Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Community Reviews
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!


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:44PM (2 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:44PM (#486131) Journal

    for a variety of geopolitical reasons there's not much difference between Chinese, Korean, and Japanese culture.

    You know, that is strange, because there is not much difference between Greek, Roman, French, German, British, and American culture. And Star Wars. Something about the Hero with a Thousand Faces. VLM, your shallow generalities about history and culture are almost as amusing as your suggestion for concentration camps for immigrants!

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:54PM (1 child)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:54PM (#486211)

    your shallow generalities

    Now wait a minute, see I'm the only guy in the conversation that hasn't read the book yet, are you implying it some super deep dive into the heart of Korean culture? Where's there's no point in reading unless I already know all about fan death and eye shopping and watch taekyeon on TV every night? Like don't read this book unless you got a hanbok in your closet? I work with a Korea-bro so I know all about that stuff. Or at least I believe the stories he tells, some of which are probably BS. Vending machines full of beer in Seoul. Sure whatever. Its not all fun and games, he microwaved something using fish sauce he smuggled from home and pretty much evac'd the building. At the time that was not funny. Years later its epic, sure. But not funny at the time.

    Cause I had the impression the book was pretty shallow WRT to being Korean and more of a sci fi book. There's a difference between star trek with some Korean BBQ for flavor vs some kind of graduate level history of Korea textbook. I donno anything about intersectional third wave feminism in Korea and if I have to know that much to enjoy the book I'm not really gonna bother with the book, life's too short.

    concentration camps for immigrants

    Illegal ones only. And only until safely and legally deported using the normal channels. The hard core folks want to use a trebuchet over Trumps Wall. Which is a little off topic from... what were we talking about? Oh yeah you weren't contributing anything interesting, that was it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @11:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @11:07PM (#486237)

      Last time I needed fish sauce I bought it at the local supermarket....

      In flyover country....