Reviews with content warning for Rape - Ninefox Gambit

Incredibly cool fantasy book in space with a distinct dystopian sci fi regimented society. Throws you into its action and terminology by the first page and if you can wade through it, rewards connecting dots. Great protagonists, and I love the sense of duty and moral values that intermingle and collide with such care.

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grandiose_r's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense 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

4.25

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storyorc's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The magic system masquerading as hard science is the most fascinating part of this world. Calendrical rot. Consensus reality. Exotics. Invariable ice. Carrion bombs. Every name and every description of devastation is evocative. If this were a painting, I would call it impressionist rather than realistic since I don't have a clear picture of any of the fortresses or ships, but I am clear on the many varied ways a blast from their weapons might unmake me. Perhaps most original of all is that Yoon Ha Lee, a Stanford mathematician, envisions all this resting on the back of mathematical equations rather than magic.

The two lead characters enjoy nuance in their motivations and ethics, though I was a little disappointed how Cheris becomes more a vessel to explore Jedao once he shows up than the quiet, principled captain we met in the first quarter. Luckily, Jedao is compelling. There is little to bite into in the way of secondary cast, however; the Hexarchate - their government - and the factions eating other within is more vibrant than anyone else beyond Cheris and Jedao. Being drip-fed information about them through their manners, meetings, and machines was as good fun as any murder mystery. I would have swapped about 10% of the military talk for another strong character who stuck around - especially an antagonist, as there were a couple intriguing prospects - but the fans of military SF this book targets might disagree.

I imagine my rating would increase upon a re-read since I would understand more of the lingo and implications now I have the basics down*, but there wasn't quite enough to ground me in the setting and character to make me want to rush back in. The ending is bold and implies book #2 will tackle the permeability of one's identity, however, so I can't say I'm not tempted.

*This is a dirty lie; I needed about 10 more IQ points or 10% less abstract language to grasp Jedao's attack on the shields; as it was, it felt a little like a friend describing their dream. Limited to only a very high-level understanding, I don't think I was quite as wowed by his genius as intended.

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hevs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Czekałam na taką książkę chyba dekadę. Jest łogiń, nie czekam na polskie wydania dalszych tomów tylko lecę czytać w oryginale.

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danielles_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was important to acknowledge numbers, especially when the dead were dead by your doing.

I am kicking myself for not reading this book sooner!!! This is military epic space opera at its finest: truly alien with immersive world building, complicated and nuanced characters, and a tense story. The scope is so huge and intricate and the writing is so smooth that I can’t believe this was Lee’s debut!!!

Honestly, this is the sci-fi version of what I expected The Traitor Baru Cormorant to be like 😅 It’s also got political intrigue, morally grey characters, and overthrow of a government, but it was sooo much more intriguing with characters that were still sympathetic, even though at times it was just as confusing.

The first two chapters took me a few tries to read and understand. This book really just throws you into the deep end without any info dumping. The info that is directly provided is done seamlessly within the text, and is only what you need. Everything else is mostly implied, but the major concepts started to make more sense to me in chapter 3. I’m still a little confused on the whole calendar as math keeping society together thing lol, but I read an interview of Lee’s where he mentioned past real world civilizations starting wars over changing calendar systems, which helped me appreciate the concept more. I see a lot of reviewers say this book has too much math, but I don’t think that’s accurate. There wasn’t much direct math—it’s just that the world building starts out so confusing and happens to be based on math. This world is also subtly more Eastern-inspired than Western, which is very refreshing in a space opera. It also includes references to assimilation and language / cultural differences between different peoples of the empire. Despite the oppression, the society is queernormative and equal between genders, and both main MCs are queer!

The layers in this though!! I did not expect what ended up happening in the end, and I loved how it was done. Such a novel concept to show

flashbacks from Jedao’s past directly from Cheris’ eyes, as if she was Jedao. It really humanized both characters. I didn’t expect Jedao to be rebelling against the heptarchate but it makes perfect sense. Now I’m also thinking Hexarch Mikodez is in on it too? Somehow. And Kujen is an interesting character… wonder what he’s going to do next.

I am really excited for the next book—what a cliffhanger!

I really liked Cheris as a character, and to see her wrangle with the effects of her commands was so good. Oh yeah, and her caring for the servitors when no one else even noticed them!! I’m a sucker for characters like that. I am really looking forward to learning more about her character separate from Kel Command and even Jedao. Lee also included short POVs of regular soldiers that really made me care for each person so quickly (must be from his practice of writing short stories). It was the same kind of thing Tasha Suri did in The Burning Kingdoms books, but frankly I think Lee did it better, as it flowed in the narrative better and didn’t take up as much space as hers did.

I considered giving this 5 stars, but ultimately it lost some points for essentially being one long battle scene until the last 10% or so. There were a lot of moving pieces, yes, but I think some of the middle portion could have been cut. It wasn’t clear where the book was going until the very end, and the constant battle speak and deaths started to get exhausting (which I think was intentional to prove a point but still). Regardless, I read half of this book while waiting in line for Anime Expo, and it was definitely a great book to keep me company.

I can’t wait to continue on in the series! I am so impressed by Lee already.

~Yours in calendrical heresy~

“Be more assertive. You tend to defer to Nerevor. The problem with authority is that if you leave it lying around, others will take it away from you. You have to act like a general or people won’t respect you as one.”

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fruitcd's review against another edition

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4.0

I’ve never really considered myself a sci-fi fan, but I loved this! So complex and interesting! Surprised to see complaints about “bad” worldbuilding, because I thought the worldbuilding was complex and rich; it just didn’t hold your hand and sit you down to explain every aspect of its world to you. Honestly, this book felt a lot like Dune (which I also loved) with the way it just takes you for a ride and expects you to keep up. You will either love or hate this style of worldbuilding, for sure, but give it a chance! Lee was doing a lot of interesting stuff with gender and sexuality in 2016 that most authors are still too afraid to do in 2023. Excited to read the sequel and see where it goes for sure. Kel Cheris you will always be famous!!!

Further context for the content warning:

We experience the memory of a side character previously being sexually coerced by a superior officer briefly at the end of the book. It is narrated as if it is happening to the main character. It’s not very explicit and focuses more on how the character felt in the aftermath, how traumatized they were, and how they rationalized the assault to themselves as a coping mechanism (“they’re my superior so they can do what they want with me” etc).

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