This is one of those books that sets you up so you think you know everything for about 90% of the book and then in the last 10% is like ha lol played you. This is not hand-hold-y world—all pieces of tech, social rules, and cultural details are are introduced as components of everyday life with no additional explanation. The author applies the “sink of swim” approach to his world-building, by which I mean the author simply throws the reader into the midst of the world and leaves him or her to figure everything out on his or her own. How did they inform the development of this faction-based society in general, which seems to have fairly fluid notions of gender and sexuality but also doesn’t (at least in the realm of society that we see in this book) particularly prioritize them? I am beyond happy that this book is a Hugo Award finalist, although it makes my choice on how to vote that much harder.

There are moments, small but significant ones, where Cheris notices something about Jedao: a sense of human feeling shining through – more than that, a sense of vulnerability. Humanity is simply too prone to conflict, and while our species might one day make it to the stars, at the end of it all we might wind up with a society as divisive as the one in Star Wars – or (perhaps worse), if we wind up with a society as unified as the one presented in Star Trek, that unity hides a darker, bloodier underbelly. Raven Stratagem and Revenant Gun go ahead and expand all aspects of the story across all dimensions.e. I am certain I am not about to start any arguments with the response I give), I will reply: “ Star Trek”. Those last 40 pages alone were enough for me to boost the rating by one star (I was tempted to rate it 4 stars actually because they even made me look back in fondness on the 270 preceding pages of tediousness) and to want to read the next book. But the majority of technology we see in science fiction is inexplicable to a modern reader—that is what makes it science fiction rather than science fact.

Another school of thought within the Hexarchate, that consists of assassins and infiltrators, people trained in mind games and trickery. However, when Cheris finally spends enough time with Jedao, her assessment (and the reader’s) changes. What carried me through the rather steep learning curve of this incredibly original story was the relationship between the protagonist, Kel Cheris, and the personality of prisoner/mass-murderer/potential psychopath Shuos Jedao that is implanted in her brain.

For example, the Kel – the faction Cheris belongs to – are the foot soldiers (and pretty much cannon fodder). It wasn't the weapon's governing equations, or even the instructor's left eye, damaged during the attack, from which ghostlight glimmered. The rebels’ leader escaped to Hellspin Fortress, which was guarded by predatory masses and corrosive dust, but the heptarchs expected that Jedao would capture the fortress without undue difficulty. I thought it was a brilliant way to keep the pace and the suspense up since a lot of Cheris’s story is removed from the action as the acting General, overseeing things from the ship.