Translation State by Ann Leckie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been a long-time fan of Leckie. I mean, between AI's trying to understand humans, alien species trying to understand humans, humans trying to understand humans, there's a lot to unpack. This later novel in the series spends most of its time with the Presgr, a race that tantalizingly tastes, translates, even transubstantiates as a part of its knowledge pool, sexual cycle, and space travel.

We get to experience it first hand. It's pretty cool. It also, if you know what the Imperial Radch books are known for, explores alien understanding (or casual uncaring misunderstanding) about sexes or the fluidity of such. We see quite a few books like that, these days, but honestly? Ann Leckie manages to make it fully and interestingly SF, drilling down into some well-thought-out pathways that few others try.

This one is no different. What are the Presgr, anyway, but a species that is, literally, what it eats? The interspecies political balance are at stake, here, and half the fun of the novel is figuring out WHY.

I had a lot of fun.

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