by now everyone is fully civilized — or should be. But everything is not as tranquil as it appears. Old divisions are still troublesome, Athoek Station’s AI is unhappy with the situation, and it looks like the alien Presger might have taken an interest in what’s going on. With no guarantees that interest is benevolent.
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Imperial Radch
8 books in catalog
Space opera was redefined by the groundbreaking 2013 debut Ancillary Justice, which introduced readers to a vast galactic empire seen through the eyes of an artificial intelligence inhabiting a human body. Ann Leckie established her place in speculative fiction with this celebrated novel, which made history by winning the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke, BSFA, and Locus Awards.
Set primarily within her expansive Imperial Radch universe, Leckie's fiction explores artificial consciousness, empire, social class, and gender-blind language across award-winning novels and acclaimed short stories.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1966, Leckie grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where she spent much of her youth reading in her local public library. She earned a degree in music from Washington University before working in various fields, including jobs as a waitress, a receptionist, a rodman on a land-surveying crew, and a recording engineer. Her interest in writing science fiction led her to attend the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2005.
Following Clarion West, Leckie began publishing short stories in magazines such as Subterranean Magazine, Strange Horizons, and Realms of Fantasy. Her story "Hesperia and Glory" was reprinted in Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition, edited by Rich Horton. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Leckie subsequently expanded her writing into novel-length space opera, launching her career with her award-winning 2013 debut.
Leckie's writing is recognized for its careful interrogation of power dynamics, identity, and personal agency within interstellar imperial systems. In her Radch novels, she utilizes a gender-blind personal pronoun system in which every character is referred to using feminine pronouns, inviting readers to question social constructs and implicit biases. Her narratives balance complex galactic politics with intimate character studies focused on justice, duty, and artificial consciousness.
