A follow-up to the Korean-American author's noted SF debut Ninefox Gambit which has since been shortlisted for various awards and forms the opening sequence of the Machineries of Empire trilogy. This is widescreen baroque space opera in the grand style, with a galactic background that stretches to infinity (thanks to faster than light travel) and six opposing factions eternally in conflict, espionage on a grand scale, mind control, dead Generals implanted into the brains of soldiers, weapons that defy the imagination, aliens, biological modifications, military fleets racing through space, this is the adult version of Star Wars and such and a sheer delight, a rollercoaster ride with the imagination on fire, strewn with a cast of memorable characters, exotic vistas by the bucket and action that never puts the brakes on. Although Iain Banks is sadly no longer with us, the extravaganzas and thrills of space opera are safer than ever in the hands of authors like Yoon Ha Lee (and our homegrown Alastair Reynolds and Peter Hamilton). ~ Maxim Jakubowski
Captain Kel Cheris is possessed by a long-dead traitor general. Together they must face the rivalries of the hexarchate and a potentially devastating invasion. When the hexarchate's gifted young captain Kel Cheris summoned the ghost of the long-dead General Shuos Jedao to help her put down a rebellion, she didn't reckon on his breaking free of centuries of imprisonment - and possessing her. Even worse, the enemy Hafn are invading, and Jedao takes over General Kel Khiruev's fleet, which was tasked with stopping them. Only one of Khiruev's subordinates, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, seems to be able to resist the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao. Jedao claims to be interested in defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev or Brezan trust him? For that matter, will the hexarchate's masters wipe out the entire fleet to destroy the rogue general?
Yoon Ha Lee is a writer and mathematician from Houston, Texas, whose work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Lightspeed and The Magazine Of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He has published over forty short stories, and his critically acclaimed collection Conservation of Shadows was released in 2013. He lives in Louisiana with his family and an extremely lazy cat, and has not yet been eaten by gators.
