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adambrodie1's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Ancillary Justice is a book with an empire, that is about the self. Ninefox Gambit is a book where characters have multiple selves, which is about empire, and its collapse.
wakenda's review
4.0
This was a really excellent math-based hard sci fi novel. The first chapter drops you into a battle in the middle of a particularly complicated universe, so it takes a little bit to figure things out, but putting in that work and accepting that you don't need to know exactly how things work to know what they mean in the universe is worth it, cuz the story's really good and the characters and their relationship to each other is really interesting. In particular, the gender dynamics between Cheris and Jedao, who literally is inside her head, get super fascinating, and knowing that the author is himself a trans man makes this even more so. There's an interesting essay he's written here about how the book doesn't have a trans character, but that Cheris and Jedao together form what he calls a trans system, which is pretty neat. I'm really looking forward to the next one.
bri_'s review
3.0
There's a lot to like in this, but it never quite grabbed me the way I expected it to after seeing so many people raving about it.
firesolstice's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
yevolem's review against another edition
4.0
Lee is another author whose novels I came to through their short fiction. I had concerns whether the central conceit, the Calendrical system, would be sufficient to carry everything. As with his short fiction in this setting, I still don't think it really was, but that was less of an issue than I thought it would be. Many people seem to have a lot of problems understanding how it works, but it doesn't seem that complex to me if you allow for its limitations. I think the source of that confusion is trying to understand this as Hard SF when it clearly isn't. If instead you approach it as "Any sufficiently advanced mysticism is indistinguishable from technology or magic" then I think it'll be more a lot more comprehensible. To me it's basically Feng Shui plus the idea that beliefs create reality with a veneer of math. Despite this, I still wouldn't personally call it a science fantasy series, though I can understand why it could be considered as such, as it does require frequent suspension of disbelief if you assume it's going to be realistic in any way.
The plot is the introduction to the protagonist, the preparation for the mission, and then the rest is the mission itself, a siege on a space fortress. Lee's writing style is rather different from I'm used to reading. It's often rather spare in many ways and prefers to intently focus on what it's concerned about. The main difference though is that for the majority of the book the protagonist is physically apart from the action because their primary role is as a tactician. This leads to a lot of the frontline action being told in short bursts from a variety of characters. That being said, if you primarily read books for well-developed characters or need an emotional connection to them, then this probably isn't for you. The dialogue in general is utilitarian, as is really everything else, and that's intentional due to how their society functions.
The beginning is definitely the weakest part and I wasn't won over until the very end and only just barely. It mostly did so by being interesting and providing a relatively uncommon perspective that had me considering various things. If you're looking for a military science fiction/space opera series that's mostly focused on action, then this may not be a proper fit. It would be easy to call this grimdark, but I don't think that'd be accurate. Often in grimdark there's an awareness and melodrama about it being grim and dark. Instead, this is very casual and indifferent to how grim and dark it is, which again, I believe to be intentional. On a different note, Yoon Ha Lee is a transman and that's a definite influence on this work. I'll read rest of the works in this setting and try some of his other work. I may even try some again since it took me so long to like this, or not, either way.
POST-SERIES READ EDIT: Each book in this series is progressively different than the previous book.
Rating: 3.5/5
The plot is the introduction to the protagonist, the preparation for the mission, and then the rest is the mission itself, a siege on a space fortress. Lee's writing style is rather different from I'm used to reading. It's often rather spare in many ways and prefers to intently focus on what it's concerned about. The main difference though is that for the majority of the book the protagonist is physically apart from the action because their primary role is as a tactician. This leads to a lot of the frontline action being told in short bursts from a variety of characters. That being said, if you primarily read books for well-developed characters or need an emotional connection to them, then this probably isn't for you. The dialogue in general is utilitarian, as is really everything else, and that's intentional due to how their society functions.
The beginning is definitely the weakest part and I wasn't won over until the very end and only just barely. It mostly did so by being interesting and providing a relatively uncommon perspective that had me considering various things. If you're looking for a military science fiction/space opera series that's mostly focused on action, then this may not be a proper fit. It would be easy to call this grimdark, but I don't think that'd be accurate. Often in grimdark there's an awareness and melodrama about it being grim and dark. Instead, this is very casual and indifferent to how grim and dark it is, which again, I believe to be intentional. On a different note, Yoon Ha Lee is a transman and that's a definite influence on this work. I'll read rest of the works in this setting and try some of his other work. I may even try some again since it took me so long to like this, or not, either way.
POST-SERIES READ EDIT: Each book in this series is progressively different than the previous book.
Rating: 3.5/5
tournesoldream's review against another edition
4.5
Ideologies and battles based on math! Immersive worldbuilding and a fascinating cast of characters full of complexities.
mar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book truly does not hesitate to throw you in at the deep end with no help in sight. but by god if you don't drown you're in for one HELL of a ride
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Minor: Child death and Suicidal thoughts
peregrine's review against another edition
3.0
My impression is pretty much the same on the second readthrough: the first ~50% and last ~20% of the book are fantastic, but the middle portion where they're actually taking the fortress is kind of a jumbled mess. I feel like the goal of the many POVs here is to emphasize that everyone dying is a Real Person, but we don't get enough time with any of the characters to actually care about them, and it's hard to follow what's going on in the larger scale. Four stars for most of it, two stars for the siege.
I remember book 2 is just fantastic from start to finish, though, so: onward!
I remember book 2 is just fantastic from start to finish, though, so: onward!
danilanglie's review against another edition
3.0
Huh. I really thought this book was going to be more my thing, but honestly it just didn't really click for me? And I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out why. Honestly, until the last 50 or so pages, this would have been a 2-star read for me. It was just too... jargon-y, maybe? I didn't feel like I understood Cheris or her world or the stakes. Everything was so abstracted out that it lacked a hook for me to feel connected.
By far the most interesting part was Cheris and Jedao's relationship, and the part at the end where Cheris gets the download of Jedao's life and memories and true plan? That part came alive for me. But it came at the end of the book, and so much of the lead-up to it was too obscure for me to feel emotionally connected.
I found myself wishing that this book had just cut to the chase and done more with that Jedao relationship from the jump. I don't know, it's not like this book is too long, in fact it's very trim and in some senses efficient, I just... couldn't get my brain to click into it!
There are themes that were introduced here, mostly themes around choice and madness and also means justifying ends, the horrors of war and the conviction behind revolution. I wanted to love it, I wanted to feel fully invested, but... for the first 75% of the book, Cheris just felt like too much of a blank slate to me. So keyed into the Kel way of life that the actual moral reality of the story was obscured for me. I found the emotional thread of the text hard to follow, I guess. I think this is probably a feature, not a bug. You're supposed to feel like the violence is abstract until it explodes into reality in certain moments. But it just created a distancing effect for me that I couldn't really see past.
I was so sure this would be a book I loved, but after reading this first one I think I'm not going to bother with the rest of the trilogy. I can say this is definitely a good book, well-crafted and with some really interesting world-building concepts. In breaking up with this series, I can honestly say it's not you, it's me. Oh well!
By far the most interesting part was Cheris and Jedao's relationship, and the part at the end where Cheris gets the download of Jedao's life and memories and true plan? That part came alive for me. But it came at the end of the book, and so much of the lead-up to it was too obscure for me to feel emotionally connected.
I found myself wishing that this book had just cut to the chase and done more with that Jedao relationship from the jump. I don't know, it's not like this book is too long, in fact it's very trim and in some senses efficient, I just... couldn't get my brain to click into it!
There are themes that were introduced here, mostly themes around choice and madness and also means justifying ends, the horrors of war and the conviction behind revolution. I wanted to love it, I wanted to feel fully invested, but... for the first 75% of the book, Cheris just felt like too much of a blank slate to me. So keyed into the Kel way of life that the actual moral reality of the story was obscured for me. I found the emotional thread of the text hard to follow, I guess. I think this is probably a feature, not a bug. You're supposed to feel like the violence is abstract until it explodes into reality in certain moments. But it just created a distancing effect for me that I couldn't really see past.
I was so sure this would be a book I loved, but after reading this first one I think I'm not going to bother with the rest of the trilogy. I can say this is definitely a good book, well-crafted and with some really interesting world-building concepts. In breaking up with this series, I can honestly say it's not you, it's me. Oh well!