#Raven Stratagem Spoilers

[phagodyke]

ok rly wasn't expecting yoon ha lee to go this hard on the incest in machineries of empire but ykw. good for him. a lesser author would be too afraid to make their scifi societal worldbuilding differ too much from the standards of ours...

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

I WANT CHERIS BACK SO BAD

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Raven Stratagem + Revenant Gun

books 2 & 3 in a military-political sci-fi trilogy

space empire setting where reality & technology relies on an enforced cultural belief and calendar system

the ghost general taken over Cheris’ body and gone rogue, the rest of the hexarcate is trying to assassinate them while they try to change the oppressive systems of the hexarchate

I don’t know how else to explain things in here without spoilers (if I even could explain..)

[rebeccadumaurier]

the plot twist in raven stratagem is truly nuts [spoilers below]

cheris got jedao's memories and immediately murdered the assistant to a heptarch, hijacked a swarm pretending to be an undead 400-year-old general (the sheer FUCK YOU to formation instinct this is!!), and spent an entire book leading a rebellion and politicking with hexarchs after having been a disgraced infantry captain the previous book who had hardly ever questioned the system, all while never breaking character, even when her own people went through a genocide because of her. the CHARACTER development. the ultimate girlboss arc. she went ALL IN holy shit. everything was insane enough when jedao did it but when you know cheris did it it's even crazier

[sock-to-the-third]

Raven Stratagem

By Yoon Ha Lee

Awesome book. There’s a ton of spoilers if I were to talk about it but let’s leave it at this.

Lots more secrets to uncover about jedao

Mikodez has ton of cool moments + development of his inner circle

Zehun uses they/them pronouns which I somehow didn’t notice

Brezan and Khiruev have awesome character arca

More servitor parts

Honestly, I like how much characters other than Jedao got arca. Also just the overall development of the world and how the hexarchs operate in this delightfully monsterous way.

I’m not usually the type to reread anything but I hope to come back to Raven Stratagem.

Prev: Ninefox Gambit

Sequel: Revenant Gun

[a-green-onion]

...every single character description in the Machineries of Empire series sounds like that "diversity win!" meme

diversity win! the mass murderer kept alive for centuries as a living weapon who just bombed your planet is a bi person of color with dyscalculia.

diversity win! the general who ordered you into a near-suicide mission then left you to die when you didn't follow orders instantly and to the letter is a lesbian Woman In STEM from a marginalized ethnic group.

diversity win! the immortal scientist brainwashing you so he can use your body as raw material for experimentation is a gay person of color.

diversity win! the military plant running your ostensibly-democratic puppet government is a trans man of color in a t4t relationship.

there's three books and a short story collection; I could do this all day.

[knivesareourwalls]

“Sir,” Khiruev said unsteadily, “do you require a refresher course in firearms safety?” ... ”There you have it,” Jedao said. He dragged a chair over, sat, and put his chin in his hands with his elbows on the chair’s back. “You’re free.”

Some sketches from Raven Stratagem

[agardenandlibrary]

We are Kel, sir, [Khiruev] said. Use us as Kel.

Jedao messaged back as though they were two cadets at the back of a classroom. You are people first. You deserve a chance to choose.

- Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

[handfuloftime]

“What exactly did you think would become of me when you were gone?” Khiruev said, tired. “I’m human, sir. People break. Sometimes it doesn’t take much. If it disappoints you, I’m sorry. You can take whatever disciplinary measures you see fit. But I had decided what mattered most to me.” She paused, piecing together the reasons as they had once existed; it was already difficult to remember. “I don’t care if Cheris never has a chance against the hexarchs. I wanted to die having seen that someone believed in a better world enough to fight for it.”

I’m rereading Raven Strategem, and by “rereading Raven Stratagem” I mean “crying about Khiruev”. 

[incorrecthexarchatequotes]

Kujen: I have created a stable undead Kel general

High General Kel Shiang: You fucked up a perfectly good Shuos, is what you did. Look at him. He’s got anxiety.

[phagodyke]

raven stratagem spoilers warning !!

CHAPTER 21 KHIRUEV WONDERING WHERE JEDAO GOT THE MATH FROM WITHOUT ANY NIRAI...... YEAHHHHHH CHERIS IS STILL IN THERE I KNEW ITTTT WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK BABY!!!! I bet he's been playing up his dyscalculia this whole time so no one suspected she wasn't dead but they mustve fully fused into a single entity I knewwwww ittttt yessss (I know it could just be he was consulting servitors but I refuse to believe it. also the constant servitor nods earlier were basically proof cherisjedao are the same person or like. maybe they can switch. I KNEW HE WAS LYING TO MIKODEZ.....his formation instinct tells are only still there bc of her...... sickos dot jpeg!!!!)

[venndaai]

a fun (painful) raven stratagem parallel:

Chapter 13:

“Sir, I ought to warn you. I said I’d hold the swarm for you, and I will, but I’ll only be useful to you for so long.”

Chapter 26:

Istradez drew a shuddering breath. “I recognize that my usefulness to you is nearing its end,” he said. “I beg for one last—”

[everknowing]

“Oh, for the love of stars above. Now that Jedao’s running around loose, send him a courier with a shiny gun prototype or a nice bottle of whiskey and your apologies. It’ll make you both feel better. He might even forgive you for sticking him in the black craddle. The two of you can team up and conquer the galaxy.”

“Someday I’ll take you up on that,” Kujen said. “But not just yet.”

[logarithmicpanda]

Raven Stratagem really went "your husband is an heretic? Turn him into paper and fold him into origami swans" and I think that's very sexy

(and by sexy I mean what the hell lmao)

[dreamsatdusk]

OH HEY

So in looking up quotes in Raven Stratagem for an earlier post....

...I reviewed where Cheris’s mother is thinking of all the old stories she had not told her daughter.  One of them:

The story of the raven general who sacrificed a thousand thousand of his soldiers to build a spirit-bridge of birds to assault the heavens.

One could regard Cheris+Jedao as a raven general.  A thousand thousand = a million.  The text says “Over one million people died at Hellspin Fortress.”  And what was Hellspin Fortress, essentially?  A sacrifice so that Jedao could become a “spirit” (ghost) in the hopes that it would allow him to eventually “assault the heavens” (heparchate/hexarchate).

We also have the deaths of the Mwennin in Raven Stratagem, at least some of whom were likely from Cheris’s home, the City of Ravens Feasting.  Another consequence of the fight against the hexarchate.

[sock-to-the-third]

Ninefox Gambit

By Yoon Ha Lee

I have to admit, I was a bit cold on entry. I originally found this book when searching DID stories on Reddit. So I was expecting something that was a bit more emotionally grounded?? Not sure what I was looking for honestly.

Man, I was in for a surprise!

1. The society is based on number systems related to time

2. Heresy connected to going against this

3. Scifi (magical) math based weapons absolutely wrecking people’s shit.

I cannot begin to say all the things I love about this book. I’m only in Precalc right now but dude, this book makes me really want to incorporate math into my writing at some point.

As for the DID angle, spoilers!

Future me may remembers this, may not. The way they handle Jedao and Cheris and their later true body sharing and how the memories incorporate… I’m not sure how much in common it has with DID but I find the story very compelling.

I especially like how they hold back revealing any of Jedao’s backstory until plot demanded it. Jedao has a very fucked up life, like, the Heptarch really fucked him up. Fuck khaiz, all screw her.

So like only way he was sharing any of this was magical science intervention and Cheris, the fucking trooper, fucking pulled through.

Definitely want to read more of Yoon Ha Lee’s work. Fucking love this shit. <3

Sequel: Raven Stratagem