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posted by on Wednesday March 29 2017, @04:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the book-review dept.

Alright - be warned - this is the lead book in a series. They want to sell you more books, LOL!

Science fiction? I don't think Lee's story is strictly SF. There is some resemblance to SF, and some to fantasy. Lee has written something different here.

There is no real attempt to explain, or to lean upon science. Lee has some almost magical force, largely based on numerology, or more accurately, the Calendar, which the characters manipulate in various ways. Space opera? Ehhh - maybe. There are only a limited number of characters that are truly developed. And, those characters don't get to meet each other very much, so it's not really opera.

I asked in the poll thread, whether this was likely to be a SJW's idea of science fiction. https://soylentnews.org/pollBooth.pl?qid=104&aid=-1 There is some of that, but it's not the purpose of the book to put across one of the currently favored SJW themes.

Mr. Lee is Chinese, and he seems to draw on Chinese mythology, legend, or maybe even history. Sadly, I'm not sure that I'm getting the full story, because I know so little of the Chinese culture. [Yoon Ha Lee is Korean.]

All the same, this has been a pretty action packed space adventure. The heroine is a military commander (captain of infantry) whose pastime is math. The math that enables and manipulates this mysterious force. As a military commander, her task is less to bring firepower to bear upon the enemy, as to keep her troops in formation. The formation is mathematically calculated to focus the force on the enemy, or to defend freindly troops. A "gun" may or may not fire a projectile, at all - and if it does fire a projectile, it is unlikely to be a solid, physical projectile. Call it magic - the gun merely focuses the magic that the commander intends to use.

Kel Cheris' math abilities help her to defeat an anemy in the opening chapter, which her colleagues have been unable to touch. This brings her to the attention of the high command, who has a far greater challenge to be met.

Enter the hero/madman/villian/anti-hero/traitor. Shuos Jedao can be described as a disembodied mind, kept as a pet of the Heptarch, and routinely trotted out of his "black cradle" to solve insoluble problems. Jedao will be "anchored" to Cheris mind, and body.

Cheris and Jedao are approved as the most likely solution to a rebellion on a Heptarch fortress that threatens the very existence of the Heptarch. The parameters defining "success" are pretty strict - the impregnable fortress must not be destroyed, if, in fact, they can gain entry.

There is plenty of intrique, with the Heptarch holding the end of a long leash, which Jedao must not escape. Cheris herself is also on a leash. But, the higher echelons don't understand the game that Jedao has been developing for the last four centuries.

This story is a wild ride, and just when you think you're nearing the end of the journey, you find that you have only just begun!


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:48AM (11 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:48AM (#485696) Journal

    Mr. Lee is Chinese, and he seems to draw on Chinese mythology, legend, or maybe even history. Sadly, I'm not sure that I'm getting the full story, because I know so little of the Chinese culture.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoon_Ha_Lee [wikipedia.org]

    Should I edit this part of the review?

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:46AM (6 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:46AM (#485722) Journal

    I thought we had already established that no one should listen to Runaway1956 on legal matters. And now it appears that the same applies to literature as well. Why am I not surprised?

    Mr. Lee is Chinese, and he seems to draw on Chinese mythology, legend, or maybe even history. Sadly, I'm not sure that I'm getting the full story, because I know so little of the Chinese culture.

    We could just amend this to "Runaway does not know much about culture." Includes his own, as well as all those vaguely "Asian" cultures which are all the "same", except for the Muslins, who are made of flax and cotton, in order to canvas the universe in denim. Outside of egregious American ignorant bigot errors, not a bad review. Three starts. But, oh dear, he said "SJW". Two starts.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:54AM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:54AM (#485728) Journal

      Feel free to submit your own book review.

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      • (Score: 1, Troll) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:38AM (3 children)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:38AM (#485746) Journal

        I can't! I only read SJW Science Fiction, and apparently this is not the right audience. Sad puppies are sad because they cannot write. And as for takyon . . . so what is your problem with aristarchus, takyon? Is it the satire? Is it the hubris? Is it the irony? Or the conceited "holier than thou" attitude? You should just out with it, so I can adjust. I would hate to be on the wrong side of an ed!

        • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:57AM (2 children)

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:57AM (#485753) Journal

          This is the very first review on this nexus. Why not add to the pile?

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          • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:31AM (1 child)

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:31AM (#485804) Journal

            This is the very first review on this nexus. Why not add to the pile?

            He can't! He only reads SJW Science Fiction, and apparently this is not the right audience.

            (grin)

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            • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 29 2017, @12:57PM

              by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 29 2017, @12:57PM (#485851)

              Its worth pointing out there are other Nebula noms and something like Everfair is of somewhat uncertain definition (I'm only 95% certain what it is) and regardless of what it is, its a topic that's very fertile ground for parody if I'm right or might be a good story if I'm wrong, so it almost seems zero risk?

              But first I will read Ninefox, then Ubik, then in my infinite spare time I'll see about Everfair.

              A problem with new releases is they're new and we're not getting kickbacks from the publisher to say they're all 9/10 like you get in the mainstream press so whats the point? Given that, it might be fun to review something we've all actually read. (probably all...). How about the Dune series or the Legacy of the Aldentata / Posleeen war series or something semi-obscure like Frankowski's works?

              Another amusement would be something like a book club. Assuming "Clojure Standard Library" publishes this summer, I could review it on Sept 1st if I remember. I have early access and at this rate maybe more like Dec 1st. Anyway plenty of time to actually read the book.

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 30 2017, @01:37AM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday March 30 2017, @01:37AM (#486290) Journal

      First of all, he's Korean, not Chinese.

      Second of all he's American, not Korean.

      And third of all, he's Texan not American!

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:38AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:38AM (#485789)

    Thanks for the edit, but "Korean-American" or just "American" (Texan?) would be more accurate.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:50AM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:50AM (#485809) Journal

      Thanks for the edit, but "Korean-American" or just "American" (Texan?) would be more accurate.

      And everybody knows it crucially important to stay accurate, relevance** be dam'd. Otherwise, the nerddom will become extinct and we can't have that, can we?

      ** It's allegedly more important that he's Texan than his mathematical major and the fact he worked for an energy market intelligence company (algos and game theory supposedly being appropriate tools for assessing markets).
      And this is because making "machine-gun bacon Ted Cruz style" really frees the creative juices better than anything else, is that what you are sayin'?
      If not, then... what exactly is your point?

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      • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:58PM (1 child)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:58PM (#486045) Journal

        If not, then... what exactly is your point?

        That we should only post things that are factually accurate to the front page.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:31PM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:31PM (#486071) Journal

          If not, then... what exactly is your point?

          That we should only post things that are factually accurate to the front page.

          If you read the review, the now-crossed-over inaccurate phrase doesn't bring any relevance to it.
          I think Herbert Frank came with the "ghafla" term for such constructs – GHAFLA: giving oneself up to gadfly distractions.
          As in:

          That, too, went according to plan. Divide and weaken. Alia could sense the subtle change in the way the two Freman watched those off-planet women and their exotic dance. Let them watch. Let them fill their minds with ghafla.

          And I don't see how going deeper into ghafla mode (like in "He might be Texan actually") helps me or any SN dwellers.

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