REVIEW: Provenance by Ann Leckie

From the author of the Imperial Radch trilogy, this novel stands alone but takes place in the same universe. The trilogy won the Hugo and Nebula awards; this one was nominated for the Hugo in 2018.

I have only read the first book of the trilogy, Ancillary Justice, which I enjoyed once I had worked through the first chapters. (See my review here.) Provenance, like the others, is a sweeping novel of power politics, family dynastic intrigue, and interstellar conflict. It is a well-done space opera that is believable and enjoyable.

Told from the point-of-view of an adopted daughter of a powerful family, Ingray Aughskold, she hits upon a dangerous idea that might vault her above her brother in the eyes of the mother for the right to become the heir of the dynasty. She frees a prison from a lifetime prison and returns to her planet, only to find herself in the midst of a conflict between political factions, alien species, and families. Somehow, she learns, her escaped prisoner is caught up in it.

The main character is well-done, a three-dimensional woman who takes bold actions, doubts herself, and learns. The other characters, even the primary ones, are less well-developed tropes: the rogue spaceship captain, the sleazy brother, the wise uncle, the demanding mother exhibit little or no change (the brother does, at the end, but it is overdone). The action moves quickly enough, with plenty of surprises and twists to keep it interesting. What appears to be one story turns out to be a larger, intertwined story, which usually makes for a good yarn.

Set far in the future, the social and political worlds are intriguing, if a bit too taken in by the cause-of-the-day social sensibilities: “Compassionate Removal” instead of “prison,” invented gender pronouns whose function was not clear, a lesbian relationship that fails to serve the relationship or story. Leckie uses a pronoun 

Still, Leckie’s world-building skills are outstanding: impressive, believable, and consistent. Her focus on character in the midst of well-defined future technology, social worlds, and political systems, makes the reader care about the main character who is lives in that intriguing world.

If you enjoy character-driven space operas with well-developed worlds, cultures, and technologies, you will perhaps enjoy this. If you liked the Imperial Radch trilogy, you’ll probably enjoy revisiting that universe in this unattached story.