The Lobster Dance

This review contains spoilers for Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Justice.

What if you once had thousands of bodies and near god-like technology at your disposal?

And what if all of it were ripped away?

The Lord of the Radch has given Breq command of the ship Mercy of Kalr and sent her to the only place she would have agreed to go — to Athoek Station, where Lieutenant Awn’s sister works in Horticulture.

Athoek was annexed some six hundred years ago, and by now everyone is fully civilized — or should be. But everything is not as tranquil as it appears. Old divisions are still troublesome, Athoek Station’s AI is unhappy with the situation, and it looks like the alien Presger might have taken an interest in what’s going on. With no guarantees that interest is benevolent.

“Civilization” and Intersectional Feminism

AMR: However, I love how Breq, coming from a very different minority perspective (ship/ancillary) and having seen so much of the colonizing happen gives much more value and visibility to other minority groups and does what she can (thus far) to fight for equal treatment. “‘Security immediately arrested Citizen Sirix, on the assumption that Raughd wouldn’t have done such a thing’…‘it was a prank, something done for amusement’…’And if, for the sake of argument, we pretend those are harmless amusements, then why has no one said of Citizen Sirix, It’s nothing, it must have been a prank?’”

Discussing the structural factors of how and why the Undergarden is such an “uncivilized” place and why Station might not be 100% compliant was also awesome. I see colonialism mentioned quite a few times below but I see a lot of really good parallels to modern structural racism and defaulting “correct” to White cultural attitudes and actions. [ed. just added that in to be more clear below.] If we’re not giving people in certain areas (Undergarden/urban areas) the tools they need to succeed because of how things are structured, how can they even meet the bare minimum (cleanliness/education)? Yes, the structure was set up generations ago, but it is our job to fix it, not keep the status quo. “‘And it had been that way so long, fixing it seemed impossible. Everyone agreed it was so. But that’s no excuse, is it. It’s my responsibility.’” (p. 170)

I was annoyed that the first few chapters kept referring back to “my suspicion” because, dammit, if we’re reading it from your first-person perspective, let us know what your suspicion is! If it had gone on much longer, I may have given the book a time-out.

LM: So, initially, I felt like Sword didn’t have “as much” gender stuff as Justice, but then I realized that 1. I was so happy reading a book where I didn’t have to stress out about gender stuff and 2. AGENDER CULTURES IN SPAAAAAAAAACE and 3. this was a new and interesting way to discuss colonialism.

I want to be clear that I’m not saying that we have to “remove gender from the equation” to discuss colonialism in the Radch and the structural racism in the contemporary US), because that’s not true at all. The systematic oppression of cultures by colonizers/ was and is very gendered, and choosing to ignore how those differences affect/ed people today is like refusing to do medical/drug testing on women because their bodies are somehow an anomaly because male default.

However, I would argue that removing the question of gender by having the colonizers literally have no concept of gender forces the reader to reconsider colonialism by removing the misogynistic notions (including soft sexism) that the reader has internalized, thus addressing the topic in such a way that points very directly to the intersection of sexism and colonialism, particularly the erasure of the idea of an oppressed “culture” being only one culture (see: Athoeki ethnicities) and being lumped together as one “minority” group.

LM: Because there is no gender distinction in Radchaai culture, they treat gender distinction in other cultures as “uncivilized.” Interestingly, even though I am 100% behind an agender culture, Capt. Hetny’s remarks and Breq’s responses are a good tool for looking at “white feminism,” a sort of feminism that hasn’t made it to the fourth wave (intersectional feminism) and either ignores people of color or judges and condemns other cultures for practices deemed “unfeminist” instead of letting the feminists of that culture determine for themselves what practices should go, stay, or be altered. (For example, non-Muslims discussing hijab when Muslim feminists want to decide for themselves what to do.)

“Captain…. I do understand that this is the Genitalia Festival. But when you say genitalia, doesn’t that usually mean genitals generally? Not just one kind?” For all the steps I’d taken, and as far down the corridor as I could see, the walls were hung with tiny penises. Bright green, hot pink, electric blue, and a particularly eye-searing orange.

“Sir,” said Captain Hetnys just behind me. “It’s a translation. The words are the same, in the Athoeki language.”

The Athoeki language. As though they had been only one. But there was never only one language, not in my considerable experience.

… “The Athoeki weren’t very civilized…. They mostly aren’t even now. They make a division between people with penises and people without. When we first arrived in the system they surrendered right away. Their ruler lost her mind. She thought Radchaai didn’t have penises, and since everyone would have to become Radchaai, she ordered all the people in the system with penises to cut them off. But the Athoeki had no intention of cutting anything off, so they made models instead and piled them up in front of the ruler to keep her happy until she could be arrested and given help. (83-4)

 

Exploring Racism and Colonialism Through SciFi

LM: And, as in the first book, it’s very important to have a narrator / POV character who will call people out (whether to the reader or to the characters) on their problematic ideas. Of course, Breq is 2000 years old and has seen enough of history to really make long-term and far-reaching historical commentary in a way that most people can’t.

“Even on Valskaay there are problems, aren’t there? That religion of theirs.” Actually, there were several religions represented on Valskaay, and in its system, and various sects of all of them. But Fosyf meant the majority religion, the one everyone thought of as “Valskaayan.” It was a variety of exclusive monotheism, something most Radchaai found more or less incomprehensible. “Though I’m not sure you can really call it a religion. More a…a collection of superstitions and some very odd philosophical ideas.” (212)

CR:

“This was a holy place, then? Is there a temple?” In my experience, major temples were nearly always surrounded by cities or at least villages, and I’d seen no sign of that as we flew in. I wondered if there had used to be one, and it was razed to make way for tea, or if this whole, huge area had been sacrosanct. “Was the lake holy, and this was a temple guesthouse?”

… “Indeed,” agreed [Fosyf]. “What’s left of the temple is across the lake. There was an oracle there for a while, but all that’s left now is a superstition about wish-granting fish.”

And the name of the tea grown on the once-sacred ground, I suspected. I wondered how the Xhais felt about that. (215)

 

LM: 

“[The Valskaayans] have plenty of opportunity to become civilized. Why, look at the Samirend!… They began where the Valskaayans are now. The Valskaayans have every opportunity, but do they take advantage of it?… They can’t be bothered to keep their surroundings nice. But they go quite extravagantly into debt over a musical instrument, or a new handheld.” (213)

Not only is Leckie’s commentary terribly important for highlighting the parallels between the Radch and our own world today, her writing is also important because she doesn’t perpetuate racism in sci-fi and sci-fi fandoms. Instead, she highlights the problem of respectability politics (especially regarding cultural integration), including this

“Oh!” cried Queter, at the frayed edge of her patience finally. “You the just one, the kind one are you? But you’re no different than the daughter of the house…. All of you! You take what you want at the end of a gun, you murder and rape and steal, and you call it bringing civilization. And what is civilization, to you, but us being properly grateful to be murdered and raped and stolen from? You said you know justice when you heard it. Well, what is your justice but you allowed to treat us as you like, and us condemned for even trying to defend ourselves?” (270)

TOO FUCKING REAL.

CR: The magistrate certainly doesn’t see it:

“Is this what you wanted, Queter? All this heartache, a family destroyed? For the life of me I don’t understand why you didn’t put your obvious determination and energy into your work so that you could make things better for yourself and your family. Instead you built up and fed this… this resentment, and now you have…” the magistrate gestured, indicating the room, the situation. “This.” (289)

LM: Lines that could have been ripped from the headlines!

Breq: “People don’t riot for no reason. And if you’re finding you have to deal with the Ychana carefully now, it’s because of those they’ve been treated in the past….Your only other choice [than looking from their point of view] is rounding them all up and either reeducating them or killing every one of them.”….

“What do you take me for, Fleet Captain? Why would you think anyone here would even consider such a thing?…Why, Fleet Captain, do you think I would be one of those people?”

“Everyone is potentially one of those people, Governor,” I replied. It’s best to learn that before you do something you’ll have trouble living with.” (307-8)

On Breq as a Sci-Fi Character

CR: We’ve known our protagonist under a number of different names and circumstances by the start of Sword. Breq Mianaai is no longer a ship, nor is she the lone entity we got to know through the later timeline of the first book in this series. It’s sometimes entertaining to watch her try to navigate her new reality (i.e. when she trips/neglects to participate in a conversation because she’s also trying to watch what’s happening on Mercy of Kalr.) More often, it’s heartbreaking. Breq is stressed constantly, and speaks often to how lonely she feels.

When I had been a single ancillary, one human body among thousands, part of the ship Justice of Toren I had never been alone. I had always been surrounded by myself, and the rest of myself had always known if any particular body needed something–rest, food, touch, reassurance…

Oh, how I missed the rest of myself… I slept alone, mostly only mildly envying the common soldiers on Mercy of Kalr their small bunks where they slept all together, pressed warm and close. They weren’t ancillaries, it wasn’t the same, wouldn’t be, even if I’d abandoned any pretense to dignity and climbed in with them. I knew that, knew it would be so wholly insufficient that there was no point in wishing for it. But now, this moment, I wanted it so badly that if I had been aboard Mercy of Kalr I’d have done it, curled up among the sleeping Etrepas Ship showed me, and gone to sleep myself… (138-9)

CR: Now, it’s not like we didn’t see Breq having emotions in Justice, but I remember those emotional moments being few and far between (and also mostly consisting of BURNING RAGE). Even though Ann Leckie firmly establishes that ships and ancillaries are, in fact, individuals capable of having feelings, my sneaky jerk brain still interpreted Justice Breq’s overall cool persona as characteristic of a stereotypical sci-fi hive-mind corpse soldier, whose emotions are an anomaly/design flaw, rather than the norm. Sword Breq made me feel terrible for ever having thought that. Justice Breq doesn’t act cold and detached because she’s an ancillary. She acts cold and detached because she just went through a series of incredibly traumatic events and suddenly finds herself completely alone. Similarly, her utter disregard for dangerous physical situations isn’t because she’s in a technologically enhanced body with super strong armor, but because she’s extremely traumatized and doesn’t expect to survive.

UUUUUUUUUUGH MY FEELINGS HURT

As we all know, she does survive, and is now not only not alone, but is in command of a ship, with her (sometimes problematic but significantly more conscientious than when we first met her) bro, Seivarden, by her side. Learning to manage both her physical and emotional limitations is a huge, but necessary task. Fortunately, she’s not completely on her own in this. Seivarden, for one, is obviously making an effort to care about other people, especially Breq.

“Breq,” Seivarden said, “when I was a lieutenant, before.” A thousand years ago, she meant, when she’d been a lieutenant on Justice of Toren, in my care. “Did I ever pay any attention to anyone but myself?”

I considered, a moment, the range of truthful answers I could make, some less diplomatic than others, and said, finally, “Occasionally.”

Unbidden, Mercy of Kalr showed me the soldiers’ mess, where Seivarden’s Amaats were clearing away their own supper. Amaat One said, “It’s orders, citizens. Lieutenant says.”

A few Amaats groaned. “I’ll have it in my head all night,” one complained to her neighbor.

In my own quarters, Seivarden said, penitent, “I hope I’m doing better these days.”

In the mess, Amaat One opened her mouth and sang, tentatively, slightly flat, “It all goes around…” The others joined her, unwilling, unenthusiastic. Embarrased. “… it all goes around. The planet goes around the sun, it all goes around.”

“Yes,” I said to Seivarden. “A little better.” (46)

It’s worth pointing out that not only did Seivarden order her decade to sing (because she knows Breq will like it–what a pal) but also that Mercy of Kalr sends Breq transmissions of the Amaats singing the song on multiple occasions later in the book, often when she’s under stress. (See also: that time when Ship reminds Breq to take care of her knee and not exercise too hard.)

(On a much less serious and mostly unrelated note, when Seivarden shows up with Mercy of Kalr at the end to save the day on page 334, is it weird that I imagine her dressed like Han Solo?)

BONUS:

Fan art by Lyricalt. [Image: Presger translator Dlique in an aloha shirt, “Genitalia Festival 7596” fannypack, cargo shorts, socks with sandals]

Next time: We wrap up the Imperial Radch trilogy with Ancillary Mercy! Meet us here on [edit] 5 February 2016 as we ring in the new year with our favorite fleet captain and lieutenants.