Quick linkspam of discussions elsenet

[kaberett]

• a discussion about the characterisation of Queter, how Breq feels about her, etc over on tumblr
  
• I wrote a critique of the German translator's approach to Ancillary Justice as described in the Interfictions article, and consequently came across some discussion of the Hungarian translation
  
• Ann Leckie refuses to comment on whether she is in fact the pen name for the Anaander Mianaai signed to Orbit.

Comments

[kaberett]

Possibly also of interest: I had a chat with a friend who wasn't very sold on the books, because (as a linguist) it's her experience that people from non-gendered-pronoun-having languages really don't care if they mess up gendered pronouns when speaking languages that do have them, so Breq caring so much isn't massively plausible. My read (which she found convincing) is that actually Radchaai in general don't care about pronouning people correctly; this is very much a Breq thing, partly because she has Opinions about Politeness but partly also because of the sense in which she is trying to distance herself from the Radch.

I would be interested in other folks' opinions on this reading!

[davidgillon]

wrt Queter/Sphene, I think Breq is playing a long game.

In the short term it's likely to be an immense cultural clash. Queter will hate Sphene's ancillaries, and won't be quiet about it.

In the medium term, Sphene is going to see the stuff that's likeable about having Queter aboard. We know that the AIs are predisposed to have favourites, we know that Queter is driven by an urge to do right. Even if they clash, Sphene is incapable of not seeing what is likeable about Queter (not to mention, no competition).

And in the longer term, Queter will have neutered Sphene's focus on ancillaries simply by being there, being human, and being argumentative, while Sphene will have given Queter the seasoning they need to function in a high-profile role.

[hokuton_punch]

Thanks for the links to these discussions, they're fascinating!