Gideon the Ninth
Ratings752
Average rating4.1
I can't tell you how many times I've picked this book up, read the first few pages and tossed it aside.
Something about those first few pages is difficult to overcome and I know I'm not the only one. Maybe it's folks around my age (pushing 40) who all seem to uniformly find the same annoyance in a snarky, smart-mouthed protagonist that feels very contemporary (if not dated) for a fantastical setting that kills our interest. Or, for me, the sorta grimdark setting of the Tomb of the Ninth.
In a way, it felt like a Nick Lutsko Spirit Halloween video with no tongues in cheeks.
If I'm honest, I can't tell you why I picked it up again. It's been recommended to me dozens of times now, and I've unknowingly bought it twice in different formats. All of my desired library holds were a few weeks out, so I sorta just said, “fine, I'll try this again until one of the holds comes through.”
Sure enough, there was that beginning again where we meet the titular Gideon and it's the same cringe epic bacon guy sort of humor that made me hate ‘The Martian' in all of its glory. Along with a comically dark setting of some sort of tomb planet with shambling skeletons and dark dungeons. Sigh.
But, I kept going. This book gets hyped a lot for queer representation, and any cynicism about this sort of melts away because Gideon is absolutely queer, but done in a way where it's very matter-of-fact. Gideon is just Gideon, being queer is just a part of the character.
See, the thing is, Gideon is also really annoying. One of the drawbacks of having an obnoxious lead is you're gonna turn some people away. That's what happened to me. Then you start to see more of Gideon, and that everyone is annoyed by Gideon and a lot of the goofy, aloof behavior is a defense mechanism from a lifetime of trauma.
You really, really need to push past those initial annoyances, though, because once you do, everything opens up.
The story winds itself around in all sorts of interesting ways, the characters are all mashed together, pit against each other and forced to cope with their own shortcomings in unique ways and while there's a relatively massive bodycount for named characters here, never did I find myself wanting to put this book aside after the story got going.
In places, the diction can feel clunky in trying to illustrate this realm as a science fantasy one, especially considering Gideon is our anchor to things and Gideon's link to everything is comic books and skin mags. Still, the occasional five-dollar word is easy enough to gloss over considering how well everything else flows.
This is a special book and if you're like me and struggled with the beginning, it's worth pushing further into before writing it off.
I just need to sit and cry really bad right now just let me please just leave me be just let me wallow in my puddle of tears
Where do I even fucking start? Gideon the Ninth is a barn burner, and what I mean by that it will burn up your mind like a house made of straw and gasoline.I'm not really sure how to summarize the basic premise of this book without going exorbitantly in depth - depth which this novel, mind you, doesn't really bother with most of the time. But here goes - Gideon Nav is an indentured servant, a foundling raised since she was a day old, to the House of the Ninth, Keepers of the Locked Tomb, creepy fucking nuns in death's head face paint who can raise skeleton servants from bits of bone. This is a world of necromancers - and space travel. And swords. Don't think about it too much, just go with it. Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Gideon's nemesis since childhood, is called by the Emperor, Necrolord Prime, along with the heirs of each of the other seven houses, with their cavaliers, to stand the trials to become Lyctors, achieving the pinnacle of necromantic ability and serving the Emperor directly. Nonagesimus' assigned cavalier is a wimp, so she wants Gideon, who just so happens to very good with a sword, just not a rapier. Once they arrive at the First House, the “trial” they realize is a riddle wrapped in a experiment spiced with a whole lot of what the fuck.The reason why I hesitated so long on reading this book, despite the glowing reviews, is basically because of all of waves hands that. Adult hard science fiction and high fantasy, aside from often being very obtuse and big on new vocabulary, also frequently has an...ickiness about it. It often detaches itself from the body and the head's of its characters in lieu of creating vivid and complex settings, so much that the characters feel kind of like meat puppets that terrible things keep happening to. But Gideon the Ninth is wholly committed to its characters, in a way that most authors would not even attempt. It is so grounded it is subterranean. Gideon, reluctant cavalier, lover of comic books, dirty magazines and her longsword, is deliciously irreverent. This is like if someone took, I don't know, Game of Thrones or The Witcher, whatever courtly and swordly story suits your fancy, and mixed it up with Army of Darkness. Both in content and tone. There isn't actually a character with a chainsaw for a hand, but if there was it would not be out of place at all.Tamsyn Muir is doing her thing here. I was not at all surprised when I read the acknowledgements and saw that one of her Clarion instructors and mentors was [a:Jeff VanderMeer 33919 Jeff VanderMeer https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1522640540p2/33919.jpg], because what I kept thinking as I reached the third act of this book is that I so wanted to read the next book in the Southern Reach Trilogy. The reason being is because Muir writes on an edge between body horror and cosmic horror, that also overlaps with VanderMeer's New Weird. It's just absolute flesh chaos, at points. It's not just gore, its magicians using their own bodies - flesh, bone and spirit - to become terrifying weapons. It's unsettling in a way I did not realize I could be unsettled.Muir is also breaking a lot of story telling conventions, not really bothering to tell you the whole plot or the whole setting or how anything works. There are whole chunks of narrative that are just not there because Gideon wasn't there, or just wasn't terribly interested, and you just gotta roll with it. Muir puts a lot on her plate - nearly sixteen primary characters, a complex magic system, an interplanetary conflict, not to mention individual cultures, prejudices and fields of study for each of the Houses. There are a couple moments where the story buckles under the pressure (that poor continuity editor), but most of the time I didn't even notice what I didn't know, because I was having so much fun.Because this book is so much fun. Like I said, it's rooted in its characters and great character moments. The fact that Muir created such a unique an interesting cast is incredible. The fact that she so completely unafraid to make them irreverent, hilarious and utterly vicious has my head spinning. Gideon and Harrowhark are a fractious, charming and heart-breaking pair. You know as soon as you see how many different ways they say they hate each other that they mean more to each other than either of them will say. And on top of it all, you have some bad ass duels, epic monster fights, and a bunch of necromancers being unapologetically nerdy about raising the dead.Gideon the Ninth is a hell of an accomplishment. You can still tell its a debut novel though, as you can feel Muir testing things and experimenting as she goes, so technically I'm giving this 4.5 stars, but for Goodreads that's a 5, so who cares. This book is snarky, brutal and bat shit crazy.
For the record, I was not aware that books about young female necromancers in space was a thing that was missing from my life....but it was definitely a thing that was missing from my life. I loved SO DANG MUCH Of this novel. I am not a huge fan of body horror, so I did find myself skimming over a bunch of that. But as a whole, I am very much here for this. Bring on book #2!! (Soon, please!!)
I'm surprised no one mentioned the Locked Tomb Trilogy by Tamsyn Muir, that would be my personal recommendation! Take a look at this tagline from the first book, Gideon the Ninth: “The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.” Doesn't this make you want to immediately read it?
The setting: it is wildly different from GB, it's mainly sci-fi with some elements of fantasy. It's really unique and compelling, it takes place in a solar system where humanity has achieved space travel and colonized other planets. It is ruled by an Emperor, who after a great cataclysm that wiped out humanity, resurrected them and is now worshipped by all as their savior. He taught humanity necromancy and now rules over the Nine Houses (that's what the empire is called).
The characters: The protagonist, Gideon, is basically Locke but if he were a woman, buff, and knew how to wield a sword. She is witty and funny, but also surprisingly caring. We also follow another protagonist, Harrowhark. She's sarcastic, cold and has kind of a stick up her butt, but she's also a very gentle person underneath her shell. Honestly, she reminds me a bit of Sabetha, but in a good way. The supporting cast is very memorable, all of them leave an impression on you.
The writing: oh my god, the writing. The banter. The memes. If you liked Scott Lynch's writing, then Tamsyn Muir's is definitely up your alley. It's both funny and serious, the interaction between Gideon and Harrow is the highlight of the book. They start off hating each other, but through trials and tribulations get to know one another and develop a friendship that is not unlike Jean and Locke's in that they'd literally die for one another.
I conjure you all to give this book a try if you haven't already! I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the first novel, in the hopes that it might pique your interest enough to head to your local bookstore and/or library.
“Nonagesimus,” she said slowly, “the only job I'd do for you would be if you wanted someone to hold the sword as you fell on it. The only job I'd do for you would be if you wanted your ass kicked so hard, the Locked Tomb opened and a parade came out to sing, ‘Lo! A destructed ass.' The only job I'd do would be if you wanted me to spot you while you backflipped off the top tier into Drearburh.”
“That's three jobs,” said Harrowhark.”
DNF - PG 36
Why?
Because, apparently Gideon and Harrow are going to form a relationship wherein ‘they are the most important person to the other' and ‘even though romance is never made explicit, they hit the romance character beats' and there is literally nothing I want to see less than these two girls together in any way, shape or form.
(No, that's a lie. I have read books where the romance is set up similarly to this one, and I drop those books too.)
Honestly, the way they treat each other leaves me disgusted and I cannot imagine any way I would ever ship them together.
In other reasons: We have a lot of minutia overly-described but nothing that actually tells me anything about the world - and: There's a lot of words in this book for how little is actually said. I could, likely, slog through these two issues to see if there was a glimmer of brilliance in the (necromanic) dark - but the big, shudder-inducing, angry-brow furrowing issue of Gideon and Harrow I cannot overlook.
Goodbye.
Overall good world building; it left some things unanswered which I imagine will be cleared in subsequent books, but I loved the overall setting and world building. I don't think I'm reading the subsequent books, I gave them a try but couldn't really get into it.
Overall: 6.5/10
- World Building: 1.5/2 (Quite liked the setup of space faring necromancer civilization, the general idea behind different types of necromancies, well established differences between physical traits and magical capabilities)
- Characters: 2/3 (I think the one thing that stood out is that the world is inconsistent in the type of characters introduced. They are individually great, but the fact that all of them co-exist in the same world at the same can be a bit jarring)
- Writing: 1.5/3 (Some parts were great - e.g. the initial problem solving. Other parts became hard to track; overall some more polish would have helped)
- Fun: 1.5/2 (I had a ball reading this in the initial parts. However, some bit of extended battles really dragged on with detail which - when you're extremely invested in a series, can pay off, but when you're new to a trilogy, can feel dragged out. Gideon as a character is fun)
It isn't a bad book at all, I just didn't feel that the relationship between the 2 main characters progressed naturally. Ending also put me off reading any sequential books.
I lost the book, then when I found it I was already reading other books, I still intend to finish it!
Foiled in her attempt to escape the house she absolutely detests, Gideon is coerced instead to accompany her bitterest enemy Harrowhark to the First house, where Harrow may study, and become one of eight new Lyctors for the Emperor. And, of course, it's not going to go very well at all.
What on earth does any of this mean? Half the joy of the book is the way the world-building is slowly gently teased out through conversations, events and some careful narration. Some mysteries are hidden in plain sight, some are gently teased or hinted at early on, before being brought back with devastating effect later in the book - I found it an amazing roller-coaster ride, and it was nearly impossible to put the book down.
Gideon and Harrow are wonderful protagonists, and if their conflict seems inexplicable to begin with, the reasons are yet another piece of the we're presented with.
I don't think it's for everyone - it is an amazing book, wildly imaginative, with wonderfully drawn characters, a fair smattering of suspense and horror, and it pulls absolutely no punches as things ramp up...
It also leaves a lot of questions to be answered in the next book, and I can't wait to start that one. Probably my favourite book of 2020 - and there's been some stiff competition this year.
There were many many things I wanted to like about this book. The mystery, the world-building, the intrigue between the different planets, and of course the queerness. I loved almost everything about this book. So why only two stars?
I simply could not get past the queen-enslaved person dynamic, especially with the way it was presented in the beginning. If Gideon had been an indentured servant or a disliked member of the working and/or serving class, I might have felt better about it. But Gideon is none of these things; she is enslaved by Harrowhawk. The book opens with her attempting to escape and being viciously thwarted by Harrowhawk, who feels the need to twist the knife even further. It's not enough for Harrowhawk that she has enslaved someone (in fact, many someones); her personal vendetta against Gideon is so strong that she makes the latter's already difficult life even harder.
After this opening scene, the book fails to treat this issue with the weight it deserves. No amount of character development can overlook the fact that Harrowhawk views Gideon as someone she owns. And although everything else about the book is fictional, the issue of enslavement is not, and no amount of fantasy-worldbuilding can compensate for that.
I am feeling such a wide range of emotions after having finished this book. I had tears in my eyes while simultaneously laughing. I love the world building, the magic, and the characters, even if a handfull were awful people. They were all so interesting and different. Everything was just built with such care and a little humor here and there. And it was not afraid of getting gruesome, in death and in the price of magic.
I listened to the audiobook of this as well as read the physical book. I have to say that Moira Quirk did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life each with their own voice and intonation.
Upon first hearing the premise, this book may seem like a lot or too ambitious. But Tamsyn Muir really weaved all the elements of necromancy, outer space, a haunted house and the murder mystery within. As well as the presence of 18+ characters each with distinct personality and motivations.
I cannot wait till I dive back into the nine houses that encompass this deadly solar system.
2.5 stars
disappointing, but not entirely bad! found the world-building incomplete. characters aside from the main two were all a bore. for some reason, just couldn't latch onto the story (in other words, i had no idea what was happening more than half the time). BUT, gideon and harrow are an amusing duo! and the magic system was so cool, wish it was better illustrated...
Contains spoilers
I loved the writing and world building in this book. Tamsyn MuirI could very easily have become a new favorite author of mine. I felt drawn in to the story and was desperately rooting for the main characters.
The reason I took off half a star was because this was yet another book with lgbtqia+ representation where the focus couple gets together towards the end, is briefly happy, then one of them dies. Then when I looked for the second book, the summary made it look like the lesbian(?) character who died never existed. I didn't want to read another book where the queer characters can't survive if they dare to be happy.
In Tamsyn's defense though, I probably should have expected main character death in a book revolving around necromancy.
Really enjoyed this. Was worried I wouldn't, because of the slivers of 2016 meme humour-- but I am pleased to say they didn't bother me after a while. Muir is very talented and writes some great, sharp sentences, and this is a very well-deployed first book in a series, that still tells a complete story while leaving questions and plot threads echoing around in your head. Putting the sequel on hold now.
I tried to read this before, but both it's reputation and deeply annoying meme-laden opening put me off. I was always curious, though, and thanks to reading it alongside someone who both had read it before and is also much smarter and well-read than I, I was able to power through my initial friction and find a book that surprised me with how enjoyable it was.
Really enjoyed the middle stretch, was less fond of the start and the end. Muir's prose presents as being fairly insufferable initially but mostly calms down come the end of the first act, and we get into delightful bitching and courtly intrigue among a cast of delightfully broadly-drawn assholes. It's a shame, then, that all of this bleeds out of the book so quickly in the fourth act, prompting a series of hurried revelations and twists that just become sort of cacophonous after a while, given no room to breathe outside the excellently teasing measured pace of the middle stretch. The characters became drowned out by the plot, which is not an uncommon friction I have with genre fiction, but it is one I was disappointed by. Still, I enjoyed this quite a bit! If I gave out half-stars this would be an easy 3.5, it really was a solid 4-star until I fell out of love a little with the fourth act. I will definitely read the next one, which is the highest praise I can possibly give as someone who is typically uninterested in series that haven't been finished for years.
Wish I could have rated 3.5 stars.
Great characters
Great magic system
Good world
Messy plot at times
3.5. Very fun popcorn read with an engaging world and characters, if a bit trope-y. The fact that the magic system is basically vibe-based didn't bug me because I'm an idiot but I could see that disappointing some. Loved the humor at first, especially in the muddy first section where not much happens, but it did get to be a bit repetitive and at times disrupted the flow of some scenes. MCU-style quips are fun every now snd then but when shit is hitting the fan you gotta be secure enough in the story you're telling to focus on it. On the other hand, the ending is fantastic, as are many (if not all) of the character beats. I literally couldn't put it down for the last 40% and I'm seriously considering buying the second one to cut the line at the library, which I never do. So while my review sounds negative I have to acknowledge that most of this worked for me. I just wouldn't recommend it for everyone. If you want a queer pulpy read with some cool ideas, I recommend. If you want serious worldbuilding without a constant parade of winking puns and pop culture references, maybe look elsewhere.