A review by wakenda
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

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.