Ninefox Gambit: 1 (The Machineries of Empire, 1)

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She’s very smart, with an eye for strategy, and an ability to compute complex mathematical equations under extreme stress.

Another school of thought within the Hexarchate, that consists of assassins and infiltrators, people trained in mind games and trickery.

I’ve just picked up the second book in the Machineries of Empire series, Raven Stratagem, almost a year after finishing Ninefox Gambit. Political machinations have found her brevetted to general and saddled with a ghost-like companion named Shuos Jedao. I listened to the whole book because I really wanted to give it a chance, but I just couldn't enjoy it. There is a tendency to assume that because something is “merely” genre fiction, it is not capable of providing the same depth and meaning that a more “literary” style of fiction can provide. The ‘magic’ here is that people and society can work on changing the laws of physics: but only if everyone goes along with it.

Cheris works out that like herself, Shuos Jedao was probably way too valuable to eliminate completely. The first is a prequel of sorts and actually does a better job of explaining how the calendar and calindrical rot works than Ninefox Gambit. He sees and perceives what she does, and he can advise her on courses of action as they’re happening.This is one of those books that sets you up so you think you know everything for about 90% of the book and then in the last 10% is like ha lol played you. Ninefox Gambit alone, once you look past the lack of footholds and safety nets, is actually a rather tightly put together story. First sentence: At Kel Academy, an instructor had explained to Cheris’s class that the threshold winnower was a weapon of last resort, and not just for its notorious connotations.

Meaningless cards, tokens, and symbols become invested with value and significance in the world of the game. The technology described in the book is confusing and the author fails to give enough of a description or context to help the reader understand what he heck they are talking about. Instead of punishment, she is given an incredibly prestigious assignment: to take back the impenetrable Fortress of Scattered Needles, which has recently fallen under heretic control. The heads of the Hexarchate have no idea that they are not just playing with fire; they are on the verge of being incinerated. The Machinaries of Empire series is best described as a space opera, with a setting that fulfils Arthur C Clark’s old adage that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.Some of these tactics are related to battle formations, which are computed using complex mathematical calculations, and the fact that every time one was used, Yoon Ha Lee went into a lot of detail about them, the book was slowed down immeasurably. On top of that, there are six factions, each charged with a different aspect of life – much like Divergent.