The Dragonfly Gambit

by

Paperback, 142 pages

English language

Published April 16, 2024 by Neon Hemlock Press.

ISBN:
978-1-952086-79-3
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
1434167500
Goodreads:
210838863
(3 reviews)

Nearly ten years after Inez Kato sustained a career-ending injury during a military exercise gone awry, she lies, cheats, and seduces her way to the very top, to destroy the fleet that she was once a part of, even at the cost of her own life.

Ennis Rezál, Third Daughter of the Rule, has six months left to live. She is desperate to end the twenty-year war she was birthed to fight. But when she brings Inez aboard the mothership, a chess game of manipulation and double-crossing begins to unfold, and the Rule doesn’t stand a chance.

3 editions

reviewed The Dragonfly Gambit by A. D. Sui

Not perfect but entertaining

Unreliable narrators are really tricky to pull off, but it works pretty well in this case. The worldbuilding and protagonists lack a bit of depth, and okay, it doesn't always makes sense all the time, but it is entertaining.

reviewed The Dragonfly Gambit by A. D. Sui

The Dragonfly Gambit

A delightful gay science fiction novella about a carefully planned revenge against an empire. I read this because it's a nominee for the Nebula best novella this year.

Enemies to lovers tropes aren't always my thing, but it works for me here. Both sides personally have reasons to be attracted to the other, but aren't betraying their values because they each feel like they're using the other to their own ends. Moreover, this dynamic feeds into the larger double-crosses and secret-keeping going on.

This book went from good to great right at the stinger at the end of chapter seven, when the layers of deception start to peel back. I won't spoil the line directly, but chef's kiss.

Subjects

  • Fiction, science fiction, general
  • Fiction, lgbtq+, gay