Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire, #1)

by Yoon Ha Lee

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

When he sounds sane and the rest of the world doesn’t, you know it’s time to pull the trigger.

“Cheris, people are very simple,” Jedao said. “You occupy the conscious mind with one thing, then drive a spike into the subconscious mind with something else while the walls are down.

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