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ladybusinessHow you react to the first chapter of Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee is a good indicator of your reaction to all the other wild things you'll see in later chapters. (My reaction throughout: "WTF is that? WTF is this? WTF IS HAPPENING???" You start with calendrical rot and end up in a battle sequence that uses a system of loyalty to create defenses known as formations that are then used to fight bad guys and resist weapons. But don't worry: there are robots (called servitors), so at least one thing will be familiar.
It took me a solid four or five chapters to feel comfortable in this world, and that's only because I started assuming the calendar was a form of time manipulation and pushed it aside until I had more world building in my toolkit, because I never understand time travel, anyway.
Approaching sans worry about what I was missing helped because this novel isn't pulling punches or providing tons of context clues to hold your hand. It wants you to work for the world building and the characterization and the visualization, and it's like this book knew that was my weakness. "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, BOOK!", I said in Chapter 3, "I'LL REVEAL ALL YOUR SECRETS!". By the end I was grateful because figuring out how all the pieces fit together was fun and also gut-wrenchingly painful because a deep dive results in lots of empathy pain, ha ha ha. But take some advice from an extremely visual reader: if you give this novel a try, give yourself the benefit of the doubt. ♥
The society and political structure in Ninefox Gambit, known as the hexarchate, is one formed and held together by a version of advanced, far-future mathematics (i.e. magic) that allows a large society to create their own version of reality through a rigid belief system. And, okay, it's not exactly math. But it has rules, like math has rules, so it's a lot easier for me to think of it as mathematical.
The book calls this system a calendar. Calendrical rot, which we're introduced to in the first chapter, is what happens when another large group grows big and influential enough to create their own reality by believing something different. This creates a situation in which reality itself (depending on which calendar you're standing in) doesn't work right. Things go all wonky, weapons don't work, and it's a great big mess. The hexarchate is very interested in ensuring their dominance so their calendar and the six factions that operate under it remain the greatest calendar in all the universe. It's an old story: people in power want to stay in power or want more power.
But wait! There's a twist! There's a heretical calendar afoot and it comes in the form of democracy and the captured-by-heretics Fortress of Scattered Needles.
For me, this is hard science fiction, because Ninefox Gambit is playing with how reality is formed and how we relate to one another on a system of time and in space. Ignoring the fact that the math and science in this novel are currently impossible, that's enough for me to go, "well, this is a challenge to HOW WE PERCEIVE REALITY as a concept, that's a logical problem, logic is math, there's also sociology and psychology and philosophy mixed in, OMG THIS IS HARD SCIENCE FICTION." Ask someone who didn't fail every math class after 4th grade, and this is science fantasy, especially if you read "actual" hard science fiction. I don't, because it's often written by cisgender straight men who are like "women are people who can do things in novels besides be objects? That sounds fake but okay." So yeah, I don't read a lot of "proper" hard science fiction, with "real" math and science and that influences my reading of this novel. Bias disclosed!
Kel Cheris is a talented mathematician and strategist from one of the lesser respected factions. She comes to the attention of the hexarchate after the bizarre battle in the first chapter for disgracing herself with heretical tactics. Instead of being punished outright, however, they decide she's the perfect candidate to help them solve the problem of the captured fortress, and put the issue to her. Her answer: awaken the undead general Shuos Jedao, the greatest tactician the hexarchate has ever known, to tackle the heretics.
Of course, Cheris's request isn't without problems: before he was captured Jedeo quelled rebellions until he quelled so hard he also quelled his own people to death. In life, he was angry and brutal and brilliant, and undead and trapped as a tool of the hexarchate, he's not much better. And Cheris is, from the moment they meet, at risk of losing herself to him. Their dynamic is a partnership where trust is in short supply and suspicion is high. As Cheris learns more about Jedao, though, all her assumptions about her own faction, the hexarchate entire, and Jedao's motivations will be called into question. And they still have to do lots of quelling of the captured fortress's heretics.
This is military science fiction. Quelling is featured prominently.
Ninefox Gambit is hard to summarize without spoiling some of the more fascinating choices the author makes to create tension, especially between Jedao and Cheris. It was their dynamic that kept me glued to this story. Surprise, surprise, I read for character, and Cheris is pretty great: she's stubborn, confident (and also good at faking it), quietly kind and compassionate, with a penchant for genuine affection with those around her, even if she's careful how she shows it. But she's also willing to admit when she's wrong, when she's out of her element, and when it's time to stand up and fight for justice. Jedao, of course, is also a great character, absent-mindedly snarky and viciously callous in equal measure, but the core of this book is Cheris and how she adapts to new information, and eventually the freedom of choice.
And those heretics that took over the Fortress of Scattered Needles that Cheris and Jedao are attempting to take back for the hexarchate? Yeah, it's not as simple as you might believe based on what we learn from leaders in the hexarchate early on and from the heretics via their internal communications, which are scattered throughout the book.
And of course, there are robots. Okay, so the robots don't play a huge role in the main part of the story, but if an author gives me robots and makes them robot pals, I'm sold. How people treat robots (or even automated systems) suggests a lot about a person: their temperament, their capacity for violence, and a myriad of other things. Perhaps it's a small spoiler, so look away now: the servitors (what the sentient robots are called in this world) really, really care for Cheris a whole lot. Robot Pals! \o/
I've spent my time since finishing this book geeking out over all the same details like the food, the servitors, the weapons, and arguing with myself over calendrical rot. This is a perfect discussion book. Which clearly means everyone should read it and come discuss it with me.
(And join me in writing Robot Pals fanfic.)
Ninefox Gambit is out right now from Solaris. \o/
It took me a solid four or five chapters to feel comfortable in this world, and that's only because I started assuming the calendar was a form of time manipulation and pushed it aside until I had more world building in my toolkit, because I never understand time travel, anyway.
Approaching sans worry about what I was missing helped because this novel isn't pulling punches or providing tons of context clues to hold your hand. It wants you to work for the world building and the characterization and the visualization, and it's like this book knew that was my weakness. "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, BOOK!", I said in Chapter 3, "I'LL REVEAL ALL YOUR SECRETS!". By the end I was grateful because figuring out how all the pieces fit together was fun and also gut-wrenchingly painful because a deep dive results in lots of empathy pain, ha ha ha. But take some advice from an extremely visual reader: if you give this novel a try, give yourself the benefit of the doubt. ♥
The society and political structure in Ninefox Gambit, known as the hexarchate, is one formed and held together by a version of advanced, far-future mathematics (i.e. magic) that allows a large society to create their own version of reality through a rigid belief system. And, okay, it's not exactly math. But it has rules, like math has rules, so it's a lot easier for me to think of it as mathematical.
The book calls this system a calendar. Calendrical rot, which we're introduced to in the first chapter, is what happens when another large group grows big and influential enough to create their own reality by believing something different. This creates a situation in which reality itself (depending on which calendar you're standing in) doesn't work right. Things go all wonky, weapons don't work, and it's a great big mess. The hexarchate is very interested in ensuring their dominance so their calendar and the six factions that operate under it remain the greatest calendar in all the universe. It's an old story: people in power want to stay in power or want more power. But wait! There's a twist! There's a heretical calendar afoot and it comes in the form of democracy and the captured-by-heretics Fortress of Scattered Needles.
For me, this is hard science fiction, because Ninefox Gambit is playing with how reality is formed and how we relate to one another on a system of time and in space. Ignoring the fact that the math and science in this novel are currently impossible, that's enough for me to go, "well, this is a challenge to HOW WE PERCEIVE REALITY as a concept, that's a logical problem, logic is math, there's also sociology and psychology and philosophy mixed in, OMG THIS IS HARD SCIENCE FICTION." Ask someone who didn't fail every math class after 4th grade, and this is science fantasy, especially if you read "actual" hard science fiction. I don't, because it's often written by cisgender straight men who are like "women are people who can do things in novels besides be objects? That sounds fake but okay." So yeah, I don't read a lot of "proper" hard science fiction, with "real" math and science and that influences my reading of this novel. Bias disclosed!
Kel Cheris is a talented mathematician and strategist from one of the lesser respected factions. She comes to the attention of the hexarchate after the bizarre battle in the first chapter for disgracing herself with heretical tactics. Instead of being punished outright, however, they decide she's the perfect candidate to help them solve the problem of the captured fortress, and put the issue to her. Her answer: awaken the undead general Shuos Jedao, the greatest tactician the hexarchate has ever known, to tackle the heretics.
Of course, Cheris's request isn't without problems: before he was captured Jedeo quelled rebellions until he quelled so hard he also quelled his own people to death. In life, he was angry and brutal and brilliant, and undead and trapped as a tool of the hexarchate, he's not much better. And Cheris is, from the moment they meet, at risk of losing herself to him. Their dynamic is a partnership where trust is in short supply and suspicion is high. As Cheris learns more about Jedao, though, all her assumptions about her own faction, the hexarchate entire, and Jedao's motivations will be called into question. And they still have to do lots of quelling of the captured fortress's heretics.
This is military science fiction. Quelling is featured prominently.
Ninefox Gambit is hard to summarize without spoiling some of the more fascinating choices the author makes to create tension, especially between Jedao and Cheris. It was their dynamic that kept me glued to this story. Surprise, surprise, I read for character, and Cheris is pretty great: she's stubborn, confident (and also good at faking it), quietly kind and compassionate, with a penchant for genuine affection with those around her, even if she's careful how she shows it. But she's also willing to admit when she's wrong, when she's out of her element, and when it's time to stand up and fight for justice. Jedao, of course, is also a great character, absent-mindedly snarky and viciously callous in equal measure, but the core of this book is Cheris and how she adapts to new information, and eventually the freedom of choice.
And those heretics that took over the Fortress of Scattered Needles that Cheris and Jedao are attempting to take back for the hexarchate? Yeah, it's not as simple as you might believe based on what we learn from leaders in the hexarchate early on and from the heretics via their internal communications, which are scattered throughout the book.
And of course, there are robots. Okay, so the robots don't play a huge role in the main part of the story, but if an author gives me robots and makes them robot pals, I'm sold. How people treat robots (or even automated systems) suggests a lot about a person: their temperament, their capacity for violence, and a myriad of other things. Perhaps it's a small spoiler, so look away now: the servitors (what the sentient robots are called in this world) really, really care for Cheris a whole lot. Robot Pals! \o/
I've spent my time since finishing this book geeking out over all the same details like the food, the servitors, the weapons, and arguing with myself over calendrical rot. This is a perfect discussion book. Which clearly means everyone should read it and come discuss it with me.
(And join me in writing Robot Pals fanfic.)
Ninefox Gambit is out right now from Solaris. \o/
