Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir



Trigger warnings: Death, murder, depictions of dead bodies

Synopsis: The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.


Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.



Review: Gideon the Ninth feels like the right book at the wrong time. The story sounded interesting, but I had a hard time caring about any of the characters. Gideon and Harrow find themselves in some kind of competition, it didn't feel very well explained, and other competitors start to die off. When characters died, I just found myself shrugging and moving on. Even our main characters, Gideon and Harrow, didn't feel very important to me. Again, this definitely could have just been me reading this at the wrong time. I want to try to re-read it with the audiobook and see if I care more about the story. I did appreciate Gideon's humor though. She uses a lot of puns. These kinds of jokes will likely annoy some people, but it didn't bother me.

I had two main problems with the overall story. First, I kept forgetting this was set in space. Sci-fi books don't have to necessarily be science focused like The Martian, but I just couldn't keep it in my head that this story was set in space. I also didn't understand very much about the competition they were in. On one hand, Gideon seemed equally ignorant, so I appreciated that connection to Gideon. But, as a reader, I would have enjoyed more explanation so we know what is really at stake here.

Like I said, my mediocre experience with Gideon the Ninth could have just been poor timing. I will definitely give this a re-read and see if my feelings change.

3 howls

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