The 2014 Nebula Award Best Novel, 'Ancillary Justice', was significant as it brought new perspectives on identity and AI in science fiction.
Well, the significance of 'Ancillary Justice' as the 2014 Nebula Award Best Novel is multi - faceted. It challenged the norms of science fiction. For example, its portrayal of gender was unique. Since Breq was an AI, gender was a more fluid concept in the story. It also had a great impact on how future science - fiction novels would handle the idea of consciousness. By having Breq be part of a larger whole and then becoming an individual, it made readers think about what really makes up a being's self - awareness. Moreover, it was able to combine complex political intrigue within a richly imagined universe, which set a high bar for other novels in the genre.