YUn Li - Raven Stratagem

Praise for Ninefox Gambit

The story is dense, the pace intense, and the delicate East Asian flavoring of the math-rich setting might make it seem utterly alien to many readersyet metaphors for our own world abound. Readers willing to invest in a steep learning curve will be rewarded with a tight-woven, complicated but not convoluted, breathtakingly original space opera. And since this is only the first book of the Machineries of Empire trilogy, its the start of what looks to be a wild ride.

N. K. Jemisin, The New York Times

I love Yoons work! Ninefox Gambit is solidly and satisfyingly full of battles and political intrigue, in a beautifully built far-future that manages to be human and alien at the same time. It should be a treat for readers already familiar with Yoons excellent short fiction, and an extra treat for readers finding Yoons work for the first time.

Ann Leckie

Cheris and Jedao are fascinating, multi-faceted entities, filled with contradictions and idiosyncrasies; Lees prose is clever and opulently detailed; the worldbuilding is jaw-droppingly good. Like the many-eyed Shuos, the book appears to delight in its own game, a tangle of plots and subplots. It almost seems content to never be deciphered, but if you persist, youre in for a fantastic story. Lees novel is a brilliant way to begin a trilogy.

Ars Technica

Yoon Ha Lee recasts Korean legend in a densely rendered, high-tech future universe, with intricate worldbuilding.

The Guardian

Rather than aping the generic clipped-and-grim style so often employed by other, less talented writers, Lee leans in the other direction, finding a sumptuous beauty in physical moments and complexity in thought and motivation. Ninefox is a book with math in its heart, but also one which understands that even numbers can lie. That its what you see in the numbers that matters most. And that something maybe all things begun with the best, truest of intentions can go terribly wrong once the gears of reality begin to churn.

NPR

Beautiful, brutal and full of the kind of off-hand inventiveness that the best SF trades in, Ninefox Gambit is an effortlessly accomplished SF novel. Yoon Ha Lee has arrived in spectacular fashion.

Alastair Reynolds

Starship Troopers meets Apocalypse Nowand theyve put Kurtz in charge... Mind-blistering military space opera, but with a density of ideas and strangeness that recalls the works of Hannu Rajaniemi, even Cordwainer Smith. An unmissable debut.

Stephen Baxter

For those itching for dense worldbuilding, a riproaring plot, complex relationships, and military SF with a deep imagination, itll do just the trick. Lees already shown he has the chops for short fiction, and now Ninefox Gambit proves that hes a novelist to watch out for. This is military SF with blood, guts, math, and heart.

Tor.com

You know whats going on, right? Ninefox Gambit asks. Often, you have to say, Uh, yeah, of course, when the real answer is I have no idea, but I really, really care. And then you keep reading.

Strange Horizons

For sixteen years Yoon Ha Lee has been the shadow general of science fiction, the calculating tactician behind victory after victory. Now he launches his great manoeuvre. Origami elegant, fox-sly, defiantly and ferociously new, this book will burn your brain. Axiomatically brilliant. Heretically good.

Seth Dickinson

A high-octane ride through an endlessly inventive world, where calendars are weapons of war and dead soldiers can assist the living. Bold, fearlessly innovative and just a bit brutal, this is a book that deserves to be on every awards list.

Aliette de Bodard

Ambitious. Confusing. Enthralling. Brilliant. These are the words I will use to describe Yoon Ha Lees utterly immersive, utterly memorable novel. I had heard very high praise for Lees short fictionstill, even with those moderate expectations I had no idea what I was in for. I havent felt this blown away by a novels originality since Ancillary Justice. And, since Im being completely honest, Ninefox Gambit is actually more inventive, boundary-breaking, and ambitious than that.

The Book Smugglers

Cheris world feels genuinely alien, with thrillingly unfamiliar social structures and technologies, and the attention to detail is simply stunning. Just dont ever let your concentration slip, or theres a good chance that you will miss something wonderful.

SciFi Now

A dizzying composite of military space opera and sheer poetry. Every word, name and concept in Lees unique world is imbued with a sense of wonder.

Hannu Rajaniemi

Theres a good chance that this series will be seen as an important addition to the space opera resurgence of recent years. While Lee has developed a singular combination of military SF, mathematical elegance, and futuristic strangeness, readers may note echoes of or similarities to Iain M. Banks, Hannu Rajaniemi, C. J. Cherryh, Ann Leckie and Cordwainer Smith. Admirers of these authors, or anyone interested in state-of-the-art space opera, ought to give Ninefox Gambit a try.

Worlds Without End

Daring, original and compulsive. As if Cordwainer Smith had written a Warhammer novel.

Gareth L. Powell

That was a great read; very intriguing world building in particular. I now want to sign all my emails with Yours in calendrical heresy.

Tobias Buckell

A striking space opera by a bright new talent.

Elizabeth Bear

Suitably, given the rigid Doctrine of the hexarchate and the irresistible formation instinct of the warrior Kel faction, Ninefox Gambit is a book of precise rigor. It gives a wonderful amount of worldbuilding without any clunky exposition dumps, is ruthlessly clear-eyed about the costs and concerns of war (especially at this technological level) and gives us an instantly ingratiating heroine who spends most of the book doing her best to outmaneuver the forces that have set her up to fail, waste the lives of her troops or just die. This is a future to get excited about.

RT Book Reviews

Space-based nail-biter Ninefox Gambit is a smart space opera that pushes the frontier of science fiction. A must-read.

Kirkus Reviews

Confused yet? The learning curve on Ninefox Gambit shouldnt be underestimated, although readers with a solid foundation in hard science fiction will have an easier time parsing the narrative. Its a challenging story, tackling science fiction concepts were familiar with (spaceships and intergalactic war) while layering on purposefully obfuscated but compelling twists.

Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

If youre looking for another great sci-fi read, you should consider Ninefox Gambit.

Sci-Fi Addicts

First published 2017 by Solaris

an imprint of Rebellion Publishing Ltd,

Riverside House, Osney Mead,

Oxford, OX2 0ES, UK

www.solarisbooks.com

ISBN: 978-1-78618-046-9

Copyright 2017 Yoon Ha Lee