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Reading: Provenance
Dec. 5th, 2017 07:02 pmAnn Leckie's new novel, Provenance, is set in the same universe as her Imperial Radch trilogy (and refers to the events of the earlier books) but it's a standalone, set outside the Radch, and doesn't feature any of the same characters. Instead, it focuses on Ingray Aughskold, adopted daughter of a politician on the planet of Hwae. Inheritance on Hwae is by choice, not by right, and Ingray's mother has always encouraged her children to compete for her favour; despite her conviction that her brother Danach will inevitably be their mother's chosen heir, the novel begins with Ingray staking everything she owns on one last-ditch attempt to impress her mother, but of course things don't go entirely to plan.
I think I loved Ingray as a heroine even more than the Imperial Radch trilogy's Breq; I am a complete sucker for insecure young women who discover, not that they're "special" in some way, but that they're capable and competent and able to deal with whatever life throws at them. (I thought that Ingray reminded me quite a bit of Tzenni Boccamera in Ankaret Wells's Requite novels, who I also adore.) And once again, Leckie creates a compelling and believable future society. Unlike the Radchaai, who have no concept of gender, the Hwaeans have three genders and young people choose a gender when they take their adult names; children are referred to as "they", while adults are she, he or e. They also assign huge cultural and political significance to relics of the past, which are key to their sense of identity, and that idea of how identity is constructed is one of the key themes of the book.
Like the Imperial Radch trilogy, this is really a comedy of manners disguised as a space opera; there are some dramatic events and a certain amount of mild peril, but this is really about how Ingray finds confidence and friendships and a place in her world. It's compassionate and funny and really, utterly charming, and my only complaint is that I wished there was more of it. (Especially as the Kindle edition has a sample chapter of another book at the end, and I was really disappointed to find out that I'd finished only 95% of the way through when I thought I had another chapter to go!)
I think I loved Ingray as a heroine even more than the Imperial Radch trilogy's Breq; I am a complete sucker for insecure young women who discover, not that they're "special" in some way, but that they're capable and competent and able to deal with whatever life throws at them. (I thought that Ingray reminded me quite a bit of Tzenni Boccamera in Ankaret Wells's Requite novels, who I also adore.) And once again, Leckie creates a compelling and believable future society. Unlike the Radchaai, who have no concept of gender, the Hwaeans have three genders and young people choose a gender when they take their adult names; children are referred to as "they", while adults are she, he or e. They also assign huge cultural and political significance to relics of the past, which are key to their sense of identity, and that idea of how identity is constructed is one of the key themes of the book.
Like the Imperial Radch trilogy, this is really a comedy of manners disguised as a space opera; there are some dramatic events and a certain amount of mild peril, but this is really about how Ingray finds confidence and friendships and a place in her world. It's compassionate and funny and really, utterly charming, and my only complaint is that I wished there was more of it. (Especially as the Kindle edition has a sample chapter of another book at the end, and I was really disappointed to find out that I'd finished only 95% of the way through when I thought I had another chapter to go!)
