In a society where conformity is valued above all else, a teen girl training to become an Imperial pilot is forced to return to her rebel roots to save her world in this adrenaline-fueled sci-fi adventure—perfect for fans of Iron Widow and Skyward! Hwa Young was just ten years old when imperial forces destroyed her rebel moon home. Now, six years later, she is a citizen of the very empire that made her an orphan. Desperate to shake her rebel past, Hwa Young dreams of one day becoming a lancer pilot, an elite group of warriors who fly into battle using the empire’s most advanced tech—giant martial robots. Lancers are powerful, and Hwa Young would do anything to be the strong one for once in her life. When an attack on their boarding school leaves Hwa Young and her classmates stranded on an imperial space fleet, her dreams quickly become a reality. As it turns out, the fleet is in dire need of pilot candidates, and Hwa Young—along with her brainy best friend Geum, rival Bae, and class clown Seong Su—are quick to volunteer. But training is nothing like what they expected, and secrets—like the fate of the fleet’s previous lancer squad and hidden truths about the rebellion itself—are stacking up. And when Hwa Young uncovers a conspiracy that puts their entire world at risk, she’s forced to make a choice between her rebel past and an empire she’s no longer sure she can trust.
Add to your library to track progress and write reviews
6 books in catalog
Complex mathematical calendrical warfare and far-future military tactics define the space opera world of the Machineries of Empire trilogy. Korean-American speculative fiction author Yoon Ha Lee gained wide recognition in science fiction and fantasy with his debut novel Ninefox Gambit, which established a universe grounded in high-concept geometry, political intrigue, and ritualistic technology. His body of work spans adult space opera, young adult mecha fiction such as Moonstorm, middle-grade fantasy, short fiction, tabletop roleplaying games, and comic scripts.
Born in Houston, Texas, in 1979 and educated at Seoul Foreign School, Lee completed a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics at Cornell University, followed by a Master of Arts in mathematics education from Stanford University, and pursued an MFA in media composition and orchestration at ThinkSpace Education. While in college, he sold his first short story, "The Hundredth Question," to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Over his career, his short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Lightspeed, Reactor (formerly Tor.com), and Audubon Magazine, as well as numerous year's best anthologies. Beyond prose, Lee wrote comic scripts for Marvel, including Doom's Division #1-5 and "Epée Is Truth" in The X-Men: The Wedding Special #1, and collaborated on serialized fiction projects including The Vela: The Complete Season 1. His hobbies include game design, visual art, and playful efforts at destroying the reader. He lives in Louisiana with his family and an extremely lazy cat.
Lee's academic training in mathematics deeply influences his worldbuilding and narrative structures, incorporating high-level concepts of geometry, calendrical systems, and abstract mechanics directly into space opera settings. His fiction regularly investigates themes of institutional authority, military duty, identity, and personal morality within rigid power structures. Beyond high-concept adult science fiction, Lee draws heavily on Korean mythology and folklore for works such as Dragon Pearl and its companion novel Tiger Honor. His work in game design, including tabletop roleplaying systems, reflects a narrative approach centered on strategic systems, intricate tactical dilemmas, and complex moral choices.
Moonstorm Trilogy
