#these are queued for the day after i actually make the post so technically yesterday on the 25th

[shakerofthebutt9000]

I was with friends from 15 to 23 today hgr

[opticor]

yesterday i had queued a text post, and it started like this: “it’s not my style to review books while still reading them (or, indeed, ever) but i wanted to tell you that i’m reading Ninefox Gambit right now and it’s giving me a lot of feelings; not exactly in the “so many feels” way, but rather in the “a lot of very conflicting feelings” way, which while less memetic is no less overwhelming.” but since then the post became obsolete, first because the book descended (ascended?) straight into the so-many-feels territory, and then because i actually finished it, and what a book it is! i want to say some things, so this post, while not a review, is probably not spoiler free either. you have been warned!!

so, this is subjective stuff, i won’t pretend otherwise. the reason i mentioned conflicted feelings (let’s say, i was in the first half of the book then) was, well, i’ve consumed some amount of media through the years, so unfortunately i often think of things as being like-other-things (unless they are totally-unlike-other-things) and so, i was reminded of things, such as the Divergent faction system (which i don’t like) and certain scenes in the early instalments of Hellsing (which, embarrassingly, i do like) and quasimagical warfare in The Solstice War (which i love; in my opinion, if you liked Ninefox Gambit you are likely to enjoy The Solstice War as well! the opposite may also be true, depending on what you like the most about The Solstice War -- give it a shot!)

there was also a scene that unpleasantly reminded me of an unhealthy pattern in a past relationship. that was rather painful because it was also a scene i really liked, actually the most Hellsing-like scene. i am actually not certain anymore if anything exactly like it happened in Hellsing and i am not in the mood to check right this moment, but i seem to recall an episode where Alucard in his many-eyed form terrorized Seras with the intent of teaching her some important lesson about being a monster. there is nothing improper about monsters being monsters, and it’s a soft spot for me. i liked it. in the book, though. well, in that scene Jedao torments Cheris until she’s completely broken and it’s a game, a test. he apologizes and is awfully nice afterwards, but it gave me a pause. i mean, by this point this is more of a personal post than anything remotely resembling a book review but i still want to stress that i absolutely don’t want to say anything bad about the book as such for having this in it! it was just, viscerally unpleasant to me personally in light of, you know. and it made me think about my embarrassing preference for hurt/comfort in fiction (is... is it hurt/comfort if they are provided by the same person? i am not even certain) in contrast with the same in real life; and also what would this dynamic look like if the roles were differently gendered. i guess it is also a mark of a great work that it makes you think, about stuff?

so i thought about that some, then decided thinking about it does no good, scheduled my text post and went on about my evening. but regular activities were unengaging because what i really wanted to do was continue reading the book. and so i did. and i couldn’t stop reading. not to say there weren’t horrible, gruesome, heavy things from there on. it’s not harmless and virtuous. it, actually, not only made me cry, but was painful enough that it physically hurt which a book hadn’t done to me since i read Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon at age eighteen. but there wasn’t anything displeasing to give me a pause, or a stop, after that tenth chapter. book just kept going and went from an uncertain four to a solid five and, i don’t know, i don’t think it’s got anything to do with its technical qualities. just how it went for me. that was certainly an Experience.

speaking of technical qualities, i thought it was paced really well. i’m not an expert but i don’t enjoy fiction that doesn’t live up to my personal standards for good pacing, stuff like slow pilot episodes or filler or what have you -- though not, mind me, infodumps. the menace of infodumps is a blunt instrument applied by amateur critics to scare readers and authors alike away from exposition, and is, just like tvtropes, probably not real. i had, actually, read a scathing review for Ninefox Gambit that condemned it for its infodumpiness, among other things. well i am happy to say that that-reviewer can stuff it. information about characters and setting is, in my opinion, elegantly inserted and never out of place. i may have more thoughts on this after a re-read of course since it takes time to ease into the specific terminology, but that is my initial impression.

which brings me to the plot. where, after all, is this wonderfully paced story going? spoiler: a good place. was it twisty? well... no, i wouldn’t say, for something mentioning many a multi-layered plan. hindsight is a harsh mistress. near the beginning, the book gives you a problem: why did this character do that horrible, monstrous thing? and it gives you a hint: the answer is not insanity. if you assume, as i did, that Jedao is a good (for some measure) person, i don’t think that could lead to many significantly different answers, in the context of this book. and answering that question, there are not many directions it would make sense for the story to go. i don’t think this a defect, by the way. i think it’s good writing. of course, the answers could potentially change as it is, among other things, also a first book in a series. it’s something of note on both pacing and story. it’s definitely a part-one and there are some subtle things that are impossible to fairly judge a part-one on. story, i guess? or, more like, how satisfying is the story arc overall? as it is, it would be called open-ended, i guess. so i won’t say anything about it. i just don’t want to be saying something like “it’s a good first book in a series” -- it’s a good book, period. but also, a first book in a series. speaking of which the second one is coming in just a few days and i for one cannot fucking wait to read it

thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text, i am awfully flattered that you value my opinion on books this much; i also apologize for putting a very long post on your dashboard, and i may put a cut in it after i see it on a real browser. i wish we had LJ’s functionality of only putting some of the text in a readmore, rather than everything

the part i’d leave outside of a cut is this: if you want to read an actual, nicely written review, there are many but i particularly recommend this one, over at Strange Horizons

and since it’s a recommendation, content warnings include: graphic depictions of injury and body horror; death, violence, and other war tropes; torture, emotional abuse, rape