#radiantstar — Public Fediverse posts

We know how Radchaai react to being broken and unsteady; we've met Seivarden. We know what the collections of "Justice of Albis" mean; we've met "Justice of Toren". We know why the Radch is silent. This novel can work as a standalone, but it sure is less fun this way.

If you like religious politicking, geothermal vents, people making bad choices and suffering the consequences, all the pronouns, or onions, this book is for you. I enjoyed it very much.

(4/n, n=4)

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We follow different people here: a businessman and a person living in a religious order who both want to become what their religion calls a "saint" for very different reasons, a young person suddenly taken from stasis to care for an injured Radchaai, a scheming heir and his consort.

As usual, Leckie is very good about deep worldbuilding: the ecology is as complex as the cultures here, and meddling with both can have unintended consequences.

(2/n)

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One such consequence is a famine that nearly sends the city and the Radchaai occupying forces into destruction.

All this is told by an omniscient narrator; because this unnamed narrator has snarky opinions in abundance, what could be a claustrophobic tale of being caught on a cold and starving world often opens up to muse about water filtration and morality.

Radiant Star" feels dense, not the least because there is much happening in the intertext.

(3/n)

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Ann Leckie's "Radiant Star" takes us, once again, to the fringes of the Radch. We're in Ooioiaa, a city on a frozen planet without a star to orbit. The city is an important center of religious pilgrimage, and of course, the Radchaai have arrived and occupied the planet. They've taken over the administration, aided by the old troop carrier "Justice of Albis" with its ancillaries - but all communications from the Radch have ceased.

(1/n)

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Still not ready to write a review.

One theme seems to be meddling with complex systems, a.k.a. "fucking around and finding out". And most people's findings aren't that pleasant.

The Radchaai fuck around with water filtration. Iono fucks around with his inheritance. Niranhin fucks around with religious power.

All this meddling isn't that different from what Breq does; but the motives are very different indeed, selfishness and greed.

And thus they find out.

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So the most holy place, the Temporal Location, is shared by more than one religious faction here.

The region I live in is Simultaneum* central, and I've been to a couple dual-use churches. I've thus pictured this place like these: mostly functional, heavy Catholic imagery restricted to side chapels, definitely no fist-fights.

I wonder if that's the correct mental image though. I think it's more like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre actually.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneum

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“It’s as straightforward a message from Amaat as anything I’ve ever seen,” agreed Senely. “I’ll believe it’s a miracle,” Governor Charak retorted, “if Justice of Albis returns today, with help and news.” And that’s when the ancillary of Justice of Albis that was standing by the door laughed."

😂 This just PERFECT. And we all know what that laugh meant, whom the ship met. Justice, at last, also for the ship.

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In the Ancillary trilogy, both /Justice of Toren/ and Breq deal with people (and societies) who are evil: they think they're better than others, they use others to get ahead, they abuse their power. And both /Justice of Toren/ and Breq can't and won't look away: they figure out ways to punish the evil ones.

Here, there's no one administering justice like that. The evil people's bad choices just play out in a way that punished them.

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Still wondering about this narrator. Who are they, writing from the future, with scholarly notions but also occasional snarky opinions, and omniscient at that?

(I actually like omniscient narrators; I like the panoramic view. I've often heard they make characters feel "flat" because you only see them from the outside, but that's not the case for me: sometimes, I get *more* information about the character's feelings this way than when I have to figure them out.)

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"Ilora prostrated herself, and then rose and washed her bare hands in a bowl of water proffered by Consoror Nialt."

It's a testament to Leckie's worldbuilding that I drew in a sharp breath at the "bare hands" of this Radchaai priest. Knowing the cultural significance of an invented alien custom is pretty neat.

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"But what past, what of themself, was Savant Keemat hiding from? [...] It might have been a betrayal that led to many deaths, or the death of someone Savant Keemat had loved. It might have been a stolen sweet, the guilt of which had followed the savant all through their life."

Like when pears stolen as a kid work your way into your spiritual autobiography, eh.

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Ah, THREE factions with religious and business interests! I love this! It's like Renaissance Italy but with everyone also having their own pope AND religious having visions that influence policy! Glorious!

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Interesting voice here, too, addressing the reader directly. Who writes this? Who's the audience?

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"We’ve often heard it said that /children can be so cruel/, and it’s no doubt true. Of course, it’s also true that children can be astonishingly generous and kind. Who can say why children are cruel in one situation and kind in another?"

I can. They observe the adults.

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"on reaching adulthood those boys are sorted by the family’s matriarch into those who will become women, and hence consorors, and those who will become men. [...] Potential consorors will display either business acumen or a tendency to the visions that are the mainstay of the Translocationists’ reputation and income. The rest—the men—become servants and minor household administrators."

Is it better to have second-class people when it's based on "merit"?

(No.)

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New book: "Radiant Star" by Ann Leckie. Let's see how the Radch hinterlands deal with the chaos and civil war of a distributed leader being at odds with herself.

Apparently featuring an ancient religion and ALL THE PRONOUNS.

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