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Two years after I first picked up this book, I still remember the feeling I had reading it – an awed fascination with the weird, exotic technology and the fictional science underlying it, and rapt interest at the dangerous intrigue driving the plot. Ninefox Gambit is one of the most imaginative works of science fiction I’ve read in years.
When I attended the University of Michigan as a computer science student, I still had to satisfy the university’s base requirements in some non-compsci topics, including literature. Luckily, the university offered a course on science fiction, taught by Prof. Eric Rabkin. He also ran a research group, the Genre Evolution Project, which sought to quantify the ways in which science fiction had developed over the past eighty years. I owe to that course and that project a certain portion of the vocabulary I use to talk about science fiction, as well as the development of my “critical eye” in reading stories. One of the most important concepts I learned – or, rather, learned to discuss – was the idea of the "novum": a thing that a science fiction story introduced to distinguish it from the real world we knew. Science fiction, and more broadly speculative fiction, is defined by that concept; the essence of the genre is that there is something important about the world of the story that isn’t true about the world of the reader.
The reason I bring this up is that the novum of Ninefox Gambit is one of the most compelling parts of the story. In the world of the Hexarchate – ruled by six factions, which as a set have that same Sorting-Hat-like aspect as the Hives of Terra Ignota or the Houses of Dragaera – there are two distinct varieties of technology. Conventional tech works everywhere in that predictable way our own civilization relies upon. But exotic technology is dependent on the beliefs and behaviors of the people in the vicinity of the tech, and most strongly on the calendar that they use. The Hexarchate relies on a calendar whose fundamental number is six, resulting in a six-day week among other things, and that fact plus the particular configuration of its feasts and holidays can be leveraged to enable seemingly supernatural effects from specially-built weapons. But because of that reliance on the calendar, their technology – and their rule – is vulnerable to “calendrical rot”, as people start observing different holidays and maybe even different lengths of the week; take a weapon built for the Hexarchate calendar into a place where a different calendar rules, and that weapon isn’t going to work in the way you expect anymore, if at all. So maintaining control over the calendar is vital to maintaining technological superiority, and by extension military and political power. And as with many other belief systems underlying power structures, defiance of the dominant calendar is defined as “heresy” and considered to be one of the most serious and dangerous crimes possible. In addition to being a deep and complex metaphor for the interrelationship of cultural and political hegemony, that novum of belief-driven technology also provides some classic “sensawunda” sci-fi writing.
(For the sake of completeness, and to illustrate the dizzying complexity of the fictional science of Ninefox Gambit, I want to highlight that the calendar isn’t the only thing involved in powering exotic tech. The main character, Cheris, belongs to the Kel faction, whose military strength is underpinned by the “formation instinct” of its soldiers – psychological conditioning that makes it nearly impossible to disobey orders from one’s commanding officers. Those officers can direct their troops into formations to create exotic effects as well, but the formation required to accomplish a given effect depends mathematically on the prevailing calendar, which means that an officer fighting calendrical heresy has to be constantly doing math on the fly in order to figure out how to most effectively deploy their troops.)
That unique and new science-fictional concept – that novum – was already enough to make me sit up and pay attention. Dropped into that world, the reader spends some time bewildered and lost before beginning to grasp the rules that guide the story, and that experience of figuring out just what the hell is going on here, anyway? is an absolute joy to a certain type of reader. (If you enjoyed Hannu Rajaniemi’s The Quantum Thief or M. John Harrison’s Light, you’re probably going to enjoy Ninefox Gambit too.) But layered on top of that is a complex web of political intrigue among the six factions, in which Kel Cheris is forced to entangle herself in order to salvage her career, and which has been destablized by a rebellion’s calendrical heresy. And that’s not the only thing she becomes entangled with; she has to work with the ghost/spirit/mind of Shuos Jedao, a legendarily clever but treasonously unstable general. Even having Jedao anywhere on the same battlefield as you is already a risky proposition; trying to work directly with him is like wielding a three-edged sword made of snakes.
The politics and intrigue of the Hexarchate and the narrative of the story itself is also shot through with the idea that games, and the careful and intentional design of games, can change the world. As an aspiring game designer and a serious player of games of all kinds, the role that game-playing and game design holds in this world – a tool for not only entertainment but also pedagogy and propaganda – utterly delighted me. Even when the story isn’t specifically focused on games, the feeling of everyone in the world being pieces on a multi-dimensional chessboard never goes away; Cheris is aware from the beginning that accepting the assignment entails stepping onto that game board. But both Cheris and Jedao create their own games too, and each wields them with devastating effectiveness.
Between her canniness, her mathematical genius, her love of games, and a dash of idealism that the world can be better than what the Hexarchate has made of it, Cheris is a character I felt instant and abiding sympathy for. Jedao was more of a cipher, naturally, but as I learned more of his story I came to care about him quite a bit as well. And the way the author took cerebral, abstract concepts like game design and complex math and turned them into forces of great import within the story made me feel at times like the story was targeted incredibly specifically at me as a reader.
As far as I’m concerned, Ninefox Gambit marks Yoon Ha Lee as one of the breakout stars of science fiction. It’s been years since I’ve read something that grabbed me by the brain like this did. I imagine this was what readers in the 60s felt like when they encountered Dune for the first time, or picked up Ringworld in the 70s, or Neuromancer, or The Diamond Age… I suspect we’ll be seeing the influence of this novel, and its sequels, reverberating throughout the genre for years to come. In a fantastic year for the genre, and among some very strong competition, I think Ninefox Gambit was the best science fiction novel of 2016.
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Customers say
Customers find this science fiction book to be a fantastic read with a fascinating story that takes unexpected twists and drops readers right into the narrative. The writing style is praised as excellent and straight-shooting, while the world-building offers a rich tour of an alternate universe. The book receives positive feedback for its mix of science and fantasy elements. Character development and complexity receive mixed reviews - while some find the characters compelling, others say they're hard to connect with, and while some appreciate the complexity, others find it challenging to comprehend.
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160 customers mention content, 137 positive, 23 negative
Great book. Innovative story. It should win this years awards. Read and enjoy and be happy science fiction is in good hands.Read more
...I liked the concepts of variant and invariant technology. A good readRead more
Do not go past this book. It's a great read / idea / different. I am so tired of the same old same old. Ship / pirate / space saves universe....Read more
...It's worth reading but expect to work at it.Read more
94 customers mention story, 69 positive, 25 negative
Interesting story, with some odd mechanics and the occasional slightly absurdist touches of humour....Read more
The story was good and intriguing. However, the terminology of many odd words which threw me off more often than I can count....Read more
Story depth was lacking. Premise was good though. Needed more background for its complexity.Read more
...was too much arcane politics, but once over that hump it was a great story.Read more
82 customers mention engaging, 77 positive, 5 negative
A complex, interesting and innovative novel, but often obtuse. My attention swelled and ebbed; unsure as yet if I'll continue on to volume 2.Read more
...Fascinating and different in the sci-fi world. Well worth reading.Read more
An amazing space opera full of action, political intrigue and a fascinating technological space where physics is altered by the shape of society...Read more
Thrilling, quite thrilling! I enjoyed every word in that book. The madness meets reason. Planning for the next 400 years starts now.Read more
51 customers mention worldbuilding, 43 positive, 8 negative
Fantastic world building - very alien. Great plot. Very interesting characters. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.Read more
Wow. Spectacular world building but getting oriented in that world is a challenge....Read more
Two things that I love - the world is genuinely new and alien to me, but I never felt lost in it....Read more
...of weird terms and violence for a while, but it all coalesces into wonderful worldbuilding....Read more
49 customers mention writing style, 39 positive, 10 negative
Interesting concepts and well written, no doubt, but I found it a little bit boring.. anyway, not my liking when it is just war....Read more
Excellently written, thoroughly engaging, there's an entire universe of history and detail behind the story, without the author every dumping...Read more
Beautifully written with some interesting dialogue however I feel that I never really got to know the main characters....Read more
Ever war novel cliche there is is deplued from the get go. Clunky writing, thin characterisation, nothing original or imaginative in the plotting....Read more
46 customers mention science fiction, 40 positive, 6 negative
...intelligence of Ann Leckie and Iain Banks.. a rare combination of great sci Fi and true literatureRead more
This is absolutely top-notch military SF....Read more
A greatly imaginative science fiction thriller that is also very smart. Something akin to Blake Crouch's Dark Matter....Read more
...Like all good sci-fi (or fantasy, for that matter) it did have an internal logic that gave it a twist....Read more
65 customers mention character development, 45 positive, 20 negative
This novel is a difficult but rewarding read. Interesting characters, and technology, however the central concept of "High Calendar Technology" is...Read more
...good crunchy strategy and tactics, incredible worldbuilding, compelling characters, and themes of loyalty, betrayal, imperialism, and rebellion....Read more
...The characters are flat and the drama is essentially pointless and forced. Maybe you'll be impressed how smart the author sounds; I was not.Read more
...Great, believable characters, great military action.Read more
51 customers mention complexity, 16 positive, 35 negative
First part is a hard, confusing, slog. Nothing is defined, nothing is explained....Read more
Story depth was lacking. Premise was good though. Needed more background for its complexity.Read more
A complex, interesting and innovative novel, but often obtuse. My attention swelled and ebbed; unsure as yet if I'll continue on to volume 2.Read more
Steep Learning Curve but Worth it!Read more
Too confusing
I can see why this book was a Nebula award finalist, but it was just too far out there for me to get into it. The author drops you into a universe that works under completely different rules, but there’s no explanation of what those rules are. I found myself rereading the same few pages repeatedly and still had no idea what was going on. What this book really needs is some kind of appendix that explains to the reader some basic terms and mechanics that apply to this world; kind of like the very helpful one that is found in the book Dune.
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2016
Top reviews from other countries
- Andrew WallaceReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2017
Silence of the moths
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - Julien St-LaurentReviewed in Canada on February 28, 2018
Wonderfully tasty world-building, layers upon delicious layers of intrigue, engaging characters
- Martin WelsbyReviewed in Australia on December 7, 2021
Brilliant piece of work
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - Terence BlakeReviewed in France on December 15, 2016
RESISTING THE CALENDAR OF SUBMISSION
Format: KindleVerified Purchase - MichelaReviewed in Italy on September 30, 2019
A unique sociopolitical, biotechnological world building
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
