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Code and Codex
Not yet published
Expected 27 Oct 26Three-time Hugo Award finalist Yoon Ha Lee returns to science fiction with a swashbuckling space opera fighting against an evil empire trying to erase history.
In the stars-spanning Censorate, languages other than the Republic’s own lingua rubra, which has reality-altering properties, are forbidden. Nevertheless, there are discrepancies. The Censorate’s star forces are called the Athenaeum Navy, and each of its ships is referred to as a codex. Instead of port and starboard, its soldiers refer to verso and recto. The unholy “stigmata” gouged into the ships’ hulls might, to a foreign scholar, bear a resemblance to verboten texts in other languages.
The Censorate is ruled by its Peacock, Aurelia, feared for the power of panopticon: she can look through anyone’s eyes. Moreover, Aurelia’s mastery of lingua rubra lets her force anyone who can understand her to follow her orders. Valentina, sold to Aurelia’s family as a child to be Aurelia’s oath-sister and companion, is its Swan, responsible for extracting useful information from foreign texts, then destroying them as well as entire languages through arcane arts. Valentina is assisted in her work by lower-ranking linguists and AI assistants who accept temporary contamination by foreign languages as a necessity of their work.
But this isn’t enough for Aurelia. She wants to control and deploy the Censorate’s thousand-year traitor and prisoner, the Basilisk, a man with a gaze so lethal that he destroyed its fleet of old through camera feeds. Unfortunately for her, the Basilisk gave himself a form of aphasia that makes him immune to her commands.
In the stars-spanning Censorate, languages other than the Republic’s own lingua rubra, which has reality-altering properties, are forbidden. Nevertheless, there are discrepancies. The Censorate’s star forces are called the Athenaeum Navy, and each of its ships is referred to as a codex. Instead of port and starboard, its soldiers refer to verso and recto. The unholy “stigmata” gouged into the ships’ hulls might, to a foreign scholar, bear a resemblance to verboten texts in other languages.
The Censorate is ruled by its Peacock, Aurelia, feared for the power of panopticon: she can look through anyone’s eyes. Moreover, Aurelia’s mastery of lingua rubra lets her force anyone who can understand her to follow her orders. Valentina, sold to Aurelia’s family as a child to be Aurelia’s oath-sister and companion, is its Swan, responsible for extracting useful information from foreign texts, then destroying them as well as entire languages through arcane arts. Valentina is assisted in her work by lower-ranking linguists and AI assistants who accept temporary contamination by foreign languages as a necessity of their work.
But this isn’t enough for Aurelia. She wants to control and deploy the Censorate’s thousand-year traitor and prisoner, the Basilisk, a man with a gaze so lethal that he destroyed its fleet of old through camera feeds. Unfortunately for her, the Basilisk gave himself a form of aphasia that makes him immune to her commands.
304 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 27, 2026
About the author
Yoon Ha Lee
211 books2,097 followersYoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction writer born on January 26, 1979 in Houston, Texas. His first published story, “The Hundredth Question,” appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1999; since then, over two dozen further stories have appeared. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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October 24, 2025'about plans to reach backwards and forwards in time by revising history in this space opera adventure of linguistics magic in the author’s return to adult science fiction' GIMME
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2.5 stars rounded up to 3
There is no question that the author has an incredibly creative imagination. The story felt like a blend of the Bene Gesserit from "Dune", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and the wonderfully strange, sentient world of "The Terraformers" by Annalee Newitz. On paper, that combination should have been exactly the kind of science fiction I enjoy.
Unfortunately, the writing style never worked for me. Reading this book felt less like reading for pleasure and more like being back in high school working through a novel assigned by my English teacher, although this one certainly would never have appeared on a school reading list because of its numerous sex scenes. I finished it because I received an advance review copy through NetGalley and wanted to give the book a fair evaluation, but it often felt like a chore rather than an escape.
The prose frequently relied on uncommon vocabulary and highly stylized language that pulled me out of the story instead of drawing me deeper into it. High level vocabulary words appeared often enough that I became more aware of the author's language than of the story itself. I know this was the author's point with the hyper-focus of the novel being words and languages, however, for my taste, the writing felt so ornate that it overshadowed what was otherwise a genuinely imaginative premise.
I also found that several chapters seemed disconnected from the central narrative and did not meaningfully advance the story. Combined with the dense prose, this made the novel feel much longer than its page count.
I can absolutely appreciate the originality of the worldbuilding and the ambition behind this novel. Readers who enjoy highly literary speculative fiction and luxuriant prose may have a very different experience than I did. For me, however, the writing style prevented me from connecting with a story that otherwise had tremendous potential.
There is no question that the author has an incredibly creative imagination. The story felt like a blend of the Bene Gesserit from "Dune", "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and the wonderfully strange, sentient world of "The Terraformers" by Annalee Newitz. On paper, that combination should have been exactly the kind of science fiction I enjoy.
Unfortunately, the writing style never worked for me. Reading this book felt less like reading for pleasure and more like being back in high school working through a novel assigned by my English teacher, although this one certainly would never have appeared on a school reading list because of its numerous sex scenes. I finished it because I received an advance review copy through NetGalley and wanted to give the book a fair evaluation, but it often felt like a chore rather than an escape.
The prose frequently relied on uncommon vocabulary and highly stylized language that pulled me out of the story instead of drawing me deeper into it. High level vocabulary words appeared often enough that I became more aware of the author's language than of the story itself. I know this was the author's point with the hyper-focus of the novel being words and languages, however, for my taste, the writing felt so ornate that it overshadowed what was otherwise a genuinely imaginative premise.
I also found that several chapters seemed disconnected from the central narrative and did not meaningfully advance the story. Combined with the dense prose, this made the novel feel much longer than its page count.
I can absolutely appreciate the originality of the worldbuilding and the ambition behind this novel. Readers who enjoy highly literary speculative fiction and luxuriant prose may have a very different experience than I did. For me, however, the writing style prevented me from connecting with a story that otherwise had tremendous potential.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I first came across Lee's work with the fantastic Conservation of Shadows collection many years ago. Several stories in that dealt with this "calendrical" concept where competing beliefs and their perceptions of time and space could affect the outcomes of battles and such.
Did I truly understand the ins and outs of it all?
Not at all.
Did I FEEL like it made sense and did I believe it worked in that universe?
ABSOLUTELY.
I find it so easy to go with the flow of Lee's universes. I feel like I'm rising out of a dream when I close the book and maybe I'll have a moment of, "What did I just read?" or "How does that work...?" but not in a bad way. It's a puzzle I want to solve until I remember it's beautiful to behold just as it is.
Anyway, all that to say, what Lee did with math and calendars in those stories is what Lee does with linguistics here. In this universe, mastery of a language is linked to control in many different ways. The Peacock, ruler of this stellar empire, can actually change people's will, form, etc so long as they can understand her speech -- something so dangerous that a man whose gaze kills destroys his ability to understand language to keep himself out of her power. The empire itself eradicates other languages to engulf nearby plants. We can see the metaphor there!
Aside from the amazing prose and world building, I absolutely loved following Valentina's journey to learning who she truly is and what she wants. The walls around her life have always been strong and I love how forbidden poetry and a (winged) cat can be a catalyst for so much. (not a metaphor -- books do that!)
I'm so happy I got to read this one early!
Did I truly understand the ins and outs of it all?
Not at all.
Did I FEEL like it made sense and did I believe it worked in that universe?
ABSOLUTELY.
I find it so easy to go with the flow of Lee's universes. I feel like I'm rising out of a dream when I close the book and maybe I'll have a moment of, "What did I just read?" or "How does that work...?" but not in a bad way. It's a puzzle I want to solve until I remember it's beautiful to behold just as it is.
Anyway, all that to say, what Lee did with math and calendars in those stories is what Lee does with linguistics here. In this universe, mastery of a language is linked to control in many different ways. The Peacock, ruler of this stellar empire, can actually change people's will, form, etc so long as they can understand her speech -- something so dangerous that a man whose gaze kills destroys his ability to understand language to keep himself out of her power. The empire itself eradicates other languages to engulf nearby plants. We can see the metaphor there!
Aside from the amazing prose and world building, I absolutely loved following Valentina's journey to learning who she truly is and what she wants. The walls around her life have always been strong and I love how forbidden poetry and a (winged) cat can be a catalyst for so much. (not a metaphor -- books do that!)
I'm so happy I got to read this one early!
May 31, 2026
Yoon Ha Lee goes and takes the specifics on linguistics and how the way you think and talk can literally shape reality, turns that into the science/magic of her new world, adds in some toxic lesbian royalty and court intrigue, and you get a hell of story. And yes, because it's linguistics based magic, that means there's a lot of prose fuckery (positve), and some truly amazing flexes on Yoon Ha Lee's part. This comes out in February (release date was originally October when I read it), and I highly recommend preordering this now.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Rating: 3.5-3.75 (might bump it up to 4). RTC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2 stars
This was a difficult book to read. At times, it felt like work and I would have stopped it, if not for my commitment to the publisher/author. The writing is confusing, dense and purposely nonsensical. I could not follow what was going on. In a big picture sense, the plot is interesting and compelling, but the writing gets in the way. If the writing scaled back and let the characters come to the forefront, this would be a better book.
I'll say this though: This book cover is absolutely gorgeous. Flawless.
This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a difficult book to read. At times, it felt like work and I would have stopped it, if not for my commitment to the publisher/author. The writing is confusing, dense and purposely nonsensical. I could not follow what was going on. In a big picture sense, the plot is interesting and compelling, but the writing gets in the way. If the writing scaled back and let the characters come to the forefront, this would be a better book.
I'll say this though: This book cover is absolutely gorgeous. Flawless.
This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews