(Drivebycuriosity) - Yoon Ha Lee belongs to the stars of contemporary science fiction. The Korean-American author, a trans man, majored in mathematics, and earned a master's degree in secondary mathematics education at Stanford University. He has worked as an analyst for an energy market intelligence company, done web design, and taught mathematics (wikipedia ). This background shows in his/her works.
Ha Lee`s debut novel, Ninefox Gambit, the first volume of the Machineries of Empire trilogy, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel (amazon ). It was also nominated for the 2016 Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Novel and the 2017 Clarke award ( wikipedia).
I have mixed feeling with the book. Even though it shows Ha Lee`s love of mathematics, I missed logic. The plot, if there is any, reminds me of the surreal plays by Eugène Ionesco and similar authors, and I couldn´t detect any sense.
Otherwise I enjoyed the the deluge of funny ideas & & aphorism:
"Immorality was like sex: it made idiots of otherwise rational people".
Many paragraphs read like futurist poetry:
"The room was decorated with vases filled with the bones of small animals wired into the shapes of flowers"
"She kept expecting the world to change around her in response to the calendrical rot: for the walls to run like water, the light to shiver into turbulent colors, the sounds of human voices to shred into the cries of migrating birds".
"He became fascinated by the objects people kept in their homes. Musical instruments that could have doubled as Vidona torture implements, especially the ones with the hungry wires. Floating globes that imitated pleasing weather patterns on green or purple planets".
"The gate was made of material condensed from a certain dying star"
Anyway, I prefer Ha Lee´s short stories, especially "Counting Casualties" (published a Kindle book my review ) and "Beyond the Dragons Gate" (review ).
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