According to The Bookseller, Solaris Books has acquired the rights to a debut space opera trilogy from Yoon Ha Lee, author of the short story collection Conservation of Shadows. The trilogy, called The Machineries of Empire, is being described as “a tale of massacres, madness, and mathematics in deep space.” The first installment of the trilogy, Ninefox Gambit, centers on disgraced captain Kel Cheris, who must recapture the formidable Fortress of Scattered Needles in order to redeem herself in front of the Hexarchate.
Solaris Books’ editor-in-chief Jonathan Oliver said in a statement:
Yoon Ha Lee has been a writer whose work I’ve been keeping a close eye on for a while now. His prose is razor sharp and his ideas are fresh and challenging. Ninefox Gambit is an astonishingly assured debut and one of the richest science fiction novels I have read in a good long while. This is a space opera with scope and depth, and also diversity. Yoon shows that science fiction is alive and well and really going places.
Lee said:
I’m thrilled that Solaris Books has picked up my trilogy and working with them has been terrific. Expect weaponised math, big space battles, and a captain whose 400-year-old undead advisor is her best ally and her most dangerous enemy, in a nation constantly at war with heretics.
Chris Moore will be providing the cover art for Ninefox Gambit, which will be published in June 2016. Lee also has a forthcoming story on Tor.com: “Variations on an Apple,” which he describes as “a space opera retake on The Iliad, from Paris’ point of view.” In the meantime, you can read his previous Tor.com stories, “Combustion Hour” and “A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel.”
