Translation State

Leckie (Ancillary Mercy; Provenance) returns to the universe she created in her Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning “Imperial Radch” trilogy. Her latest can be read as a stand-alone and explores belonging and self-definition through three central characters, all expertly narrated by Adjoa Andoh. No stranger to Leckie’s work (Andoh narrated the other Radch books and the author’s debut fantasy, The Raven Tower), she captivates with perfectly placed inflections and superb pacing. Even listeners unfamiliar with Leckie’s previous works will be spellbound by Andoh’s character portraits, including Enae Athtur (sie/hir pronouns), whose Grandmaman’s death thrusts hir out of comfortable complacency into a new diplomatic position. What might have been a meaningless, family-financed sinecure puts Enae on a collision course with Reet Hluid, an adoptee searching for his past, and Qven, a Presgar translator afraid to complete the next stage in their species’ life cycle. Together, and with the help of a distinctly voiced supporting cast, these three challenge continuing injustice in Radch law and Presgar custom.