Following Raven Strategem was going to be a challenge, any way you cut it. The book finished with empire invaded, four of the six hexarchs assassinated, and "Jedao" revealed to be nothing more than Cheris with a bunch of memories. It'd be hard to follow up on that, and Lee really doesn't.

Instead, we're back with three new viewpoints. One is a servitor assigned to maintain a top-secret archive for the immortal hexarch Nirai Kujen. One is General-Protector Kel Innesser, who has taken over the 'loyalist' remnant of the empire. And the last is Shous Jedao, again. But this Jedao has been pieced together with the memories Cheris didn't steal, and is serving at the behest of Nirai Kujen. Kujen is the ultimate villain of the setting, the man responsible for setting up the high calendar and the remembrances. His immortality only works in calendrical space, and Cheris' rebellion has become an existential threat to him.

The first half of the book is a wandering retread of plot points and character moments. Everyone is so instantly willing to give up the hexarchy that I can't understand how it lasted. The second half is much better, with some real urgency, both military and sexual, but it's not enough to sustain the series. Lee drops revelation after revelation, in the hopes that new information will keep us from asking about old questions.

Ninefox Gambit opened with two fascinating questions: What made the original Shous Jedao go insane and murder his army? And what do you do when Shous Jedao starts making sense and the world seems insane? I feel profoundly betrayed that I'll never get answers. The first book is incredible, and Lee is a talented writer on a small-scale, but like The Fifth Season and sequels, I wish the series went in a different direction than how they did.