talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
can't tell if I just have no brain power at the moment or if the worldbuilding and plot legitimately are never explained in a way that makes sense. want to maybe give it another shot in the future to see if my feelings change, but for now, just kind of impenetrable
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Death, Murder, Gore, and War
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Rape
Minor: Child death, Torture, Sexual content, Suicide, Ableism, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
lucystolethesky's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Sexual assault, and War
Moderate: Gun violence, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
evilscientist's review against another edition
5.0
-i really really enjoyed this book. cheris and jedao were charming protagonists
-the world building and writing style took some time to get used to but it’s very interesting
-idk what it is about possession/bodysharing but i enjoy it, i gotta find more books that feature that trope
-i haven’t read any other sci-fi/fantasy novels that are also hardcore war novels like this one, particularly where the main characters are on the side of the imperialists rather than the rebels. some of the scenes from other POVs are brutal
-jedao is an interesting and scary character to me. you want to like him sometimes but then he reminds you that he is always trying to advance his goal no matter the cost. it’s hard to tell how much of him is genuine and how much is manipulation. the scene where he pretended to ‘go mad’ was very unsettling. also when it’s revealed that he’s [redacted] i was like wowww he’s just like me
-the world building and writing style took some time to get used to but it’s very interesting
-idk what it is about possession/bodysharing but i enjoy it, i gotta find more books that feature that trope
-i haven’t read any other sci-fi/fantasy novels that are also hardcore war novels like this one, particularly where the main characters are on the side of the imperialists rather than the rebels. some of the scenes from other POVs are brutal
-jedao is an interesting and scary character to me. you want to like him sometimes but then he reminds you that he is always trying to advance his goal no matter the cost. it’s hard to tell how much of him is genuine and how much is manipulation. the scene where he pretended to ‘go mad’ was very unsettling. also when it’s revealed that he’s [redacted] i was like wowww he’s just like me
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Murder
Moderate: Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
confusedmuse's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror, Dysphoria, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Confinement, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Self harm, and Torture
alexerz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
hairymclary28's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and War
cinnamonandpancakes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book!!! The only reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is that some points I found were unnecessarily slow, but for the most part this book was brilliant in worldbuilding and character work.
This is very much a 'first of a trilogy' plot, with an overarching plot laid wide across the end but in such a satisfying way I can't help but adore it.
Cheris and Jedao are tricky characters but they were very compelling all the way through, even when I thought one or both of them were evil!
This is not a book to read for a simple story of good and evil, many awful things are caused by protagonist and antagonist aligned characters, but it is excellently constructed and a joy to watch all the moving parts fall into place.
This is very much a 'first of a trilogy' plot, with an overarching plot laid wide across the end but in such a satisfying way I can't help but adore it.
Cheris and Jedao are tricky characters but they were very compelling all the way through, even when I thought one or both of them were evil!
This is not a book to read for a simple story of good and evil, many awful things are caused by protagonist and antagonist aligned characters, but it is excellently constructed and a joy to watch all the moving parts fall into place.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Gore, War, Death, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Suicide
ellisdex's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Really good, once you get past the unexplained worldbuilding jargon at the very beginning. Ignore what you don't understand and move on. It's worth it.
The calendar- and mathematics-based magic system is incredibly cool once you figure out how it works, particularly as the book is from the viewpoint of someone who gets it more than most. The servitors are fantastic. The characters all feel very real within the parameters set by the world. Everyone is human - everyone has a family, hobbies, tiny details about their lives that the book explicitly says is sad to lose in war. Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect with the theming, but it's about the cost of war, whether the ends justify the means, and how governments keep themselves functioning at the expense of their own. It's incredibly interesting and very poignant. Super excited to read the rest of the series.
The calendar- and mathematics-based magic system is incredibly cool once you figure out how it works, particularly as the book is from the viewpoint of someone who gets it more than most. The servitors are fantastic. The characters all feel very real within the parameters set by the world. Everyone is human - everyone has a family, hobbies, tiny details about their lives that the book explicitly says is sad to lose in war. Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect with the theming, but it's about the cost of war, whether the ends justify the means, and how governments keep themselves functioning at the expense of their own. It's incredibly interesting and very poignant. Super excited to read the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Detailed description of creepy insect stuff.annalisaely's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Awesome world building, love the galactic politics, adore the characters, both Cheris and Jedao are fascinating and entirely lovable while still being complicated and flawed. Also very cool space opera elements with battles and cool ships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Grief, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The worldbuilding in NINEFOX GAMBIT is deep and immersive and very detailed in a way that sometimes was a little overwhelming, but the dynamic between the MC and her shadowy guide help to make sure that the importance of something was explained even if the details or dizzying and arcane and fantastic, the characters weren’t worried about making sure I would know what was going on, but the structure of the book itself and the setup for the main characters combined to make sure that even if I didn’t know what a word or detail meant in this world, I knew why it mattered. “Hard sci-fi“ is a phrase that almost feels appropriate here, but is wholly inadequate to summarize the way the little details makes this book shine. It’s hard sci-fi from a different universe, with all the precision and technical jargon from a world where the way someone stands in a formation aligns with their calendar to create devastating beauty and destruction in a battle, where manipulating holy days can change everything.
My favorite thing in this book is I now get to add “calendrical rot” to my vocabulary, I don’t know how I will use it after this but I’m very glad to have it now. My second favorite thing is the way that behavioral manipulation and mind games are shown in such a subtle and empathetic way. I was so immersed in the MC‘s perspective that while I trusted her as a narrator, my understanding of what was going on was very tied to how much she did or did not figure out about what her shadowy companion was doing, since we never get his perspective. Their conversations are fascinating, the way they jointly and separately have to navigate the MC’s ability to have conversations with other people led to some great moments, and it meant that wow there were times that had pretty straightforward delivery of a lot of information, they only technically fell in the category of info dump because they were things that naturally needed to be explained. Even the little moments where the companion comments on the way something has changed was used artfully so that the reader could care more about what it Is even though the MC needed to learn what it Was.
I’m a big fan of interstitial chapters and the ones here are fantastic examples of world-building and subtle character development. They’re funny and add up to be very informative but the story will still make sense if you don’t pay attention to them. They’re a window into a perspective that’s very different from the MC, and this is used in a combination of explicit and implicit world-building to show literally what someone says about their actions and to demonstrate other ways of thinking about events shown in the main chapters.
My favorite thing in this book is I now get to add “calendrical rot” to my vocabulary, I don’t know how I will use it after this but I’m very glad to have it now. My second favorite thing is the way that behavioral manipulation and mind games are shown in such a subtle and empathetic way. I was so immersed in the MC‘s perspective that while I trusted her as a narrator, my understanding of what was going on was very tied to how much she did or did not figure out about what her shadowy companion was doing, since we never get his perspective. Their conversations are fascinating, the way they jointly and separately have to navigate the MC’s ability to have conversations with other people led to some great moments, and it meant that wow there were times that had pretty straightforward delivery of a lot of information, they only technically fell in the category of info dump because they were things that naturally needed to be explained. Even the little moments where the companion comments on the way something has changed was used artfully so that the reader could care more about what it Is even though the MC needed to learn what it Was.
I’m a big fan of interstitial chapters and the ones here are fantastic examples of world-building and subtle character development. They’re funny and add up to be very informative but the story will still make sense if you don’t pay attention to them. They’re a window into a perspective that’s very different from the MC, and this is used in a combination of explicit and implicit world-building to show literally what someone says about their actions and to demonstrate other ways of thinking about events shown in the main chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Body horror, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child death, Torture, Sexual assault, and Suicide
CW for ableism, panic attacks/disorders, gore, body horror, violence, torture (not depicted), sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, suicide (backstory), murder, child death (backstory), death.
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