Personally, I don’t think you can truly call yourself a science fiction fan until you’ve read some of Ann Leckie’s work. The Imperial Radch series is one of my absolute favourite series, so I was so excited to get to read the next book in it. If you’ve read the original trilogy, or even if you haven’t, Translation State is one you won’t want to miss out on!
Don’t forget, you can still preorder Translation State wherever books are sold up until 6th June: US, UK, & int’l.
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn’t “optimal behavior”. It’s the type of behavior that results in elimination.
But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat whose dead grandmaman has left hir an impossible task as an inheritance: hunting down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him.
As a Conclave of the various species approaches—and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line—the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.
Translation State
Ann Leckie
Rep: nonbinary mcs & side characters, achillean mc
CWs: gore, cannibalism
Release: 6th June 2023
One thing that often fascinates me about SFF books is how regularly they replicate our own societal structures, whether that relates to class or gender, or anything else. Understandably, it’s hard to conceive of a whole lot else when you spend your life indoctrinated by a certain system, but that makes the books that imagine societies truly different from our own all the more valuable.
Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch series is one such set of books: the original trilogy introduced us to the Radchaai, all of whom use she/her pronouns. It also, towards the end, introduced us to the Presger, who have a different understanding of gender entirely (that is, they don’t believe in it. Their society as a whole is agender, if you will). Translation State, the newest entry in the series, puts us squarely in amongst both the Presger, and another set of humans, who are not affiliated with the Radchaai. All of whom have different understandings of gender and different value systems in their societies.
As I said, it’s fascinating how often SFF books simply reproduce our own concepts of society, particularly with regards to gender. Sci fi books that do so are especially interesting to me. I think that they do says more about gender in our own society than it does about anything else. If these are futuristic societies, does it really feel realistic that the concept of gender has not morphed and changed in that time? You only need to look back just over a century to see that, even for us now, gender is not a static concept. We may not think vastly differently about it now as then, but we do think differently.
And that’s why Ann Leckie’s books always stand above the rest. There’s always so much thought gone into constructing as many different societies as needed. From the Presger to the Geck, in amongst which are human societies who, themselves, differ: sci fi as a window to looking at political and philosophical questions is, I think, sci fi at its best.
Here, too, Ann Leckie excels. The original trilogy did start to prod at the idea of humanity and personhood, with the ancillaries, but Translation State takes it a step further. Much of the book is dedicated to the discussion of Reet’s humanity. He’s brought up as a human, but he is from an alien species (I won’t say which, but it’s probably reasonably obvious once you start reading). Is it a matter of nature or nurture then? If he calls himself human, is he human? Clearly, there are several other sci fi books that have wrestled with this question (usually regarding A.I.), and Ann Leckie’s is an accomplished addition to that oeuvre.
So, there’s not much left for me to do besides ask that you read this one. Hell, I’ll ask that you read the entire series, if you’ll let me. Translation State is a good starting point to be sure, and it’s a great introduction to Ann Leckie’s work. You don’t need a familiarity with the original trilogy at all in order to read this one (although I will admit that still holds first place in my heart). What are you waiting for, then? Get preordering!
So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?
