Long before Shuos Jedao was the most infamous strategist in the hexarchy, he was just an extraordinarily talented soldier. In this short story, he's sent on a mission to retrieve a lost crew of spies, one of whom is his old friend from Shuos Academy. It's kinda painful to read about him at this stage, knowing what he'll become. If you enjoyed the early Miles Vorkosigan or Ender's Game books, you might very well like this adventure.

Excellent, complexly-grounded short story.But what WAS wrong with our protagonist's hair that made everyone stare at him?! Frustrating to never know.

A must read if you love Ninefox Gambit. A little bit of a caper, funny, and all about Jedao.

This was wonderful. Everything I never knew I wanted from this universe. Definitely give it a go if you enjoyed Ninefox Gambit or even if you didn’t. Funny, witty, light hearted, but with the same intelligence of the books.

Jedao had a standard method for dealing with new commanders, which was to research them as if he planned to assassinate them. Needless to say, he never expressed it in those terms to his comrades.I couldn't stop laughing.[Edit: I must have read it almost ten times by now and every time I still find some new detail that makes me laugh. I love it so much.]

As I read Ninefox, I thought there must be a nice stack of fan fic for Jedao and his hosts or other trysts. Conveniently, the author provided us with one! A cute story, simple plot, lots of good background on the most interesting space assassin and, well, some serious shipping on this ship. Fun read!

4.5/5 StarsYoon Ha Lee has masterfully pulled off some literary sorcery to make me feel SO MUCH for a complex defector/assassin/eventually-unhinged conductor of massacre in such a short heist story. Loved getting to see Shuos Jedao in action before the events of Ninefox. He's an incredible character whose thought processes, charisma, and beautifully unerring ability to be confident in himself sheds so much light on his humanity. You can't write him off as a villainous, bloodthirsty character whe...

I love this. Soooo funny. Like some kind of whack ass modern Harry Harrison/Ron Goulart MilSF. SpecOps commander / whatever the fuck Jedao goes on a rescue mission, flirting all the while w a big sexy space marine from one of the ships he's given for the mission.

This didn't grab me as much as the description did. I liked Yoon Ha Lee's style though- I'm going to try Ninefox Gambit next!

What I loved about this short story is how it showcases Yoon Ha Lee’s sense of subversive humour. While a lot has been written (gushed?) about how formidable and experimental The Machineries of Empire sequence is, it is also slyly, and often blackly, funny. I am never going to think of Jedao again without recalling the application of goose fat from this.

It’s intriguing seeing Shuos Jedao in his early days working for the heptarchate. Definitely dangerous, but at the same time, I found Jedao funny. The story’s fairly quick, and has whetted my appetite for books 2 and 3.

Reread at June 17th, 2018.I am still high on Machineries of Empire. Moreover, it so happens that I have a buddy read on all Hugo nominated novelettes with two groups (yay) so I have a perfect excuse to play with Jedao again. Now that's a fun story. Even for a reread. Set in the same 'verse of the Machineries of Empire series, this one is about Shuos Jedao in his younger days. Pure adventure with some hilarious undercover moments and banters. In a space station whose people duel using pathogens.

This novelette was nominated for Hugo in 2018The story is set in the same universe as Ninefox Gambit novel, which was nominated for Hugo last year. I’ve read it and wasn’t impressed. While it can be read as a stand-alone, knowing the backstory definitely helps. Shuos Jedao, spy/assassin of heptarchy (civilization obsessed with order and numerology) is sent on a mission to rescue his old friend from the outpost of another civilization, masked as a merchant. The story is easy to read and full of a...

“Join the Shuos for an exciting future as a secret agent, assuming your classmates don’t kill you before you graduate.”This was nominated for a Hugo? Perhaps a parody of space operas, but too many gaps and too much stilted syntax and punctuation to make easy reading. When the reader must stop and re-read every third sentence, something’s wrong.“Wars come and go, but graffiti is forever.”Oversexed special agents are de rigueur of more than just space opera, but the protagonist was unconvincing an...

Free online short story here at Tor.com, which I'd only really recommend if you like at least two of these three: space opera, alternative sexuality and sex jokes. Review first posted at Fantasy Literature:“Extracurricular Activities” is a prequel short story that’s part of Yoon Ha Lee’s THE MACHINERIES OF EMPIRE series, which begins with the novel Ninefox Gambit. In this space opera caper-type adventure, we follow one of the early exploits of Shuos Jedao, a character from Ninefox Gambit, while

Delightful. It must have been a joy to write: it felt like it was, anyway.The small cultural details, the goose fat, Jedao's mother, everything. I laughed out loud more than once. It felt quite Bujold-esque (the pathogen duels reminded me of Cetaganda - the place more than the novel) but with a twist.

This is a fun prequel to Lee's novels. I love Lee's narrative voice, and it's nice to see Jedao with less of the angst of his post-death existence. This is more like early Vorkosigan -- a hero smarter than anyone else in the room completing a tricky rescue mission without nearly enough backup. Not a whole lot of deep meaning to this one, but an enjoyable read.

★★★★⭐ | Read here"What am I supposed to do with this? he wondered. As a cadet he could have based a prank around it. But as a warmoth commander he had standards to uphold.More importantly, how could he compose a suitably filial letter of appreciation without, foxes forbid, encouraging her to escalate? (Baked goods: fine. Goose fat: less fine.) Especially when she wasn’t supposed to know he was here in the first place? Some people’s families sent them care packages of useful things, like liquor,

Never read anything by this author, so I cheated a little and read the blurb of the first book of this series, Ninefox Gambit. Just the blurb.“Hello! I am a cross-dressing enemy agent, pleased to make your aquaintance.“I like Jedao, I like the humour, the action sequences are well done and the interactions are believable. Good character development. I might have to add Ninefox Gambit to my want-to-read pile. The world building was good, I want to find out more about the various societies and cul...

Very entertaining new short story in the Ninefox Gambit Universe. The lighter, younger side of Jedao, the Legendary Undead General. Goose fat is involved. Read it!Now a nominee for the 2018 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Here are links for all the 2018 Hugo nominees:https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/31/17...