Ancillary Sword (35 page)

Where the wall had been facing him there was a very large and ragged hole which extended beneath the level of the cell floor. All the ordure and garbage had burst out of that. The last few trickles hissed against the hot sides of the breach, producing steam which curled around the figure standing blocking most of the brilliant light from outside, in the open air of Sorpen. The figure was three meters tall and looked vaguely like a small armored spaceship sitting on a tripod of thick legs. Its helmet looked big enough to contain three human heads, side by side. Held almost casually in one gigantic hand was a plasma cannon which Horza would have needed both arms just to lift; the creature’s other fist gripped a slightly larger gun. Behind it, nosing in toward the hole, came an Idiran gun-platform, lit vividly by the light of explosions which Horza could now feel through the iron and stones he was attached to. He raised his head to the giant standing in the breach and tried to smile.

“Well,” he croaked, then spluttered and spat, “you lot certainly took your time.”

Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Sword

“Unexpected, compelling and very cool. Ann Leckie nails it.”

—John Scalzi

“Establishes Leckie as an heir to Banks and Cherryh.”

—Elizabeth Bear

“Powerful, arresting, beautiful space opera… Leckie makes it look so easy.”

—Kameron Hurley

Ancillary Justice
is the mind-blowing space opera you’ve been needing… This is a novel that will thrill you like the page-turner it is, but stick with you for a long time afterward.”

—io9.com

“This impressive debut succeeds in making Breq a protagonist readers will invest in, and establishes Leckie as a talent to watch.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Ann Leckie’s
Ancillary Justice
does everything science fiction should do. It engages, it excites, and it challenges the way the reader views our world.”

—
Staffer’s Book Review

“Assured, gripping, and stylish… an absorbing thousand-year history, a poignant personal journey, and a welcome addition to the genre.”

—NPR Books

“A stunning, fast-paced debut.”

—
Shelf Awareness

“It’s not every day a debut novel by an author you’d never heard of before derails your entire afternoon with its brilliance. But when my review copy of
Ancillary Justice
arrived, that’s exactly what it did. In fact, it arrowed upward to reach a pretty high position on my list of best space opera novels ever.”

—Liz Bourke,
Tor.com

“This is not entry-level SF, and its payoff is correspondingly greater because of that.”

—
Locus

“I cannot find fault in this truly amazing, awe-inspiring debut novel from Ann Leckie…
Ancillary Justice
is one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read.”

—
The Book Smugglers

“It’s by turns thrilling, moving and awe-inspiring.”

—
The Guardian
(UK)

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For more about this book and author, visit Bookish.com.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Ann Leckie

Excerpt from
Leviathan Wakes
copyright © 2011 by James S. A. Corey

Excerpt from
Consider Phlebas
copyright © 1987 by Iain M. Banks

Cover design by Kirk Benshoff

Illustration by John Harris

Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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First ebook edition: October 2014

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ISBN 978-0-316-24664-4

E3