The last of the Imperial Radch trilogy begins where the second part ended. The Athoek system is in safe hands, threats against Breq neutralized, so life can return to normal.

Of course, when you're the last remnant of an AI ship, holding a position of Fleet Captain in Radch space, the normal is pretty damn strange. But still, the third book takes another turn and looks more closely at the mundane lives of the main characters. If Breq seemed like a superhuman in first and particularly in second book, the third book examines her distancing herself from her ship roots and becoming more human. Of course, it's also about war.

The two sides of the Lord of the Radch are fighting each other, and some of that fighting finds itself in Athoek. It's once again up to the Fleet Captain and the crew of the Mercy of Kalr to save the day.

Even though there are shades of darkness in the way Leckie tells the story, I found Ancillary Mercy to have a very positive outlook: there's no doubt everything will end well. The only real problem I could find with the book was that the ending seems a bit hasty - the story flows beautifully, but for once, there could've been more buildup for the grand finale.


Of course, considering how the book ends with philosophical pondering about endings not being truly endings, I suspect we'll hear more from Breq Mianaai in future. Which I completely agree with: I think the Radch Space is a fantastic universe and I'll happily read both sequels and prequels if ever such things get released.