Ninefox Gambit: 1 (The Machineries of Empire, 1)

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As Yoon Ha Lee is of Korean descent, he decided that rather than drawing on western societies for inspiration, he’d prefer to use more Asian ones. It’s not how I prefer to read, and it affected my ability to build positive feelings for the book beyond intellectual appreciation and respect for the craft that went into its writing. Yes, the siege still does happen, and the tactics Cheris and Jedao employ to take it also make for good reading, but it pales in comparison to the story of those two characters getting to know each other, and understanding each other’s motivations and goals, and how that information shapes them as people. This was all triggered by last years’ Cannonball Book Exchange, where ElCicco was kind enough to send me the three main entries in the The Machinaries of Empire series.

And when it comes to Lee, I can relate to this fascination with the way mathematics and storytelling connect, both literally and structurally. Heretics take over an important space base, “The Fortress of Scattered Needles” (“Ninefox Gambit” is full of names like that, from the title on down- Cheris is from “The City of Ravens Feasting”). This meant I wasn’t able to immerse myself the way I like to when reading a book, and I was constantly jolted out of the story by not understanding what I was reading and having to move on anyway if I was going to get anywhere. Humanity is simply too prone to conflict, and while our species might one day make it to the stars, at the end of it all we might wind up with a society as divisive as the one in Star Wars – or (perhaps worse), if we wind up with a society as unified as the one presented in Star Trek, that unity hides a darker, bloodier underbelly. Despite this rosy outlook, though, I remain pragmatic enough to realise that even Star Trek’s reality is something that will be difficult, if not outright impossible, for humans to achieve.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. Given that I just said I had to take a long break before picking up the next book, I can’t say that Ninefox Gambit is “entertaining” in a light-hearted way. Jedao’s mind has been preserved for use as a weapon by Kel command, which Cheris now carries within her own. The ‘magic’ here is that people and society can work on changing the laws of physics: but only if everyone goes along with it. Lee’s writing is arguably the hardest of SF considering that all of the tech here is based on number theory—but it is so advanced it is indistinguishable from magic.

e. I am certain I am not about to start any arguments with the response I give), I will reply: “ Star Trek”. It's essentially all battle scenes, both in space and on the ground, interspersed with scenes of Cheris/Jedao making tactical decisions. The Machinaries of Empire series is best described as a space opera, with a setting that fulfils Arthur C Clark’s old adage that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. At its core, this book is about two forces working in concert: Cheris, our heroic captain, and Shuos Jedao, the mad military general whose consciousness is literally living in her shadow and her mind.Of course, people cheat, and there are consequences around that, too, so implicit rules and social context are just as important. If you are required to reset your password on login, this does not mean your credentials are in the dump or that your account has been breached.