My main issue was in the identification and thereby the connection with the characters. Gender neutrality is still a big deal in the expression of this novel, as is the complicated or rather odd names we need to keep track of.

That's not bad, of course, but we're still destined to work for our pleasure. I tended to mostly rely on the laurels of the complicated world building that we've established in the previous novels and focused instead on the characterizations, the dialogue, and the subtleties. I really enjoyed this novel, but not in the traditional way. Need a thief to steal a priceless cultural artifact in order to prove that you're worthy? Ah, but first, make sure the provenance on all the key players and artifacts are up to snuff, please! :)

Inheritance is the key motivator for Ingray, trying something new, which, of course, goes disastrously wrong. Even so, I can't even begin to describe how many times I heard the exhortation, 'Don't break the Treaty!' And of course, that's the source of most of the conflict. Out of the original trilogy, I felt like this one matched the feel and fun of the third novel. Indeed, this novel is more of a comedy of manners than anything else, but there's also a bit of the mystery, murder, and mayhem as well. It's a very focused novel that details issues of family, inheritance, cultural relevance, and politics while completely surrounded by aliens and odd mores.

(Sept.Ann Leckie's new novel is still set in the Imperial Radch universe, but don't be fooled. It’s primarily an optimistic coming-of-age story, and it stumbles on some false promises along the way. Though full of the charm and wit characterizing Leckie’s other works, including delightful appearances by a Radch ambassador and tantalizing hints about the upcoming conclave, this novel nevertheless doesn’t quite have the depth and richness Leckie fans might expect. Matters are made worse by the fanatical pursuit of the distressingly odd ambassador of the alien Geck. But when the person she retrieves denies being the person she wants, her rash plan starts to fall apart. She leaves her home planet to break a famous thief out of prison and get help in a scheme to blackmail her mother’s primary political opponent. Ingray Aughskold is determined to outdo her conniving brother and impress their demanding mother enough to be named her heir, even if that means gambling everything Ingray has. Hugo- and Nebula-winner Leckie returns to the universe of her bestselling Imperial Radch trilogy with this standalone SF thriller styled as a space opera of manners.

Provenance by ann leckie