Earthsea and 9 more epic sci-fi and fantasy series to read in lockdown

4. The Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie

Departing from the realm of fantasy for a bit, let’s ship out into the cold abyss of the galaxy and talk space opera, specifically The Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie. Begun in 2013 with Leckie’s debut, Ancillary Justice, this trilogy follows an AI-human hybrid named Breq as she sets out on a quest for revenge for the destruction of her ship, the Justice of Toren.

Except it’s nowhere near that simple. You see, Breq is the Justice of Toren. In the Radchaai Empire, the sentient AIs of huge starships also control the bodies of many of its once-living human soldiers called ancillaries (or “corpse soldiers”). When the Justice of Toren is destroyed in an act of treachery, the ship’s AI melds with the one ancillary who survives the attack.

The series brilliantly balances a galactic conspiracy story with a super-deep character study. Right from the opening pages, it’s clear that Breq is a fish out of water. She doesn’t completely understand “normal” human facial expressions or social cues — or pronouns, for that matter. She thinks back on the abilities she had as a super-powerful ship AI, and compares that breadth of knowledge to her limited capabilities as a human. It’s fascinating.

After completing The Imperial Radch trilogy in 2015, Leckie wrote a stand-alone novel set in the same universe, called Provenence. Plenty of space opera goodness to go around.