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A review by illiteratesquirrel
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
(Spoiler-free) I have to give credit where credit is due. This is a pretty good read for those who want military sci-fi action. I have to admit that its premise is incredibly unique and the socio-political system is deeply complex. It explores the concept of free will pretty interestingly and I'll leave it at that. Also awesome cover art. No really. No one can fathom how much it helped me in trying to imagine this world even for a little bit. Little did I know before starting this book that I would need it immensely.
Also I'm not sure why some people say this is character-driven, but this book focuses on the plot. Trust me, the characters don't have time to drive the plot. The plot does it itself just fine. In fact, the plot is so independent that it ragdolls the characters around and it barely gives you any time nor does it WANT to give you a reason why you should give a sh*t about these people(?) (Honestly idk if they're humans are not and it isn't ever clarified.) Read this book purely for the plot. Nothing else.
However, this is where my "generous" praise stops. Just a personal opinion, but this is not a light-hearted read especially if you're not familiar with sci-fi fiction. Sure, there's gore and stuff, but the prose in general. Again. This is NOT beginner-friendly to sci-fi newbies.
This was an incredibly hard book to get into. The barriers for this new world with no physical resemblance of our own are incredibly high in this book. It dangles you off a cliff and expects you to fly even though you're a penguin. Scratch that, you're not even a bird species. Just a frog.
Some words were being used completely out of context which is expected of sci-fi, but this even applies to our "real" vocabulary. I was reading but definitely not understanding. I barely got comfortable with the fact that I will never know what is exactly being described and that wasn't until after the 100-page mark (ch 8). Mind you, the author NEVER explains anything. If you think you're going to even get a sliver of a explanation, you'll just have to wait until the next book. I've finished the entire book and I still don't know what the author means by "calendrical" or "heretical rot." It felt like pulling the skin off my teeth to just get past a page in the beginning. It was okay in the middle when the plot was really being exciting and bit more digestible, but I found myself bored again in exactly the last three chapters with me skimming past the tedious descriptions and trying to get the important bits out. You have no idea how my eyes were speeding through those pages just to finally be done with this book. Also, not the entire ending, but the last few chapters fell short for me. Pretty anticlimactic especially when the character is confronted by one of the most prominent villains of the story. Womp womp. But then again I guess that's pretty characteristic for the author not to dramatize it (remember my point of how the characters are to the plot above).
All in all, honestly I'll probably check out the 2nd book out of a sick obligation to my curiosity on how the author will manage the characters after the explosive ending because admittedly, it sets up the next book nicely with a classic cliffhanger. But the question of whether I will finish that book like this one is debatable.
Also I'm not sure why some people say this is character-driven, but this book focuses on the plot. Trust me, the characters don't have time to drive the plot. The plot does it itself just fine. In fact, the plot is so independent that it ragdolls the characters around and it barely gives you any time nor does it WANT to give you a reason why you should give a sh*t about these people(?) (Honestly idk if they're humans are not and it isn't ever clarified.) Read this book purely for the plot. Nothing else.
However, this is where my "generous" praise stops. Just a personal opinion, but this is not a light-hearted read especially if you're not familiar with sci-fi fiction. Sure, there's gore and stuff, but the prose in general. Again. This is NOT beginner-friendly to sci-fi newbies.
This was an incredibly hard book to get into. The barriers for this new world with no physical resemblance of our own are incredibly high in this book. It dangles you off a cliff and expects you to fly even though you're a penguin. Scratch that, you're not even a bird species. Just a frog.
Some words were being used completely out of context which is expected of sci-fi, but this even applies to our "real" vocabulary. I was reading but definitely not understanding. I barely got comfortable with the fact that I will never know what is exactly being described and that wasn't until after the 100-page mark (ch 8). Mind you, the author NEVER explains anything. If you think you're going to even get a sliver of a explanation, you'll just have to wait until the next book. I've finished the entire book and I still don't know what the author means by "calendrical" or "heretical rot." It felt like pulling the skin off my teeth to just get past a page in the beginning. It was okay in the middle when the plot was really being exciting and bit more digestible, but I found myself bored again in exactly the last three chapters with me skimming past the tedious descriptions and trying to get the important bits out. You have no idea how my eyes were speeding through those pages just to finally be done with this book. Also, not the entire ending, but the last few chapters fell short for me. Pretty anticlimactic especially when the character is confronted by one of the most prominent villains of the story. Womp womp. But then again I guess that's pretty characteristic for the author not to dramatize it (remember my point of how the characters are to the plot above).
All in all, honestly I'll probably check out the 2nd book out of a sick obligation to my curiosity on how the author will manage the characters after the explosive ending because admittedly, it sets up the next book nicely with a classic cliffhanger. But the question of whether I will finish that book like this one is debatable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore