Ninefox Gambit
★★★★★
From the first page, the deluge of barely explained and poetically named weapons with magical effects was a little overwhelming until I stopped trying to figure it out and just let it wash over me. In places it was a bit too Borderlands (amputation guns), but if you’re not taking it too seriously it’s entertaining.
I did find the premise for worldbuilding interesting - numerology and calendrical ceremonialism have the power to shape reality, altering the local laws of physics to allow exotic weapons and talents. It made me think of Egan’s Schilds Ladder and Quarantine - the role of the observer in shaping the laws of physics. But this is not a hard sci-fi exploration; the majority of the book is a series of gaudy battles to retake a fortress in what could just as easily have been a magical fantasy setting.
In places, the combat scenes bogged down with meaningless technobabble, but there was enough political intrigue running alongside to keep me interested in figuring out power structures and understanding the nicely realised social structure. I did find that by the end, I was getting a bit frustrated by the death toll and the fact that everyone was pretty happy to kill anyone, sacrifice themselves, or commit suicide with few feelings evinced. I realise this is kind of the point - the society is designed to devalue life and create these behaviours, but I felt so little connection to the characters dying that it lost any deeper meaning and just felt more like watching a Lemmings game.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read for a bit of military sci-fantasy, but authors like Asher, Hamilton, and Morgan do this better for me by bringing more science to the party.
