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PlotTrysts's Reviews > Translation State
Translation State
by
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Ann Leckie is back in the extended Radch universe, and she's in top form. We absolutely adored this book exploring identity, humanity, belonging, consent, and family: this time with more absurdist fun from the Presger Translators.
Translation State is written from three perspectives: Enae, Reet, and Qven. Enae has spent hir life caring for hir aging grandmother out of duty, and both surprised and yet utterly resigned to discover that sie has inherited the only bequest in hir biological family: a promise from the new heir to the family name that Enae will be supported for the rest of hir life. The new heir provides Enae with a job investigating the centuries-old disappearance of ... someone. Reet is a human making his living on a space station. After a difficult start to life (he was found abandoned in a space shuttle and has no living relatives), he was raised in a loving adoptive family. He still feels alone, and is searching for a place to belong. As the book starts, he thinks he might have found that place with a group of ethnic minorities, the Hikipi. Finally Qven, whose chapters are written in the first person, is a Presger Translator. The reader gets to experience life as a juvenile Translator growing up in an alien environment. When Qven begins to rebel against their intended destiny, their fate will become intertwined with Enae's and Reet's in ways no one could have foretold.
Although new characters are front and center here, we get starring supporting roles from characters we never knew would become our favorites. Sphene, the Geck ambassador, Tibanvori, and Dlique all appear. We're not sure we would have recognized them without a recent reread, so we're inclined to believe that this would work as a standalone, although a familiarity with the universe certainly helped us acclimate to the new environment more quickly!
In addition to loving SFF, we're also big romance readers. It was especially fun to read Leckie's take on the Translators' "matching" practices. She deftly utilizes romance tropes in new ways - as the Translators explain, matching is not sex or romance, even though humans sometimes talk about romantic entanglements the way Translators talk about matching. Here, there are elements of a marriage of convenience, "ruination" for a good match, and above all, an emphasis on consent in relationships.
Translation State is funny, poignant, and (as always with Leckie's work) makes the reader think. Absolutely recommended!
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
Translation State is written from three perspectives: Enae, Reet, and Qven. Enae has spent hir life caring for hir aging grandmother out of duty, and both surprised and yet utterly resigned to discover that sie has inherited the only bequest in hir biological family: a promise from the new heir to the family name that Enae will be supported for the rest of hir life. The new heir provides Enae with a job investigating the centuries-old disappearance of ... someone. Reet is a human making his living on a space station. After a difficult start to life (he was found abandoned in a space shuttle and has no living relatives), he was raised in a loving adoptive family. He still feels alone, and is searching for a place to belong. As the book starts, he thinks he might have found that place with a group of ethnic minorities, the Hikipi. Finally Qven, whose chapters are written in the first person, is a Presger Translator. The reader gets to experience life as a juvenile Translator growing up in an alien environment. When Qven begins to rebel against their intended destiny, their fate will become intertwined with Enae's and Reet's in ways no one could have foretold.
Although new characters are front and center here, we get starring supporting roles from characters we never knew would become our favorites. Sphene, the Geck ambassador, Tibanvori, and Dlique all appear. We're not sure we would have recognized them without a recent reread, so we're inclined to believe that this would work as a standalone, although a familiarity with the universe certainly helped us acclimate to the new environment more quickly!
In addition to loving SFF, we're also big romance readers. It was especially fun to read Leckie's take on the Translators' "matching" practices. She deftly utilizes romance tropes in new ways - as the Translators explain, matching is not sex or romance, even though humans sometimes talk about romantic entanglements the way Translators talk about matching. Here, there are elements of a marriage of convenience, "ruination" for a good match, and above all, an emphasis on consent in relationships.
Translation State is funny, poignant, and (as always with Leckie's work) makes the reader think. Absolutely recommended!
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
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Reading Progress
April 1, 2023
–
Started Reading
April 8, 2023
– Shelved
April 8, 2023
–
Finished Reading
