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rebeccazh's review against another edition
I love Jedao, that's all I have to say.
emmascc's review against another edition
3.0
not quite as good as the other short story but always great to have jedao's pov
bookaneer's review
3.0
Quite fascinating short story from a prominent character in Ninefox Gambit. Some worldbuilding explained too, which will help reading NG - if not enriching the experience - so better for interested readers to read this one first.
heniaakbar's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
5.0
This review is for Battle of Candle Arc by Yoon Ha Lee, which of course features my favorite Shuos. I don't think you should take my words for granted at this point because I love Jedao and I'll let him eat me if it helps him to win battles, so yeah....
jokoloyo's review
4.0
I read this free short story after I have trouble understanding [b:Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446557461s/26118426.jpg|46065520] after reading a few pages. The short story gave me more pictures about the magic system of The Machineries of Empire universe. I recommend people to read this short story before read the Machineries of Empire novels.
I couldn't help to imagine the 'calendar' and 'formations' as Taoism engineering techniques. They are about reality/probability manipulations. I can't say much after reading only the short story. I believe I will find more clues when reading the novels.
The plots are good, I was excited when reading this story. When reading classic Chinese stories, I often found the general who ignoring the Tao are the losing side. On this story, there is no such a fool general. And there is one dialogue that I really really like and made me shivered.
"what the hell do you mean they're not fighting? Just because they're not sitting on a mass of things that go boom? They're fighting what's in the enemy's head."
With that words, I am including Shuos Jedao as one of the cool fictitious leader that I know.
I couldn't help to imagine the 'calendar' and 'formations' as Taoism engineering techniques. They are about reality/probability manipulations. I can't say much after reading only the short story. I believe I will find more clues when reading the novels.
The plots are good, I was excited when reading this story. When reading classic Chinese stories, I often found the general who ignoring the Tao are the losing side. On this story, there is no such a fool general. And there is one dialogue that I really really like and made me shivered.
Spoiler
This part:"what the hell do you mean they're not fighting? Just because they're not sitting on a mass of things that go boom? They're fighting what's in the enemy's head."
With that words, I am including Shuos Jedao as one of the cool fictitious leader that I know.
Spoiler
macthekat's review
5.0
I think it was wonderful to read a military Sci fi story that was not about the battle but still let it play a key role. And I also liked the terminology riffs - I love it when writers assumes that their readers are smart enough to follow them. I found it really refreshing to have this level of emotion in a military story. Awesome - I want to read more by Yoon Ha Lee
Merged review:
This story is a solar system science fiction story about Henry on Europa, Jupiter's moon. I might just be running into an odd streak, but to me it seems like the solar system stories are the grim dark of science fiction. They all seems to have an extremely grim and bleak view of the future. In this story the Earth is running out of water and humanity is desperately trying to create a new home somewhere in the solar system, and not having much luck of it.
This is a story with deep and sad emotion to it. It isn't really my favourite type of story. I prefer something a bit less grim dark. Something with a bit of hope in it or at least some entertainment value. But it is a beautiful story. And I think it deepens because of the betrayal Henry feels towards his parents without ever really admitting it to himself. They had to go right, they had good reasons, they had to take the birds away from him and take him to a word where the wonder of animal life are yellow algae. Right?
Read the rest of my review here: http://www.mackat.dk/book/2014/01/a-bead-of-jasper-four-small-stones/
Merged review:
This story is a solar system science fiction story about Henry on Europa, Jupiter's moon. I might just be running into an odd streak, but to me it seems like the solar system stories are the grim dark of science fiction. They all seems to have an extremely grim and bleak view of the future. In this story the Earth is running out of water and humanity is desperately trying to create a new home somewhere in the solar system, and not having much luck of it.
This is a story with deep and sad emotion to it. It isn't really my favourite type of story. I prefer something a bit less grim dark. Something with a bit of hope in it or at least some entertainment value. But it is a beautiful story. And I think it deepens because of the betrayal Henry feels towards his parents without ever really admitting it to himself. They had to go right, they had good reasons, they had to take the birds away from him and take him to a word where the wonder of animal life are yellow algae. Right?
Read the rest of my review here: http://www.mackat.dk/book/2014/01/a-bead-of-jasper-four-small-stones/
wealhtheow's review
4.0
This short story is set centuries before [b: Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446557461s/26118426.jpg|46065520], featuring General Jedao as he builds his military reputation. Great use of tactics, great worldbuilding tidbits, and fantastic character development for Jedao. It's also fascinating to read what the Kel were like before formation instincts were programmed into them.
If you're not sure whether you'd like [b: Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446557461s/26118426.jpg|46065520] (it's too long, it's got gore, whatever), or just can't get a hold of it, I'd recommend trying this story first.
If you're not sure whether you'd like [b: Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1446557461s/26118426.jpg|46065520] (it's too long, it's got gore, whatever), or just can't get a hold of it, I'd recommend trying this story first.
nekokat's review
4.0
** read only The Battle of Candle Arc **
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_10_12/
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_10_12/
shomarq's review
3.0
More like 3.5 for some truly enjoyable dialogue, this is some very intense military/tactics plot in the Machineries world that I suspect woud make more sense if I read it again after reading Ninefox Gambit. Even without comprehending exactly how the high calendar works, reading Jedao be a badass military commander and Menowen standing up to him and quetioning him was absolutely enjoyable.
Putting a pin in this to read again after Ninefox Gambit, though my rating will remain unchanged - since this is set prior to Ninefox, I'd prefer it if I could comprehend all the relevant background information contained inside without needing outside source material.
Edit: OK, actually, I re-read the relevant parts where Jedao explicitly talks about the calendar and I take it back - I don't think you're supposed to fully comprehend what it is/how it works. Just read this very carefully, otherwise you'll end up as confused as the Kel.
Putting a pin in this to read again after Ninefox Gambit, though my rating will remain unchanged - since this is set prior to Ninefox, I'd prefer it if I could comprehend all the relevant background information contained inside without needing outside source material.
Edit: OK, actually, I re-read the relevant parts where Jedao explicitly talks about the calendar and I take it back - I don't think you're supposed to fully comprehend what it is/how it works. Just read this very carefully, otherwise you'll end up as confused as the Kel.