Welcome to Litsy!

(2017) Follow-up to Ninefox Gambit, and perfectly worthy in every way. The world is fascinating, the plot is twisty, the characters are complicated, and the whole thing is a blast. I'll read the third and last early next year.

As I said after the first book, I typically don't read sci-fi because I dislike its common tropes and dyanmics, which this book was full of. If you enjoy #scifi, you might enjoy this one too! I did enjoy #LGBTQ and gender non-conforming characters getting to exist in a world without prejudice, though. I didn't so much enjoy that every character was depicted as being so empathetically corupt that I didn't believe their genuine character traits.

Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-Gv

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s

AHHHHHH so good! I just raced through this book because I couldn't stop reading. Can't wait to read the rest of the series and get more into Cheris/Jedao's head.

Enjoying the 2nd in the series much more than Ninefox Gambit. Working my way towards Revenant Gun which is nominated for #hugo2019 best novel.

I‘ll be straight with you: this is one of those SF series where I doubt I‘ve grasped everything that‘s going on, but I like Yoon Ha Lee‘s style and I appreciate the extreme queerness of it all so there‘s no doubt I‘ll finish. If you also like confusing yet cool military SF with lots of queer characters, you should check it out. Start with NINEFOX GAMBIT, then move along to this one.

I still want to replace walking with a form of exercise that‘ll get my heart rate up and hopefully help me burn more fat, but it‘s in the 30s right now and that‘s WAY too nice a temperature for stationary enjoyment. I took an #audiowalk along the Greenway, and finished my current listen into the bargain.

Fitbit reduced my total calories burned as soon as I synced it. Grrr. It always insists I hardly burn anything compared to everyone else.

I had to turn down two barbecue invitations tonight because I‘m just. too. tired. Even this #audiocooking effort wiped me out. Blah.

I‘m enjoying this book, but I‘m still super annoyed with the narrator. She‘s a great actor in most respects, but I HATE how she uses undertones in her character creation. I don‘t care if it‘s nuanced; it makes the book frickin difficult to listen to. Consistent volume is NECESSARY, dammit.

I did my #audiorun in the afternoon because I ran out of time this morning, and it went well! I took all my anger and frustration with this process and turned it into fuel that let me complete the workout as written. My ankles played nice, too. Hurray!

I did feel pretty sick afterwards, though; a common issue for me. It‘ll be a couple weeks yet before I‘m ready to advance in C25K.

Saw lots of prairie dogs on my #audiowalk. Some of them even came pretty close to me when I sat down to read.

I‘ve been thinking a lot about the role walking plays in my fitness routine. I enjoy it and I appreciate it‘s pretty easy to track via my Fitbit, but it just doesn‘t give me the results I want and that frustrates me. I feel like I should start devoting more exercise time to other activities, but I don‘t know WHAT yet.

This was another one of those days where I hit my minimum goals and called it good enough. My morning run didn‘t go nearly as well as the last two, which depressed the hell out of me, but my evening #audiowalk was okay.

I think I‘m gonna like this book, too, but I‘m a bit snarly over it because narrator Emily Woo Zeller‘s volume modulation sucks again. Sigh. Book 1 was fine, so I think they must‘ve switched producers for Book 2.

I cannot wait for my (knitting fanatic) wife to get to this bit, if she likes Ninefox Gambit enough to read the whole trilogy. 😁

I can't believe I paused in the middle of this to get distracted. No more! I want to finish this by the start of May to free myself up for @imyril's Wyrd and Wonder fantasy reading month. Also because this book is amazing, of course.

Between my last post and now I blew through to 43% of the book, with some time spent reading Twitter and despairing. But now I have to put both phone and ereader down and sleep. I swear I used to need so much less sleep!

(Wife keeps reminding me I turn 30 this year and must be slowing down. She's a few years older than me, so she'd know...)

Made wife pick which book I'm reading in bed, since I started way too many at once. She told me to get on with this series, so I am diving in. I really don't tear through a single series one after the other as much as I used to. 🤔 I miss that.

Another fantastic book. Squidapus was kept suckered to this by the crazy machinations of Jedao/Cheris? and who they even were anymore after the end of Ninefox Gambit. Why Jedao/Cheris usurps a Kel ship only to fulfill it's mission anyways kept us guessing. We get introduced to a whole new set of interesting characters and start to really see the enormous development of Mikodez and Kujen with an ending that had us immediately start the next book.

Squidapus and I saw the two sequels to Ninefox Gambit at the store for 10 bucks each and grabbed them up because for new books that's pretty darn good. So he's already about 100 pages into Raven Strategem and I feel like he'll go right into Revenant Gun after

I absolutely loved Ninefox Gambit, though it took a bit to really get into it. This morning is dedicated to reading the second in the trilogy, Rave Stratagem, which is already starting off strong. 😄

This might me my fave of the trilogy, unusually for a middle book. We have some info other characters don‘t, but we‘re also gradually learning more and more about Jedao‘s history and whom he‘s fighting - and why. Ahhhh! I dove into book three immediately upon finishing the reread, so we‘ll see.

Re-reading this trilogy is giving me life. The struggle is long, sometimes centuries long, but more people can be convinced of the rightness of the cause - especially when the authorities respond with cruelty and foolishness. (Yes, that‘s what this trilogy is about. And then there are the space battles, tech based on calendar holidays and ritual torture, the food, and much more.) #MachineriesOfEmpire #sciencefiction

#januaryreading

Sadie and I are multi-tasking this morning. It actually hit 40 degrees outside, so we crushed a walk and got started on a new audio book. This is such a great series so far.

#LitsyWalkers
#24in48

My plan for the day: snuggle up under my Ravenclaw blanket with book two in the #MachineriesOfEmpire series 😍
#BookAndBlankie 📖 🌫 #SeasonsReadings 🎄

#BookNerd 💙📚

Gosh I haven‘t posted on here in forever! I‘m participating in the #24in48 readathon this weekend and the rain has just started!! Now let‘s see if I can catch the official start before falling asleep... here is my final TBR minus audiobooks and If you‘re interested, I made a video about it on my YouTube channel. Link in my bio 😊. Happy reading everyone!

Ending picked up. Looking forward to reading the next one in June.

Started listening to this yesterday. Halfway through and it's starting to drag and I'm finding some of the viewpoints more interesting then others. Hope it's building up to something rather than floundering. Characterization remains weak.

Decided to listen to this instead of Everfair. It is so good... so suspenseful.

Rainy Sunday afternoon reading and cooking. Perfect.

Hard to find an image that depicts the early part of this book, it'll have to be this crappy one. Happy almost-easter! #scifi

This sci fi masterpiece lived up to the first book for sure, and I think its development of character may have surpassed Ninefox Gambit.

Planning out the next #scifi read. Which one would you pick?
Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee
An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon
The Wanderers, by Meg Howrey
Provenance, by Ann Leckie
How to Stop Time, by Matt Haig

If you want a story that you can easily know gender, race, age, and agenda of every character, do NOT read this book. If you want novel written by someone who loves mathematics about a society who fundamentally controls through torture and fear whose army requires its recruits choose to relinquish their free will to be connected to hive mind, you should read this book!

Bit late with my November stats. A solid month, but not as on point as I would have liked. I normally struggle to pick a favourite and I read some excellent books this month. The Expedition by Uusma was gripping, Seanan McGuire never fails to impress, and Anna dressed in Blood was so frickin good! BUT I still have a Raven Stratagem shaped place in my heart ....

I decided to finish up instead of sleep. Oh daaaamn Cheris/Jedao/everyone. Daaaamn.

Definitely keeps delivering on the mind bendy promise of the first book.

I half want to go to sleep, half want to finish this. Aaaah. Also I am so going to need to reread for the next book (assuming there is a next book and it isn't due very very soon).

I really need to get back to reading this, but I have a physical copy and it's infested with ?book lice so uhhh nope.

The sprite's carbonated bubbles are driving Mr Sweets absolutely insane

This series is so bonkers and I love it so much. Two books in and I still feel like I'm not 100% sure what is happening about 40% of the time - but I am 150% along for the ride! Cannot wait to see how the author continues to blow my mind.

Starting my #readathon a bit early to get some time before the kiddos are awake. First up - planning to finish this one today. #deweysreadathon #10yearcelebration @DeweysReadathon

This book was completely bananas & I loved ALL OF IT. If you found the first book dense & difficult to get through at first, you‘ll find this one much easier. Not sure if that was because it was lighter on the Calendar world building (much of that done in book one) or if I was already familiar enough with the world. Fantastic book and not nearly as much death. But I have sooooo many questions and book three is so far away! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Pretty stoked this has popped up on overdrive for me.

The sequel was as good and strange as the first. I love this series!

I have a problem. A wonderful, wonderful problem. 😂🤑😍📚

I enjoyed this more than Ninefox Gambit for the sole reason that I wasn't as confused by it. This felt like a tighter story too. Really well done.

This, the second book in the series, is a worthy sequel to Ninefox Gambit, which came out last year and recently won some major SF awards. I'm really excited to read more by this author, whether in this setting or in a new series. They are some of the most imaginative and well-written books I've read recently. Recommend!