TRANSLATION STATE by Ann Leckie

5 stars

Love this brilliant Sci-Fi book! Enae has lived hir (a whole new set in this book for gender) whole life with hir utterly abusive grandmother, who has just died and freed Enae up from a passive life of servitude and subservience. She’s given by the new heirs a hopeless assignment: travel the universe in search of an elite Galaxy translator who went missing 200 years prior.

As taking on this task is requisite for getting a living stipend, Enae throws hirself into the task (as you can see, it takes a while to get used to this clever new pronoun set). Enae’s quest leads her into the center of galaxy diplomacy, where a handful of species who have formed a Conclave rely on translators to continually negotiate Galaxy Space. The key issue facing the mostly human conclave is keeping peace with a mostly hostile alien race known as the Presgr who lives operate in ways not actually understandable to humans. Qven, a young Presgr, has been raced since birth to quell her attack instincts and to learn the weird, formal ways of interacting with humans in order to possible emerge a new Presgr translater.

Along the way Enae encounters adopted orphan Reet who does not know his biological origins, a political action group intent on causing mayhem to break up the Conclave, a newly independent group of AI’s looking to be recognized as a race and serving as observers to the Conclave, and the power hungry Ambassadors vying for power at the seat at the Conclave table.

All the swirls together into an edge of your seat adventure, full of insights and heart, and having you cheering Enae on!

Now I’m heading back to read more of Ann Leckie’s books – she’s such a fabulous author!

Thanks to Orbit Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.