Ninefox Gambit

By: Yoon Ha Lee

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

The first installment of the trilogy, Ninefox Gambit centers on disgraced captain Kel Cheris, who must recapture the formidable Fortress of Scattered Needles in order to redeem herself in front of the Hexarchate.

To win an impossible war, Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the Hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris' career isn't the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the Hexarchate itself might be next. Cheris' best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao - because she might be his next victim.

©2016 Yoon Ha Lee (P)2016 Recorded Books

Creative but bizarre concept poorly explained

Calendrical math that yields advanced, magic-like technology. I respect the commitment to the premise, but it wasn't worth the investment for me.

This isn't for everyone but I LOVE IT!

The world is complex and detailed but the author doesn't spell everything out for you, you figure it out gradually as you go along. This may irritate some people but I prefer it over an author that wastes 1/4 of the first book just trying to set up the world. Sometimes a popcorn read is nice, but this is not that book.
The characters and plot are excellent. This is a series I keep coming back to.

good

A lot of jargon, but a good story if you can get past the first hour.

Inspired Worldbuilding

The only author and worldbuilding that I've enjoyed and respected as much as this is Terry Pratchett's discworld.

To quote Escher: "my work is a game, a very serious game," and Yoon Ha Lee's game, what is it about? Winning and losing, simulation, rules, a way to spend time with others? Yes. And also, behavior modification: "the rules constrain some behaviors and reward others. Meaningless cards, tokens, and symbols become invested with value and significance in the world of the game.

Romances of the three kingdoms and Discrete mathematics had a baby

Like an ancient Chinese military history set in a universe driven by laser weapons, endless war, geometric religious orientation, heresy and plots within plots. Buckle up kiddos, it's a wild ride

Really difficult to follow

I listened to the whole book but I found it quite difficult to follow. I really wanted to like it but just couldn't keep the story line. I'd recommend the Ancillary series instead,somewhat similar but better written.

engaging

gets you hooked quick and keeps you throughout the book! cant wait for next book

Hard to get into, but worth it once you do

Slow beginning, but once it got going, I didn't want to put it down. Note that before it got going I put it down and it was 7 months until I got back to it, but I'm very glad I did. Once Cheris is given access to Jedao, the story really takes off. Jedao's motives and loyalties are unclear, though his ability is obvious early on. Impressively, Cheris is mostly able to hold her own against him. Her journey from Kel to ... something else ... is intense and believable.

I'm giving this four stars for the strength of the ending. I think it's a case of the author starting too soon. The story probably should have started with Cheris finding herself melded to Jedao, and given any necessary details from before that as flashbacks or thought-paragraphs. From that point on, I was hooked, but I nearly gave up on it before then. This is one that could even get away with starting at the very end, and telling all the rest through flashbacks. That might not be as good an idea, since it would spoil the ultimate outcome (which I will not do here).

As for the narration, Zeller is quite good. She puts a lot more emotion into character voices than most narrator's I've listened to. Part of me thinks it's a tad too much, but I often find myself thinking that other narrators don't put enough, so I'm probably just hard to please on that count.

#SF #magic #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Hallucinating, cool, shoddy in places

Love the world, characters kinda flat, prose verges on forum level in places. The narration is good. Solid start.

Looking forward to book two

Book felt a little disjointed. First part was lead up for exposition in the last few chapters that ultimately set up the next books.