Ninefox Gambit

Just too confusing with enough context

I listened to the whole book because I really wanted to give it a chance, but I just couldn't enjoy it.

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. Those description of the entire society structure is confusing and never contains enough information to help the reader understand what is the purpose of it all or what the characters are even talking about. I'm as clueless now as I was at the beginning, but now I'm frustrated. By the end I just wanted the damned thing to be over so I could move on to a better book.
I have the give the narrator credit, she did a good job and if not for her, I might not have bothered to finish the book at all.

19 of 19 people found this review helpful

Outstanding Plot and Wonderful Narration

What did you love best about Ninefox Gambit?

Emily Woo Zeller's narration made the book come alive, she is a treasure. Only made better by a well-written and expertly plotted story.

Any additional comments?

A must-read for science fiction fans. The book is tightly plotted and intricate, dropping the reader right into an unfamiliar future, with any explanation and context shown in glimpses, bits, and gradually over time. As alien as the technology and society are, the humans are still human, enmeshed in intrigue and camaraderie, betrayal and power struggles. Though the book is short (under 400 pages), it has all the feel of a sweeping space opera, but in the vein of Herbert's Dune, with Machiavellian political maneuvering, and a dash of Starship Troopers or Forever War in a certain glee of military planning. This is the first in a series and though left in a cliffhanger, the story of the initial book is nicely wrapped up so you aren't left completely in exquisite anticipation. I cannot wait for the next entry.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Sails similar waters to the Ancillary series

Any additional comments?

I had to re-listen to this book to figure out whether I liked it or not (I was already impressed by the language and characters).

That sounds like faint praise but for me it means that the book was complex enough that I needed another go round to understand everything.

It's definitely worth a listen if you like the Ancillary books (although AI plays a very minor role).

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

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

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Space opera and intrigue

Captain Kel Cheris is disgraced, having won a battle against heretics using unconventional tactics. Her only chance at redemption is to retake the star fortress called the Fortress of Scattered Needles, recently captured by heretics.

She has a plan. It's a desparate plan, involving reviving an undead tactician who has never lost a battle, General Shuos Jedao. Of course, in his original life, Jedao went mad and wiped out two armies, one of them his own, and he's a famous traitor, but if Cheris didn't believe in taking risks, she wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

What follows is a battle of wits not just against the enemy, but against her chosen ally, Jedao, and even against the high command of the Hexarchate she serves. Because as vital as it is to retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles, lest the Hexarchate itself fall, they are strangely reluctant to share with her vital information that could make the difference between victory and defeat. She's fighting blind, and her only real ally is Jedao.

Jedao might be mad.

Or Jedao might be perfectly sane, and have her own agenda.

There's lots of action here; it's a campaign to retake a captured fortress. There's also a carefully textured unfolding of the characters of Cheris, Jedao, and the nature of the Hexarchate itself. The technology here calls to mind Clarke's Third Law, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," and at the end of this first book of the trilogy, I'm not at all clear on exactly what calendrical heresy consists of. That's not really the point, though. The real questions here are whose values will prevail, and how Cheris can decide who to trust.

The characters and the challenges completely pulled me in. Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Kinda hated it until I loved it

This was a crazy story. At first I thought I had stepped into book 3 of a series, it seemed like the author was assuming a bunch of context I did not have. Then it dawned on me that this was quite deliberate and, like people today don't understand why our how or cell phones work, people in the story don't necessarily understand the world they live in. My advice is, embrace this story and youv will be rewarded.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The title of this novel should have been: She said

What would have made Ninefox Gambit better?

Using other attributives other than "she said." Even when Cheris asks a question, the author uses "she said." To make it worse, it sounded like the narrator recorded the attributives separately from the dialog and then they were inserted where needed because every single "she said" has exactly the same tone and reflection. It was very jarring and distracting because the way she says it is very robotic and so out of place it's all you can focus on.

A few "she argued," "she contested," "she laughed," etc. would have helped this story flow so much better.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Would you be willing to try another one of Emily Woo Zeller’s performances?

I would, but not if the story is written by Yoon Ha Lee or produced by this audiobook's producer.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Ninefox Gambit?

I don't know, there's a ton of juxtaposition in the story that is not necessary, so I'd start there.

Any additional comments?

Really, really didn't like this book and I was so excited to listen to it based on the tremendous hype it received.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Dizzying Prose? I'm Your Gun

I like it when prose makes me a little bit dizzy. When the story is something I can almost grab onto, but just as my fingers try to latch onto it, I find I'm grasping smoke and shadow. And I love it -- I love the magic and the illusion of it all. It's like getting a buzz from prose.

That's essentially what Ninefox Gambit did to me -- made me feel like I'd had a nice night (or week) drinking. I can't tell you exactly what I was doing while I was drinking -- I can't explain the mathematics or the science or the way either plays with magical realism, but it was a fun time. Mainly, that's because I wasn't just left swimming alone with Yoon Ha Lee's prose. The story's anchored by a great relationship between the young and ambitious Captain Kel Cheris -- a soldier's soldier who wants to be all that she can be -- and the undead ghost General Jedao -- a war criminal and master strategist who is either looking for redemption or revenge. The tension and relationship between Cheris and Jedao kept me anchored when the prose on its own might have lost me.

The boo's not without its issues. I realized before listening this is part of a trilogy. Unlike Ancillary Justice, this book doesn't stand on its own very well. The end is, unfortunately, very much a set up for what is to come. Additionally, while Cheris and Jedao's characters are well drawn, the supporting characters get pretty minimal development and as such receive little emotional attachment.

This is the second book I've heard Emily Woo Zeller narrate, and I think I'm kind of smitten by her readings. Her voices are a little bit limited (there's a lot of tough sounding military types in this book and after a while some of them sound the same), but her performance really made Cheris and Jedao's relationship pay off, and might've helped ground the prose too. She did a really solid job with this book, and I look forward to hearing more of her work.

I can imagine fans of Ancillary Justice and the Expanse enjoying Ninefox Gambit. It's a unique take on military science fiction that is lush and intoxicating. The combination of smoke-curling prose and honest relationship made for a delicious cocktail. When the second book comes out, I'll be back for another round.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Magical mathematics, not mathematical magic

but still a fun ride. the world is very new and fresh, but the warfare and math is spoken in more poetic terms that realistic terms. I wish the protagonist would protag more, and the ending and "twist" were obvious almost from the first "mysterious" dream sequence, but the pay off was worth the short coming. worth the read just for the unique philosophical stance.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

very good

i loved yoon ha lee since i listened to battle of candle arc at clarkesworld. i love what lee has done here to continue this incredibly inventive science fiction/fantasy story. the calendrical warfare is original and evocative. and i love the twists and turns and layers within layers.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful