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reviewed Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee (The Machineries of Empire, #1)

Yoon Ha Lee: Ninefox Gambit (EBook, 2016, Solaris) 4 stars

When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command …

Review of 'Ninefox Gambit' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Reading Ninefox Gambit was great fun - an inventive world with interesting protagonists and a lot of stuff going on all at once. Most of the book covers the buildup, execution, and aftermath of a single siege, and it's done in excellently balanced detail. The idea of exotic mathematics for warfare felt really novel and intriguing in a science-fantasy sort of way; the complications of military command and sacrifice are painted in fairly vivid detail; and the bond between boosted infantry captain Kel Cheris and undead general Shuos Jedao added a lot of personal human interest to the story.

The only thing that concerns me a bit about this is the end. I won't spoil it, but I'm not sure what the sequel will feel like given how things shook out at the end of the book, and I'm concerned it might lose some of its heart. But then again, I hear nothing but good things about the sequel, so Raven Stratagem, here I come.