A review by cb1984
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

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?