February marks part 3 of the Imperial Radch read-a-long, which started in November last year, and also the first time I’m joining in, as they are now reading book 3 – Ancillary Mercy. I had already read the previous two books, so I’m just joining in for the conclusion to the trilogy!
Every week, there are a set number of chapters to read, and the host for the week will post questions for people to answer!
Week 1 Questions – Azrah @ Quintessentially Bookish
Week 2 Questions – Nicole @ The Bookwyrm Knits
Week 3 Questions – Annemieke @A Dance With Books
Week 4 Questions – Mayri @ The Bookforager
Without further ado, let’s take a look at my thoughts for week 3!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. THIS IS NOT A SPOILER-FREE POST. SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE SERIES UP TO CHAPTER 15 OF ANCILLARY MERCY POSSIBLE!
I genuinely don’t know how I held off finishing this book in order to answer these questions… thank goodness for a busy schedule, I guess!
Many thanks to Annemieke @A Dance With Books for this week’s questions. I’m trying to give my raw thoughts on this, so I’m holding off on reading any other posts until I’ve posted mine – so my thoughts may change depending on what other people suggest!
What did you make of the broadcast? Why do you think they weren’t sharing all the information with the Lord of Radch? And what did you make of how things played out?
I love this Station’s backbone. I assume self-preservation is the biggest motivator for them to keep information from the Lord of the Radch.
Presger translators were grown from human remains. What do you make of that and their experimentations?
I don’t think I’m particularly shocked, to be honest. It’s difficult to tell how I feel about it, considering the lack of context and detail we have so far, but hopefully the human remains weren’t created for the purpose of growing the translators. I am interested to find out more about the translators and the Presger in general – if not in this book, then in other spin off books in the same world.
What is the Point? What did you make of that conversation between Ekalu and Breq?
I think it’s an interesting conversation to start thinking about the after of any kind of rebellion or uprising. A lot of stories end with the collapse of one regime, but we rarely see considerations for what is going to come after it – and I think that’s what Breq was getting at here when she talks about the value of promoting people and, more importantly, training people to take leadership roles even if they are no longer working within Radch perimeters.
The big plan. Do you think Breq planned for the possibility of Seivarden’s failure? And what will Tisarwat do inside the ship? Will they make it alive to the end of the book?
I think that Breq would have to be extremely shortsighted to not plan for the possibility of failure – the plan as it was seemed awfully risky, especially for risking their only Presger gun. Either this becomes an extremely weak plot point compared to the rest of the book, or there is some alternative manoeuvring going on. As for Tisarwat, I assume she will give the ship ‘free will’ so to speak?
Well hello bad ass station Athoek. Station is making quite the stand. Do you think this will hold up against the Lord of Radch?
I hope so. I think for some time, certainly, since the Lord of Radch is probably taken quite aback by the concept of a Station (or any AI) that doesn’t do what she tells it to (and not just because the other her got there first).
Seivarden meets horticulturist! Where do you think that will lead?
Maybe some healing will happen? That definitely seems to be what Seivarden needs the most – some deep-seated issues to sort here.
Bonus: Apparently, the Presger don’t play games. The horror. What games would Dlique have played if she had found them?
If Dlique is anything like Zeiat, I honestly think we’re better off not knowing – almost certainly the most disturbing game she could find.
And that’s it for week 3 of the read-along! I’m now off to go and read everyone else’s answers (and finish the book!)
Keira x
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