Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee Hexarchate Stories (Machineries of Empire #4) by Yoon Ha Lee. You may have noticed that I’ve listed this anthology as book 4, that’s not because I don’t know how trilogies work, it’s because Hexarchate Stories contains a novella ( Glass Cannon ) set after the events of Revenant Gun (the third book of the Machineries of Empire trilogy). I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, but I got sick, lost track of time, and only ended up starting it after it had been released. The good news is if this review makes you desperately want to read Hexarchate Stories , you can! Good cover, eye-catching, if a little generic. I really want a ninefox crowned with eyes or an ashhawk on something, but I get that that might imply more of a novel; and this is definitely sci-fi. From New York Times best-selling author Yoon Ha Lee! The essential short story collection set in the universe of the nominated Machineries of Empire series! An ex-Kel art thief has to save the world from a galaxy-shattering prototype weapon… A general outnumbered eight-to-one must outsmart his opponent… A renegade returns from seclusion to bury an old comrade… From the incredible imagination of Hugo- and Arthur C. Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never- before-seen stories. Any of you who have read my book recommendations know that I love Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire trilogy. This collection was amazing (no surprise), though the title is a little misleading—a number of stories are set in the heptarchate. I wouldn’t recommend anyone who hasn’t already experienced the wonder of the Machineries of Empire trilogy read Hexarchate Stories , only because without the background of the previous three books, a lot of the short stories could be confusing, or not enjoyed to their fullest. Glass Cannon in particular follows on from Revenant Gun in such a way that I actually ended up reading it straight afterwards to remind myself of the events of the book (review to come), and only ended up half convincing myself to re-read the first two books as well. There is a fascinating variety of short stories included in this book, from delicate open-ended poetry ( How the Andan Court) to action packed adventure-comedy ( Extracurricular Activities ); flash fiction that gives glimpses into some of the Machineries of Empire trilogy’s best characters ( Hunting Trip ) to entirely unexpected, but well-written erotica ( Gloves ). Gamer’s End even dips in to second person, and shows once and for all that Yoon Ha Lee is an incredible author, with pretty much boundless range. The author’s notes after each story are one of the highlights of the book, mentioning the inspiration for certain habits, characters or scenes; and providing insight into Yoon Ha Lee’s personality and past. It was fascinating, and it made me want to be a better writer. The constant among the stories in this collection is the impeccable world building, gripping character development and diverse cultures and characters that fans of Yoon Ha Lee have come to expect. Almost every significant character from the Machineries of Empire trilogy has a moment to shine, with Jedao’s past being explored in the most detail. Cheris is not ignored, however, nor are various servitors and side characters from the series 1 , even Mikodez’s green onion gets a mention. Glass Cannon deserves its own mini review, because it is essentially the follow up to the Machineries of Empire trilogy, and it has made me incredibly sad that there probably won’t be any further novels, especially because the plot lines and complications introduced in Glass Cannon could easily become at least one more book. I want more! The plot is fast paced and interesting, with Jedao and Cheris’s viewpoints alternating throughout the novella. Some questions Revenant Gun left open are answered, other answers are implied or hinted at, and a lot of complications that I hadn’t considered are brought up. Cheris, Jedao and several other characters I’m not going to name to avoid spoilers interact in fascinating new ways, and we get to see Mikodez out of his depth for once. There are moments of levity, some fascinating, unique situations surrounding responsibility and morality, and one of the most classic questions of all: what makes us human? Without spoiling too much, I’ll say that one of the (many) injustices left in place at the end of Revenant Gun causing people to hate Jedao (himself included) is cleared up a little in this book. He and Cheris don’t become friends, I think that would be too much to ask, but by the end of Glass Cannon , I think they understand each other a little better. Glass Cannon is a satisfying, entertaining read, with plenty of angst, humour and action. In all, a great conclusion to the Machineries of Empire trilogy, I’m just sad that it has to end. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; Yoon Ha Lee is the author that made me give science fiction a chance. Anyone who loves science fiction will definitely find plenty to enjoy in Hexarchate Stories , but I also believe that anyone who enjoys great characterisation and ethical dilemmas in the vein of Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series will also find plenty to enjoy. Anyone who enjoyed the military drama of RF Kuang’s Poppy War should consider reading this series. People who enjoy the political intrigue and personal anguish of Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra series, those who loved the unique magic systems and morally grey world of Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders or Farseer novels, and basically anyone with enough patience to immerse themselves in a nuanced and incredible world filled with fascinating characters should read this book, just make sure you read the Machineries of Empire trilogy first. 1 This really is an anthology for fans, and I feel the need to reiterate—if you’re intrigued by this review and want to read the anthology, read the trilogy first! You won’t regret it. Hexarchate Scribe: An Introduction to Yoon Ha Lee’s Fiction. Yoon Ha Lee's Hexarchate Stories is out this month, so we're taking a broader look at this Hugo nominated author's work. Weapons that tear holes in reality, letting in thousands of eyes and teeth. Military strategies depending on clocks and calculus. Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate series brings truly unique world-building to . Baroque and character-driven, his series is also governed by strict mathematical laws. Reading a Yoon Ha Lee novel feels a bit like playing a video game: navigating ever-changing hallways, waiting for the time to be right for an exotic attack to clear the field. His latest work, the short fiction collection Hexarchate Stories , doesn’t necessarily stand alone. Several of the stories are reprints set in the same universe, while others are brand new. A novella continues where the last novel left off. Lee is a prolific writer of flash fiction, fanfic-style prompts that fill in his original universe, and games. But to lay the groundwork for Hexarchate Stories , it may the best for a reader to start with the trilogy. Here’s where to begin… Ad – content continues below. Ninefox Gambit , published in 2016, tells the story of soldier Kel Cheris, a captain in the wide-reaching armies of the Hexarchate empire. She becomes reluctant host to the disembodied spirit of Shuos Jedao, the “arch-traitor,” a strategic genius who turned on his own army. He can’t do math to save his life, so Cheris is a walking calculator for him too — and, gradually, a driving force in rebellion against the empire. Ninefox Gambit was awarded the for best first novel, and nominated for both Hugo and Nebula awards. This isn’t the first time Lee published fiction set in the Hexarchate universe, but I’ll explain more of that below. Along with the calendrical mechanics, another main aspect of the world building are the factions. With all the personality-test appeal of Hogwarts houses and none of the coziness, they divide some but not all of the citizenry into specialities. Kel is the name of a faction, not Cheris’ given name. Tensions and intrigues between factions give the series a whiff of comedy-of-manners, all set against the backdrop of gory, hostile science fiction. The trilogy continues with Raven Stratagem (2017) and Revenant Gun (2018). With their initial rebellion successful, the combined Cheris and Jedao now need to deal with the day-to-day consequences of having taken over a command ship. It’s another solid, complex novel, if very much a middle chapter. New characters both explain more about the factions and show strong, entertaining personalities. Ad – content continues below. Revenant Gun moves away from Cheris’ story. She’s present, but the majority of the book follows a clone of Jedao, one with none of his predecessor’s guile or trauma. He’s a blank slate, perhaps the only truly innocent person in the series, and he kicks off a conversation about how a person learns to have a strong moral code while living in a casually amoral empire. The Hexarchate ritually sacrifices prisoners and citizens alike to literally keep the engines of empire running, and in this third novel we see the full horror of that. It’s a book full of rigorous ideas, and very different from the first two. After reading these, you’ll be generally caught up to Hexarchate Stories . “Glass Cannon,” a novella included in the collection, directly follows the third novel. But there are also other short stories and ephemera for the reader who wants as complete a look at the Hexarchate as possible. It contains 21 stories, including the novella. One of those is “The Battle of Candle Arc,” which was published in Clarksworld in 2012 and mentioned as Jedao’s famous victory in Ninefox Gambit . This is one of many Hexarchate stories which can be accessed for free: others include “Extracurricular Activities,” another prequel about Jedao, this one published at Tor; and “The Robot’s Math Lessons,” a very short story about his universe’s sentient droids posted on Lee’s website. The latter is a typical example of the fanfic-type prompt stories: requested by readers from a prompt list and posted for free, they can range from under 1,000 words long to several paragraphs in length. Lee has also published two short story collections, The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales (2015) and Conservation of Shadows (2013). His latest work is Dragon Pearl (one of Den of Geek’s Best Space Operas of 2019), a middle grade novel about a trickster fox in a science- fantasy universe. It’s published under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, and draws from Korean mythology. Lee was also a contributor to The Vela , a collaborative serial novel set in a solar system where the sun is slowly dying. Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee. From the incredible imagination of Hugo and Arthur C Clarke nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a selection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never before seen stories. I’ve been a huge fan of Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire series since it came out (and its also a Subjective Kind of Chaos nominee for Best Series!). It’s a complex tale of a cruel and also yet strangely liberal empire comprising sic different factions ranging from the loyal soldier army of the Kel to the super scheming Shuos. The trilogy explored themes of empire, rebellion and how people made the choices to choose a side. The main trilogy was very much focused on the notorious Shuos Jedao a general who went mad, died but then got resurrected as a mind AI ultimately working with a young Kel Captain named Cheris to eventually create a form of revolution with many personal costs for both. However due to Jedao’s long afterlife it’s a sequence that has a long backstory of hundreds of years containing many rich elements galaxy-building to explore so I’m delighted to have now this collection of stories set before, during and after the events of the main trilogy. Its not all political space opera as we get a fantastic mix of heists, slice of life tales of love and families oh and cats. Among the stories that I really enjoyed: The Chameleon’s Gloves – a really strong opening tale that stands alone from the main series. It starts with an art theft but soon dives into a race to find a super-weapon. Really fast, inventive use of a heist and then throws a little moral dilemma into the equation. I found this very enjoyable and yet still tells the reader about the worldview and ruthlessness of the Hexarchate rulers. Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam – the Liozh were the only faction that fell from grace. An unusual tale of their entrance exams which while reads as a short history text it also hints as to why this group were eliminated which also shows you the way the empire thinks too. Omens – This focuses on Jedao’s mother who pretty much liked to defy convention (a trait her son seemed to inherit). She’s funny, confident and secure in her sexuality on a date. There are major events happening, but a great piece of character writing done in a few scenes – impressive writing. Honesty – This show focuses on a really young Jedao and his siblings Nidana and Ro all at a very young age. We get her view of her brother and we just start to see the potential for the future warrior he will become seeing him enjoying fighting some bullies; with a reminder that his future betrayal will have immense repercussions for his family and loved ones. Feels very bittersweet as we see a strong simple and innocent relationship yet we know what’s around the corner. Bunny – Jedao and Nidana hunt Bunny the cat (again as youngsters) funnily enough there is also Bunny the Dog. Again, a slice of life tail but perhaps reminding you there is a heart in Jedao…sometimes. Silence - a first person tale in Ro’s voice. This time the siblings are much older and visiting their mother at home. A disgusting fruit salad is being made and there is a lot of family teasing. Its a really impressive balance of showing a loving family against Jedao’s amoral approach to weapons and also starting to hint that his life in the military is starting to impact him mentally with regular injuries as well as seeing the cruelty of the hexarchate leading to ever more reckless choices. Again, showing you how he may end up becoming the later notorious general. One of the best tales int he collection. Extracurricular Activities – Another great story here. An older Jedao who is now starting to get a fleet wide reputation for cunning and ruthlessness is recruited for a mission to rescue an old classmate. There is an interesting look at betrayal and again we see how Jedao’s mind works but you also definitely get to see his Shuos side shine too in cunning hand to hand combat mixed with the sense of honour towards his enemies (provided he thinks they are worthy). It also contains excessive flirting with a shipmate that perhaps reminds you under the reputation Jedao can be amazingly human. The Battle of Candle Arc – Here we meet a Jedao recovering from another of his many serious injuries. This time he’s been placed on a mission against heretics; we see him up against a distrusting first in command who is aware of his notorious ability to sacrifice those working for him to aid the greater good. This definitely points towards what leads him to his ultimate betrayal of the empire but also, we get to see that unique cunning balanced with a sense of honour again – trying to work out what makes Jedao tick is part of the fun in this collection. Birthdays – This is a tale that features Cheris (the other main protagonist in the main trilogy). It’s a short tale of how her Mwennin people have had to stop celebrating their culture as its is increasingly deemed heretical which could lead to lethal repercussions. Knowing the ultimate faith these people will all suffer makes this tale feel extremely tragic but also as the author reminds us how cultural traditions often get wiped out by other cultures e.g. the Korean birthday system is now being slowly replaced with a more western one. Gamer’s End – This is a tale set after the main trilogy ends. A young Shuos recruit goes on a training mission and then things go horribly wrong resulting in their need to fight for their life (as well as the rest of the planet). This tale is really interesting to see how the Hexarchate is now developing after the events within the main series but we also see the weird Shuos blend of cunning, cruelty, and ruthlessness. Yet a very familiar character appears who now knows we cannot go down the same road again in creating monsters to fight later. Strong favourite in the collection. Glass Cannon – This final tale is a major novella giving us a huge insight into what happened next to Jedao and Cheris. I’m not going to spoil it because if you love this series you will want to go in unspoiled but it is very creative; answers a lot of questions; sets up a lot of new possibilities and oh goodness do I want to see what else happens next. Yes, it’s my favourite tale and its brilliant. Overall as you’ll see my admiration for Yoon Ha Lee’s tales is undiminished. I really liked the short author’s note for each story and hearing what inspired each tale. The shorter length means this is more character focused adding depth and texture to the main sequence. Love the flash fiction pieces because seeing characters just living in normal situations and how they react in them is fascinating. If you’ve enjoyed the previous novels, you’ll want to delve again into this universe. Tor.com. Science fiction. Fantasy. The universe. And related subjects. Now and Forever: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee. The Machineries of Empire trilogy wrapped up last June—bringing to a close one of the most engaging, provocative high-concept sf series I’d read in some time. Yoon Ha Lee, however, has not finished with that sprawling universe at large. Hexarchate Stories brings together a set of stories that spans over four-hundred years of worldbuilding and a handful of regime changes, shifting in style and tone from intimate (sometimes sexy!) flash fiction to plot-rich, dramatic tales of intrigue and violence. Three of the stories in the collection are previously unpublished, including the closing novella “Glass Cannon” (set after Revenant Gun , the third Machineries of Empire novel), while the earliest reprinted piece is from 2012. The scope of initial publications ranges from magazines like Clarkesworld to Lee’s blog, and as such, the length and style of the stories also varies significantly throughout. That level of variation makes for a fast, entertaining reading experience, particularly for a collection of short fiction where all the stories share the same background. Hexarchate Stories is truly a treat—a mix of bonus content, for lack of a better phrase, and gripping full-length short fiction set in Lee’s titular universe. The majority of the pieces collected here center around Shuos Jedao, though some are set as far back in the universe’s timeline as before the start of the heptarch calendar. The same energetic, relentlessly queer, unapologetically complex approach that defined the novels in the series is present in these stories as well: gender and sexuality exist on a wide spectrum, as does sentience, as do ethical interactions (or lack thereof) in the face of hideous power structures. If you’ve been around long enough to catch a sense of the fiction I’m most fond of, it won’t come as a surprise that Shuos Jedao and his messy life are immensely engaging for me. Lee hits a great number of the immediate shortcut buttons to my enjoyment and Hexarchate Stories plays into that hand spectacularly well. As it will, I suspect, for any reader familiar with the series and eager to see just a bit more, a bit more, and so forth. While I’m not sure that the collection would be a starting place for a reader who hasn’t read the trilogy, given that a great deal of the flash fiction or shorter pieces from Lee’s blog have no context outside of familiarity, it’s possible someone unfamiliar would be able to latch on to the longer-form pieces. Lee’s prose is, after all, eminently accessible—at turns playful and sharp, consistent in its powerful imagery and occasional horror. The original stories can stand on their own, though familiarity adds to them. It’s also worth noting that all three are quite different pieces, all doing different work. “Gloves” was, as Lee comments in the after-notes, a hot exercise in blowing off steam; I’ll verify, it’s certainly that, with just enough unsettling hints at the larger arc of the narrative universe to give it some tension. “Silence” takes a first person approach to a sibling interaction with the older brother observing something unwell, something unsettled, about the younger… and letting it go, with the haunting closing note that he will eventually realize his mistake. The strongest and longest of the fresh pieces is both the final story in the collection and set at the current end of the Hexarchate timeline: “Glass Cannon.” The edge-of-the-seat tension of Jedao and Cheris’s mission to reunite him with his memories, full of emotionally brutal reflection and self-destruction, was top notch work. And while the individual struggles remains devastatingly intense, the larger scope of the world’s oncoming conflicts—the moths, the servitors, questions of sentience and factionality—is a nail-chewing spot for Lee to drop the curtain. Bravo, for that. Buy it Now. The author’s notes are one of the other bits of almost-bonus content I quite appreciated. Lee is frank and conversational about the process of writing each story, some for commission and some for pleasure and some because they fit into important gaps in the series. It adds a burst of vibrant personality and closeness, as if we’re interacting with the author on a fandom level about the work, which is just fun . I got a good laugh out of comments such as, “For someone who likes to think of himself as being very smart, Jedao is terrible at a lot of things […] or maybe it’s just that I think it’s hilarious to write the archetypal high-Intelligence, low-Wisdom character. I’m pretty convinced that Wisdom was Jedao’s dump stat.” Lee is able to bring his characters and process to life for the reader simultaneously in the notes; as a writer and a reader, I dig that. There are also the reprinted stories, as well. One of the best is “Extracurricular Activities,” originally published here at Tor.com . It holds up well as a piece featuring significant spacefaring intrigue—and despite Lee’s note that it was “screamingly difficult” to write, it’s gripping, fast-paced, and entirely readable as a standalone story. The flash pieces and blog reprints are the ones that rely on outside context, as they’re rarely standalone pieces and exist more as little bonus vignettes into the lives of characters—such as “Sword-Shopping,” featuring a young Cheris, or “Persimmons,” about servitor 135799 coming to the Kel academy. Those pieces are candy: chewy and sweet for the reader who wants those extra bites of content, detail, background that fit nowhere else. Lee’s sweepingly broad universe is full of moral quandaries, queer folks pursuing a hundred different sorts of life, and big questions about sentience, ethics, self-determination; these shorter stories naturally are, too. Hexarchate Stories isn’t an entry-point for a reader who’d like to start the series—but it is a reward for those of us who’ve already been around. That’s a specific sort of project and Lee succeeds at balancing the demands of original, compelling short stories with the treat of fan-oriented glimpses behind the curtain (both for the characters and the narrative). The resultant collection feels like a present wrapped up neat with a note for the constant reader to enjoy . Lee Mandelo is a writer, critic, and editor whose primary fields of interest are speculative fiction and queer literature, especially when the two coincide. They have two books out, Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction and We Wuz Pushed: On Joanna Russ and Radical Truth-telling , and in the past have edited for publications like Magazine. Other work has been featured in magazines such as Stone Telling, Clarkesworld, Apex , and . Hexarchate Stories. Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Let me come right out and say that this is definitely a book for uber-fans of the Machineries of Empire. Most of the stories are little snippets or even flash-fiction giving us every-day glimpses of Jedao and Cheris either in the deep past or the in- between bits of the trilogy or -- my favorite part -- AFTER Revenant Gun. Most of the stories are great for closing plot points and deepening the un-tortured figure of Jedao and are NOT action filled except for a few instances. I do not consider most of these stories to be complete in themselves, but they are definitely good for the fans. The author gives us neat notes about every story and how they relate to him as an author. The one big story that blew me away happens to be the novella at the end, written new for this collection. "The Glass Cannon" was extraordinarily good. It may only be conceived as a "what-if" following the events of the third novel, but MY GOD I would CHEER if I had a full series started up from this. :) It had everything. Funny, action-filled, mind-blowing SF ideas, and all the brilliance of the characters we're obsessed over doing fantastic new things. Cheris, Jedao as *spoiler spoiler* and both of them taking on the whole galaxy with *spoiler* and *spoiler* in tow? HELL YES. Please, please! Make it Happen! ( ) This is a collection of stories set in the world of Lee's Machineries of Empire series ( Ninefox Gambit , et al.), some previously published, several original to this collection. They kind of fall into four broad categories. First, there are general scene-setting stories, pieces that aren't stories, really, but fragments of worldbuilding: "How the Andan Court," "Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam," "Calendrical Rot." What you think of these will depend on what you think of the world of the series I suspect; I thought they were more curious than anything else, though I wish "Calendrical Rot" had served its original purpose as prologue to Ninefox , as maybe I would have understood that book more quickly. Then there are prequel stories about the main characters of Ninefox Gambit , Shuos Jedao and Kel Cheris. These range from being just a couple pages to being full novelettes, and the Jedao ones go from the night he was conceived, through his childhood, up to key moments in his military career. Frustratingly, they are almost but not quite in chronological order. How interesting you find these will probably depend on how interested you are in Jedao. I'm not sure that learning he had a pet cat did a whole lot for me, but rereading "Extracurricular Activities" was fun, and "The Battle of Candle Arc" was the most straightforward explanation of calendrical warfare the series has ever provided. I would have liked more Cheris stories than the two we got, and honestly, I don't find Jedao terribly interesting. Give me some Kel Brezan prequels! I did really enjoy the Cheris story "Birthdays," which gives some insight into how the Hexarchate's calendar affects people's day-to-day lives. Third, there are a few follow-ups to the original trilogy. A flash piece about Kel Brezan going to an aquarium; "Gamer's End," a second-person story about someone being trained by Jedao; and "Glass Cannon," a novella about Jedao's reunion with Cheris after the events of Revenant Gun . I wish the chronological placement of "Gamer's End" was clearer-- I couldn't figure out where it could possibly fit until I looked it up on-line after reading-- and the twist is kind of obvious. "Glass Cannon" is the longest story in the whole book, and it's an enjoyable high-stakes action piece with good character work and big implications for the future of this universe. should Lee ever choose to return to it. Finally, there's a single story (the first in the book) that doesn't directly relate to the original trilogy, "The Chameleon's Gloves." I found this disappointing, and for a reason that relates to what makes some other of Lee's stories disappointing. "Chameleon's Gloves" sets up an interesting idea, that of a "haptic chameleon" who can perfectly imitate others' body language. but then tells a generic Star Wars -ish story where a wisecracking duo has to dispose of a gigantic superweapon, barely making use of its own concept. "Extracurricular Activities" is similar, mentioning its antagonists have a unique understanding of reality. but then telling a pretty straightforward (if enjoyable) caper story where the sfnal elements feel irrelevant. Most of the shorter pieces here are only nominally sf. Lee comes up with great worlds and great concepts, but I feel like the stories he tells make inadequate use of those worlds and concepts except as backdrop. I want the stories and concepts and plot twists to rise out of the sfnal stuff, but it doesn't consistently happen; one of the things that makes "Battle of Candle Arc" enjoyable is that it's the one Machineries of Empire space combat story where the fact that calendrical warfare is about the calendar actually feels relevant, instead of being flavor. Anyway, this all makes it seem like I didn't like the book, but I actually did. In short form, Lee's writing is usually breezy fun, and the details of the worldbuilding are enjoyable to read about. The world of the Hexarchate is complicated and feels real, and has some interesting sfnal things to say about imperialism and oppression (it's not enough that we rule you, but you must think as we do). I would like to reread Ninefox Gambit now and see if it goes better for me than the first time.