Ninefox Gambit
by Yoon Ha Lee · first published 2016
77% recommend23% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Military science fantasy where calendars and mathematics drive exotic machinery. Praised for political intrigue, world-building depth and character stakes; suits readers wanting something unlike typical space opera.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 ba
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…pronouns for everyone really makes it obvious how much we normally assume people to be male in the absence of other info. Not by a female author, but on the topic of diversity, another one I'd recommend is Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. The author is a queer trans man. This book and Ancillary Justice are the 2 best books I read in 2016.
on “Summer Reading List” ↗I can second the Ninefox Gambit. It's a strange science fantasy (like Star Wars) which revolves around using mathematics and calendars to drive exotic machinery and technology. I'll be honest, I found Ancillary Justice a little boring…
on “Summer Reading List” ↗In the fiction realm, Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit is a fascinating math/geometry based sci-fi novel.
on “Ask HN: Are there any good tech or science related audio books?” ↗I'm going to stick to recent stuff that was like no sci-fi I'd ever read before: Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers The Broken Earth series - N.K. Jemisin
on “Ask HN: What are the best Sci-Fi books you've ever read?” ↗Check out The Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee. The first instalment (Ninefox Gambit) is one of my favorite books. The physics of the world is based on an interesting "calendrical" system which relies on the population's faith in the calendar to persist.
on “Ask HN: Is there any fiction that's based on a world with different physics?” ↗…read in a long time. The plot is a kind of coming-of-age / political-intrigue / murder mystery tale. Not a space opera - power games, paranoia, abuse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyteen Yoon Ha Lee's "Ninefox Gambit" (first of a trilogy, each book in the trilogy shortlisted for Hugo best novel 2017/2018/2019). Space opera / military sci-fi. The political stability of the empire depends upon adherence to the empire's…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗* Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee * The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson
on “Ask HN: Science Fiction Starter List” ↗…https://publishing.tor.com/gideontheninth-dbtmp1127517/97812... - Remembrance of Earth's Past (series) https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765382030 - Machineries of Empire (series) https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Ninefox-Gambit/Yoon-H... * Will Mess With Your Heart - The Broken Earth (series) https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/n-k-jemisin/the-fif... - Station Eleven https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239452/station-elev...…
on “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade” ↗You might like the Machineries of Empire series instead- fascinating world building with serious depth of character and personal stakes. First book is Ninefox Gambit.
on “My experience writing and selling a short story” ↗…Called Peace live up to Hugo standards (and I didn't read The Calculating Stars because I didn't think The Lady Astronaut of Mars did either). Looking at the post-2009 shortlists I think at least Anathem, Ninefox Gambit (and, frankly, both its sequels), The Goblin Emperor and Too Like the Lightning (even if the series ended poorly) were Hugo-winner-quality and The Dervish House was borderline (I appreciate that that…
on “Glasgow 2024 Hugo Awards Statement – 22 July, 2024” ↗…Called Empire trilogy were amazing works. I disagreed with the hectoring pro-Human Spaceflight messaging of The Calculating Stars, but as a book, I again thought it was good. I was a fan of Anathem, Ninefox Gambit, and The Goblin Emperor (which was my preference to win that year) as well; could not get into Too Like the Lightning at all (but had no doubt that it belonged).
on “Glasgow 2024 Hugo Awards Statement – 22 July, 2024” ↗…decided I'd go read prior years instead. But I suppose the vagaries of 'winner' vs. shortlist probably take this. It is true that all those others you're talking about are much stronger. I do think that The Ninefox Gambit, The Fifth Season, The Three Body Problem are all just as strong as the ones you've mentioned. Having read Network Effect and compared it to Piranesi, the two seem simply leagues apart. Perhaps the real…
on “Book Prizes Don't Work How You Think” ↗The early chapters of Ninefox Gambit[0] have Captain Cheris recalling some of her experiences in giving orders and taking orders in such a system. The key is that the soliders are set to a strategem, not a specific x-y-z position, and have…
on “List of military tactics” ↗…(again)) 3 -- good enough that I'll read the next two, but not good enough that I had to go out and get the second book immediately like other series I've read) Beyond Happiness (meh, wouldn't recommend) Ninefox Gambit (book 1 of (I found out after starting) 3 -- if you like "armchair playing war" sci-fi you'll probably like this more than me, but I'll get and finish the next two books at some point) More detailed…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…computer, the ability to control quantum effects, meyacortexes, advanced cryptography, etc. It's hard to read since it's kinda based on hard physics, but very fun. I'm on the second book in the series. Ninefox Gambit: the physical world (some far off place with a lot of worlds in space) can be controlled by events that occur and the common use of a specific calendar system and using specific formations like a 'spell'.…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading during the lockdown?” ↗