Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice

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The Radchaai are a faction in the narrative, primarily represented by characters like Breq and Anaander Mianaai, who have connections to ships and ancillaries. Breq, as an ancillary, was once a ship's AI, while Anaander Mianaai has multiple ancillaries, suggesting a complex relationship between Radchaai and ship configurations. The discussion raises questions about whether all Radchaai exist as part of ships or if some have physical bodies, hinting at the existence of Radchaai citizens living outside the fleet. The significance of gloves over clothing among the Radchaai is noted, indicating a cultural or biological importance that remains unexplained. The conversation concludes with a realization that the Radchaai represent a splintering of humanity rather than a separate species, which was not initially clear to the reader.
DaveC426913
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I have questions.

I am 58% of the way through, so not looking for story lore; I'm trying to understand what the Radchaai are.

Breq is Radchaai and an ancillary. She was once a ship brain.

Anaander Mianaai is Radchaai. She has multiple ancillaries; does it follow then that she too is the hub of a ship with troops? Or is there another configuration?

Seivarden is Radchaai, but only an ancillary.

Do all Radchaai live as part of these ships? Do any Radcahaai have actual bodies anywhere?

I mean, if everyone we've met so far is an ancillary, that means they are all human corpse soldiers, including the various Anaander Mianaai.

I touched on some Dyson Sphere Homeworld exposition in the story; perhaps that's where Radchaai citizens live who aren't part of the fleet? Do they have bodies? Are they humanoid?

Finally, what's with the affinity for gloves? They seem more important to Radchaai than clothes. At one point, a character doesn't bother to clothe herself and thus is naked except for her gloves. At another point, the narrator mentions a community who live where it is so warm, their gloves are almost too thin to be effective (ie. they still wear gloves, but for some unevidenced reason).

I donned my Googles* but haven't been able to find any more detailed lore online about the peculiar biology and nature of Radchaai.

*DaveC426913, 2024
 
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Thanks. Any research I'd done seems to indicate I was the first reader to ever miss the extremely salient point that radchaai is a splintering of the human race, not its own species. Now that I know that, I see it, but it was not at all obvious in the reading.
 

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