Translation State is a stand-alone novel set in the Imperial Ranch universe. If you have not read the original trilogy (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, and Ancillary Mercy), you should really start there. You may be able to follow along with the story without reading the trilogy, but you will not get the full implications of this novel. There is just so much that happened to make it to this point. 

 

I adore Ann Leckie and, specifically, this world. I love how Ann talks about gender from a human standpoint. She explores the complexities and presents a world where gender is no longer restrained to this arbitrary binary system that we currently have. I also love how she presents alien cultures. They are not human, and at times can be extremely hard to relate to. Which is brilliant. Even more so, she writes them in a way that we can relate to aspects of their unfamiliarity. 

 

Translation state focuses on Presgr Translators. Presgr is a race that is so dissimilar to humanity, with no concept of individuality, that they had to construct essentially a new species to even acknowledge the sentience of humans. Translation State explores this intersection of species in Presgr Translators while also showing the politics that we have seen in prior novels. It was brilliantly done. 

 

I adore this world and am in awe of Ann Leckie’s skill.