Reviews

Гамбит девятихвостого лиса by Yoon Ha Lee

outcolder's review against another edition

4.0

I might be way off here, but ... if faster than light travel is only possible by manipulating socially constructed concepts of time, and a byproduct of that is a range of weapons that only function within a bubble of altered physics made possible by the same social time-system, then an empire would require tighter and tighter hierarchy to have control over that time-concept. Over that background we get a story about ghostly possession, a me-too plot twist, some AI moralizing and enough world-building to inspire a massive RPG. Or not. But that’s more or less how it took shape in my head. Any book with this much mumbo jumbo is open to miles of interpretation. I’ll be looking for more.

kivt's review against another edition

4.0

Generally really enjoyable! The semi-reveal of the content of the Liozh heresy was pretty lame. But the rest of the book was pretty good.

majabwds's review against another edition

The way this story was told is confusing which I guess makes sense since we follow a captain who has a mastermind tactician put in her head (without her consent or knowledge). I had difficulties remembering secondary characters and making sense of the world (universe) because it wasn't explained at all. You are thrust into the story / world and have to figure it out by yourself.
I didn't jive with the philosophy/religion aspect of the story and also thought that the reason our main character became disgraced and had to give herself up for her doomed task of taking over a fortress was stupid.
No ratings.

decembera's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-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

3.5

leflambeur's review against another edition

3.0

Picked up as I try to read all Hugo nominees that are not sequels. Did not finish. While the author's imagination of different societies with different abilities going to war sounded like it could be interesting, in the end the lack of world building and detail meant I wasn't hooked enough to stick with it. YMMV.

ted_funsten's review against another edition

3.0

The story was slow to get going, plodding along in a moderately entertaining fashion for the first 2/3 of the book. It gains strength at the end. I thought the strange, calendar and mathematically-based system of warfare would become more understandable by the end. At least for me, it didn't. There's a lot of talk about math and number theory in the military formations and weaponry. Also talk of simulations and game design. I wondered if the characters are all computer simulations, haven't come to a conclusion.

vengefuldime's review against another edition

5.0

This is an example of “dropped-in” worldbuilding that at first I was overwhelmed by, but reading another time allowed a much better understanding. The world is really refreshingly unique (at least in what I have read so far), with math and calendrical systems being used in a functionally magical way. It felt new and interesting, challenging in a way that still had elements from other works I have liked. I enjoyed getting the feeling of slowly unspooling the setting and stakes. If felt attention-grabbing although it wasn’t necessarily action-filled. The political mind games and sense of larger motions behind the scenes was pulled off well, making gained knowledge fall easily into place without removing the intrigue. I love the details in the heretical messages, the moths, the servitors and their various shapes, and the signifiers. The additional sections of others, even if only very temporarily, helped make the world seem a bit bigger and the consequences of the actions more real. I am also glad that it kept its focus on the protagonist. I got attached to Cheris throughout the book, and the cliffhanger incites me to read the next very soon.

sohva's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I feel quite conflicted about this book. Like there are a lot of great things: worldbuilding, premise, even the plot. Yet, we're just thrown right into it, and I at least failed to get a proper chance to appreciate it all. The book really doesn't bother too much about explaining its worldbuilding, which is a shame. I can get behind unexplained worldbuilding in a book that focuses more on characters or even just vibes, but this book is rather plot-based. I wasn't a massive fan of trying to follow the plot and try to understand the rules of the plot at the same time.

I really liked the magical system though, it was super unique!

cb1984's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I found this quite hard going. I enjoy being dumped in to the world and figuring things out to a degree, but there's just absolutely no explanation of mechanics of the whole calendrical structures which are seemingly super important to everything in the galaxy - both in terms of plot and action. And that meant it felt like I was missing or not understanding quite a lot of important stuff.

The same extended to the societal stuff, albeit to a lesser degree. There I felt like I was missing nuance which would have added a lot of depth (and helped build to the finale), rather than missing crucial detail. 

Its a shame, because the plot was good, the characters were good (if generally unsympathetic), the world was clearly well-imagined. But I just felt like I never really got into it. I feel like it could have done with another 50-100 pages of exposition?

exrayspex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0