The back cover blurb speaks of a “planet in political turmoil at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict” and a “novel of power, theft, birthright and privilege”. Joke or not, it doesn’t make for literature that sticks, as the narrative arc ends with a fizzle, and the same goes for whatever emotional build up there might have been. In fact, the ending is so, so predictable I wonder if it’s a joke on Leckie’s part. This is a standalone story of 438 pages, and the main character simply isn’t as interesting, her adventures not as compelling. Those books are about characters and pack quite some emotions – although it might not show at first, and Leckie takes her time to develop, all the way up to book 3.
Provenance is the Imperial Radch trilogy light. In fact, the character of the Geck ambassador more or less repeats Leckie’s trick from Ancillary Mercy – yet without anything coming close to the genius of the fish sauce. Provenance is set in the same universe as Leckie’s famous debut trilogy, but those of you craving more of the Rrrrrr or something like that hilarious & menacing Presger translator will be disappointed. I wrote ‘small’ part, because I wanted more. It needs repeating: all that is no mean feat, and Provenance is definitely not a bad book.Ī small part of the novel’s charm deals with the strangeness of aliens – but ultimately it’s just the same old trick as in Frank Herbert’s Whipping Star: having aliens speak garbled English.
The pacing is okay, the prose too, and enough stuff happens to keep the reader’s interest fresh. As entertainment it works just fine: others have called it a comedy of manners, and Leckie has a distinctive, somewhat detached style which helps her create awkward social atmospheres seemingly effortlessly. I enjoyed reading Provenance, but after I put it down the question whether this really was a good book quickly took my enjoyment hostage.
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