Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire, #1)

by Yoon Ha Lee

That had been eighteen hours ago. It wasn’t that anyone was surprised by the plan’s failure. It was the carnage.

In a way each battle was home: a wretched home, where small mistakes were punished and great virtues went unnoticed, but a home nonetheless.

The problem with authority is that if you leave it lying around, others will take it away from you.

You want to accomplish as many different things on as many different levels as you can with each move. Efficiencies add up fast.”

Calendrical warfare was a matter of hearts. But numbers could move hearts, with the right numbers, and with the right hearts.