Ninefox Gambit

Vocabulary. After reading a favorable review of the second novel in the Machineries of Empire trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee, I had a choice to make: read the first, or plunge into the middle book as a standalone. Since I don’t read much science fiction, I decided to start at the beginning with a novel titled, Ninefox Gambit, and I’m glad I did. It took me fifty or more pages to get comfortable with the vocabulary and in trying to understand the world Lee was creating. Protagonist Kel Cheris is an unconventional math whiz warrior working for an entity called the hexarchate and is sent to a star fortress to quell a heretical rebellion that’s using an unconventional calendar. Cheris teams up with a disgraced general named Shuos Jedao and carries out a complicated mission that ends with a cliffhanger to set up the second book in the series. If any of this appeals to you, leap right in. While I started reading this novel I was skeptical and ready to give up after a few dozen pages. I pushed through and now look forward to the rest of the trilogy. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Ninefox Gambit from amazon.com.