REVIEW: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

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Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Publishing information: Paperback; 319 pages
Publisher: Solaris; 14 June 2016
ISBN: 9781781084496
Series: The Machineries of Empire #1
Copy: Out of pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris's career isn't the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris's best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.

The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao--because she might be his next victim."

What sold me on this book was the title, synopsis, and the cover. I hadn't read any reviews or asked other friends about it. It just sounded intriguing and since I don't read a lot of science fiction and I wanted to.

Ninefox Gambit is the story of an empire that is somewhat fractured and in the middle of a campaign against the heretics. In order to regain a foothold in a quadrant of the galaxy, the leaders of the hexarchate sends in Cheris to eradicate the heretics and retake the Fortress of Scattered Needles.

While there is quite a bit of (space) combat found in the book the terms the author uses take a little bit to get use to as they constantly refer to the use of a calendar. Timing is key with most of various military formations. While the author uses their own names for the formations, they are familiar to anyone that knows a little beyond basic ancient military formations (think the Greeks and Romans). While I had a fair understanding of the formations, the need to give them their own terminology in order to build the universe fell a little flat (at least for me).

Another issue that I had was that the characters them selves are very two dimensional. While the pacing is very good, the fact that you never really feel for any of the characters and so when you get to the end of the book, it seems as if you just went through the motions. You aren't very invested in anything so it is hard to feel for the book, the situation, or the players.

While I wanted to really enjoy this book, I just couldn't get into it. It is well written and has a great concept but the lack of interesting characters is what ultimately left it with such a low score. I have no plans in sticking with the series.

Overall 6/10
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