Ancillary Justice

Although there were places where the book dragged a little, I'd say overall it was a very exciting read. The setting is akin to Asimov's Foundation (an old Empire on the brink of collapse), yet it has a unique twist to it. The empire, according to the author, was partially inspired by Romans, but the culture she created is very original, with interesting customs, linguistic norms and religions tradition.

I also like that the author doesn't portray any nations as good or evil. Every nation consists of people and people are different. Sometimes a person who think is not so great grows and show they can be better.

One of the most notable aspects of the empire is a complete lack of concept of gender. We're first introduced to it when the protagonist refers to male character as “she” and we later learn that is the standard pronoun they use for everyone. I really like this idea, even though it took me a bit to get used to.