Ninefox Gambit

> "*Those were real people you killed. People who trusted you to lead them. I don't understand why Kel Command preserved you instead of roasting you dead in the nearest sun.*"
> ― Kel Cheris
>
>

**Ninefox Gambit** (June 2016) is the first book of the Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee. It was published by Solaris with cover art by Chris Moore.

## Back Cover Blurb

*When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself, by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the 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.*

## Other blurbs

*Kel Cheris, a disgraced captain of the hexarchate, is given the opportunity to redeem herself by recapturing the formidable Fortress of Scattered Needles from heretics. Cheris requests—and receives—a single devastating weapon to aid her in her task: the revived, near-immortal traitor, General Shuos Jedao. Feared throughout the stars and undefeated in battle, he is the perfect weapon. But Jedao is gripped by a madness that saw him massacre two armies in his first life—one of them his own. Preserved for his brilliance and tamed by his handlers, no one knows how long his good behaviour will last. Cheris must work with the mass murderer to destroy the heresy and save the hexarchate—before he destroys her…*

*A tale of math, madness, and massacres in outer space.*

## Synopsis

The following content contains plot or ending spoilers. Read with caution!

After using quasi-heretical formation geometry in an infantry action against heretics, Captain Kel Cheris sees her company broken up by the Kel Command hivemind for Doctrinal reeducation. Due to her unusual mathematical genius, Kel Command offers Cheris a chance to propose a method for retaking one of the hexarchate's nexus fortresses, the Fortress of Scattered Needles, from a heretical takeover. Realizing that her best chance for retaking the unconquerable fortress lies in the tactical genius of the undead traitor general Shuos Jedao, Cheris proposes using his expertise and is granted the mission, unaware that she was manipulated into the choice by Hexarchs Shuos Mikodez and Nirai Kujen.

Transported to a secret facility, Cheris wakes to find herself anchored to Jedao's ghost, with his reflection and nine-eyed shadow replacing hers and his voice, unheard by other humans, echoing in her head. While Jedao, the hexarchate's most dangerous weapon, has been deployed successfully before, Cheris is warned against his persuasiveness and directed to kill him permanently if he acts against the hexarchate.

Together, Cheris and Jedao assemble a swarm of warmoths and Cheris, promoted to brevet general to give orders on Jedao's behalf, takes her place on the cindermoth *Unspoken Law*, with its competitive commander Kel Nerevor. After breaking the fortress's legendary shields of invariant ice, Cheris and Jedao launch infantry, psychological, and technological assaults on the entrenched heretics, eventually using Jedao's horrific signature weapons, threshold winnowers, and slowly restoring the fortress's calendrical norms at an enormous cost of life on both sides. However, their report of success, with its details of their unconventional tactics and original formations, triggers a devastating reaction by Kel Command, forcing Cheris to choose between Jedao's legacy and her duty as a Kel.

## Awards

Ninefox Gambit won the 2017 Locus Award for First Novel, and the 2016 Stabby Award for Best Debut Novel. It was nominated for the 2016 Nebula Award and 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel, as well as the 2017 Clarke Award.

## Development

* Though *Ninefox Gambit* was written first, *The Battle of Candle Arc* was the first published story in the Machineries of Empire universe. A rough prequel to *Ninefox Gambit* was also published as the short story Calendrical Rot.
* Ninefox Gambit was originally conceived of as a standalone novel titled *Ninefox and Suicide Hawk*; the title was changed because "it sounded too much like two superheroes who were unusually bad at picking pseudonyms." Other revisions involved changes to Jedao, Kujen, Mikodez, and Cheris.
* The original draft no longer exists due to the Louisiana 2016 floods.
* The author thanks beta readers Sam Kabo Ashwell, Peter Berman, Joseph Betzwieser, Daedala, Helen Keeble, Yune Kyung Lee, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Nancy Sauer, and Sonya Taaffe.

## Trivia

* Chris Moore's cover art features the artist's conception of the Fortress of Scattered Needles and several mothdrive vessels.
* The book is dedicated to Yune Kyung Lee, "best sister ever, who was there when everything began."

## Errata

* Although formation instinct was instituted after Shuos Jedao's execution, Brigadier General Kel Marish mentions it as "before [his] time".

## Links

* Paperback edition at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
* Kindle edition at Amazon
* Non-DRM mobi or epub from Solaris
* Unabridged audiobook by Recorded Books, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller, available at many outlets
* First chapter preview

## References

1. ↑ Author's website
2. ↑ 2017 Locus Award Winners
3. ↑ 2016 Stabby Award Winners
4. ↑ Nebula Awards: Ninefox Gambit
5. ↑ 2017 Hugo Awards
6. ↑ Arthur C. Clarke Award
7. ↑ The 1000 Year Plan: Revenant Gun Blog Tour Q&A with Yoon Ha Lee
8. ↑ Author's website
9. ↑ TheBookSmugglers interview: Oops, I Accidentally Wrote A Trilogy
10. ↑ TheBookSmugglers interview: Oops, I Accidentally Wrote A Trilogy
11. ↑ Author's website
12. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 22
13. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 14