Ninefox Gambit

I wish I could understand other reviews of this book. The book is boring, the world and technology are barely described. The ending is nihilistic, rather than clever - it's hard to see value in a "twist" which is embedded in the fictional history of a made-up future. Of course I didn't see it coming - because I don't know anything about the events that created the governments in question. And honestly... I don't care. The characters are uninteresting and show little growth. The only sympathetic portrayals in the text are small servitor robots - who don't receive names. This is a waste of your time.

Enjoyed this one quite a bit, and took my time in reading. For one thing, the author throws the reader in the midst of an entirely alien world/technology at and expects us to pay enough attention to draw the right conclusions and eventually get what it's all about. Which we did. For another, this is one of the few genre novels where I truly did not know what is coming next, plot-wise, even action-wise. This is an amazing feat. He has a knack for imbuing a character with a life of its own, before--so often--mowing it down in some horrific way. And what a crappy world is this, despite all the luxuries and out-of-this-world technology that is basically based on faith. A society that cut out its heart and brain that dared to question the status quo. There is a gaping hole for the Liozh, or something like it, to return. Either that, or be destroyed and changed in some fundamental way. Can't wait for the next book.

Dizzying and challenging, Yoon Ha Lee never let's up in this wild tale of War. Read if you like calendars, comradarie or redemption.