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. So, as I said, this book was heading towards a two star review from me, when the last 40 pages happened.

All this would have been helpful to know from the start, but I can understand why the author might not want to add a whole section explaining the world – it often makes the beginning clunky and unrealistic. In the past, the seventh faction, the Liozh, had turned heretic and so were destroyed. For example, the Kel – the faction Cheris belongs to – are the foot soldiers (and pretty much cannon fodder). On top of that, there are six factions, each charged with a different aspect of life – much like Divergent. It took me a good while to understand that this Empire was underpinned by a specific, mathematically-derived calendar, and that any deviations from this calendar (presumably made by computing something new) were heretical. Added to the fact that you just get dropped into this world with zero explanation of how it works, and that it’s actually a very complex world for a sci-fi book, I found it hard to get into. 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. The book is essentially an extended battle scene, full of pages of tactical considerations. Up until then, it had been not all that interesting, bordering on tedious, with the only real bright spot being Jedao and Cheris’ interactions, and the fact that Cheris is a wlw. TWs: implied rape in a flashback scene, implied suicide attempt, suicidal thoughtsĪround 270 pages into this book, having skimread a few I’ll admit, I was fully prepared to rate this book 2 stars.

Ninefox gambit