by Yoon Ha Lee
First published 2016
Captain Kel Cheris faces military disgrace after deploying forbidden tactics against heretical forces. Her superiors in the Hexarchate offer one path to redemption: recapture the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a strategic star fortress now held by enemy heretics. The mission appears impossible through conventional warfare. Cheris must partner with Shuos Jedao, an undead military genius whose tactical brilliance remains unmatched across countless battles. Jedao offers the expertise needed to breach the fortress defenses. He also carries a devastating history of madness that led him to slaughter two entire armies, including his own troops. As their siege progresses, Cheris walks a dangerous line between utilizing Jedao's strategic mind and protecting herself from his unpredictable violence. The fortress must fall or the entire Hexarchate faces destruction, but Cheris may become Jedao's next casualty in his pattern of betrayal and massacre.
Genres: science-fiction, military-fiction, adventure, space-opera, action, alternate-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Fortress of Scattered Needles, Hexarchate
Period: Future
319 pages · Paperback · Solaris
Content warnings: violence