View original postView original postThis book has lately been receiving quite a bit of praise form various SF/F outlets, so this review, which is more mixed/negative than most, might be of interest to those who want to see what is "hot" these days.
View original postI decided to search for some of those positive reviews, as it does seem like it might be an interesting read potentially. <a href="http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2013/10/russell-letson-reviews-ann-leckie/">This one</a> seems to be one such, though then again I also came across <a href="http://littleredreviewer.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/ancillary-justice-by-ann-leckie/">this</a> which is much closer to your take. The former did raise a question which I'd also been wondering, which is how this book compares to Le Guin's classic "Left Hand of Darkness", but I'm guessing the answer to that is as subjective as one's opinion of the book in general, and likely closely aligned with it.
I provided a link below of a more substantive mixed review than the limited amount of space I allotted for mine. Should note that Allan is more charitable about Leckie's aims than I am, although I agree with her when it comes to wondering at if there is anything actually "new" or substantive here. As for Le Guin, it compares poorly to me, in large part because the other characters are barely even ciphers here. Certainly no dynamic ones.
View original postSuch a thing as that usage of "she" does seem like one of those things that can be powerful for one reader and add a lot to the whole book, while being instantly dismissed as a "gimmick" by another, dragging the whole book down with it. I'm reminded of my viscerally negative reaction to Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" - the woman most definitely can write (The Blind Assassin is excellent), but she ticked a few wrong boxes and it ruined the whole novel for me, so that I have a hard time understanding the praise it gets from many readers.
Oddly enough, I remember mostly liking that book 
View original postThough it seems from your review that your lukewarm reaction had many more factors to it than just that one - still, if it had somehow "clicked" for you, you might've been much more willing to overlook the other flaws you note?
Doubtful, as I value nuanced themes, well-developed characterizations, and good prose foremost when I'm reading a novel. Leckie's story was too heavy-handed thematically, the characterizations were virtually non-existent minus the narrator, and the prose, well...let's just say it doesn't get much better than the clunky prose I quoted. Certainly doesn't help when I'm used to not only parsing "su" in Spanish, but that I also frequently use feminine pronouns when talking about ideal readers; it's old hat to me, I suppose, and Leckie doesn't really do anything interesting with the premise she has. But others do seem to disagree (sometimes, vociferously) with that 
