Loss/Isolation
There is a pervasive sense of loss and isolation that runs through the novel especially involving scenes where One Esk/Breq are concerned. This is unsurprising given that the protagonist is the sole survivor of a crew consisting of several thousand clones interconnected with a quasi-hive consciousness. In a very literal sense she has experienced the death of several aspects of consciousness and has been living alone for nineteen years in a state of isolation that she had never experienced prior as she has never known anything else but the company of her clone comrades and the familiarity of awareness she shared with her crew.
Music/Songs
One Esk/Breq possesses superhuman reflexes, strength, speaks with a decidedly cold, nearly mechanical cadence, and is stoic even in the face of heated combat. These characteristics clearly mark her as an ancillary—one of many revenant bodies the A.I. ruler use to interact with humanity—save for one very human, very unique quirk: an unintended fondness for music and songs. Music and songs are often woven into the narrative in order to humanize the otherwise mechanical One Esk/Breq. The image doesn’t just make the main character human but it also makes for moments of levity in an otherwise serious novel. The main character is constantly singing or humming, much to the annoyance of other characters. It is also worth noting that despite her obvious mania for music the protagonist is largely tone-deaf and doesn’t possess the biological talent for singing.
Space Battles/Futuristic Technology
The epic space battles are a frequently encountered image in the novel as are images of fantastic, futuristic technology. These exciting images of grand dogfights involving armadas of starships is what brings it into the space opera genre and this is also part of what makes the novel so engaging. The other half of the equation are the narratives describing the amazing technology that has allowed hyper-intelligent machine consciousness to effectively rule an empire spanning several star systems and ascend into virtual godhood.
Tea
The Radch is a tea drinking culture. Tea is the preferred beverage in the Ancillary Justice universe—at least for those who are considered—important enough to be served it and those allowed to consume it. There are several narratives in the novel describing the many nuances of the tea culture of the Radch Empire and the myriad colonies under its rule. Each colony will have variations regarding how the beverage is served, how it is imbibed, and even who would be denied it. This detail united the various human cultures and yet gave each culture a distinctiveness that added to its plausibility.
