The novel “Raven Stratagem” by Yoon Ha Lee was published for the first time in 2017. It’s the second book in The Machineries of Empire series and follows “Ninefox Gambit“.
General Shuos Jedao was revived to fight a rebellion but managed to take over Captain Kel Cheris’s body. The fleet commanded by General Kel Khiruev is supposed to prevent Jedao from escaping and doing more damage but the conditioning towards superior officers is so strong that Khiruev and almost all of her subordinates end up declaring their loyalty to Jedao.
Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan is among the very few who resist the conditioning exploited by Jedao but he can only hope to alert the Hexarchate. The situation is made more serious by an attack by Hafn enemies against the Hexarchate. Jedao declares he wants to fight the Hafn but what are his ultimate goals? The Hexarchs must agree on the strategy to set up to face the different threats.
“Raven Stratagem” begins where “Ninefox Gambit” ended. The trilogy forms one big story, so you need to read it all to understand the events and characters. Above all, the first book is indispensable as an introduction to this military science fiction series set in a fictional universe strictly regulated in the use of what are called esoteric technologies.
The narrative structure of the second book is quite different from that of the first book. In particular, this sequel explores the top rulers of the Hexarchate, starting with the hexarchs themselves. This exploration includes intrigues, which are described as normal since hexarchs tend to gain that power using violent means and subsequently have to manage not to be overthrown and even assassinated by some pretender.
Exarch Shuos Mikodez is at the center of one of the subplots of “Raven Stratagem” and Yoon Ha Lee also tells in detail about his quirks and idiosyncrasies. In a peculiar fictional universe like this, honestly, this subplot didn’t excite me because the intrigues didn’t seem in-depth to me. I saw a generic group of people who achieved enormous power and are willing to do anything to keep it.
The subplot that follows General Shuos Jedao seemed to me the most interesting for the development of the character and the peculiarities related to the Exarchate. This character who was described as undead is at the center of various twists and turns that leave many doubts about his intentions. Jedao doesn’t show the insanity that centuries ago led him to be considered a traitor but no one seems able to predict his ultimate goals.
Tension runs high in Jedao’s story and in his relationships with the subordinates whose allegiance he managed to gain. The conditioning and extreme ritualisms that were central to the first novel continue to be explored in this sequel thanks to Jedao’s actions. After tackling the initial complexities of this fictional universe, “Raven Stratagem” is relatively easy to follow.
“Raven Stratagem” is the second novel in a trilogy, yet it has a good ending with some big twists. Perhaps Yoon Ha Lee relied too much on twists and turns to cover up the fact that the plot is quite thin. Normally, this would be a notable flaw but this particular fictional universe offers a thousand facets to even the most seemingly trivial events. All this confirms that you need to immerse yourself in this fictional universe to be able to appreciate this trilogy. That must be kept in mind while thinking about the consequences that the events of this novel, which will be explored in the third book. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
