Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Review

Published: September 10, 2019

Publisher: Tordotcom

Series: The Locked Tomb #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 479 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

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.

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. 

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When all the hype around this book first started, I had no interest in reading it even though the cover is *awesome*. Late last year (or was it this year?) I picked up the audiobook and really wasn’t in the mood for Gideon’s sass so I returned it after like, less than an hour of listening. Then it was one of the Tor ebook of the Month freebies so I picked it up thinking maybe one day I’d want to try it again.  I did! I picked it up recently and absolutely devoured it! Sometimes it’s just not the right time or format for a book and this is definitely a case of that.

Gideon only wants to get away from the Ninth House and the aptly named Drearburh castle, but her nemesis since childhood, Harrowhark Nonagesimus, has other plans. Harrow promises Gideon that if she assists her in this summons by their emperor, Gideon can go off and do whatever she so desires. So the duo travels to the First House where Harrow will try to ascend to Lyctorhood and become a divine hand of the Emperor Undying, which would greatly benefit the very much dying Ninth House. The other Lyctor candidates and their cavaliers are a mixed bunch, ranging from military bearing to lamentably dying beauties. The thing about becoming a Lyctor is there is no instruction manual so the candidates are mostly blundering about this bizarre crumbling house with necromantic science experiments in the basement. 

The first ~40% of the book is honestly slow going, but I didn’t mind because reading about Gideon wandering around, pretending a vow of silence so she doesn’t blab that she’s a fraud was very amusing. It was also a great opportunity to get to know the necromancers and their cavaliers and see them interact with one another in a relatively low-stakes environment because half of them hadn’t quite figured out what was going on. The other half were like Harrow, immediately skulking about and gathering information from the day they set foot on this planet populated by skeletons and bare bones staff (haha).

The second half of the book really ramps up the action and has a mystery element to it as they try to discover who or what murdered a necromancer and cavalier. The competition also seriously heats up when the pairs who’ve been mostly sitting around realize that they can’t simply move at their own pace. There are finite resources, and by resources, I mean keys. Keys that unlock laboratories with horrifying necromantic constructs and experiments, which when puzzled through, unlock the finer mysteries of what makes a Lyctor. And oohhh boy, what an ending! All I can say is that it’s awesome that I can read the next two books as soon as I want to because I really need to know what happens next.

I honestly can’t believe how much I loved this, especially after initial non-interest and then a false start. I’m so glad I gave it another chance because I understand the hype! It’s such a weird blend of genres too – a gothic space opera with far more fantasy and horror elements than science fiction. I loved Gideon’s sweary irreverence and Harrow’s very emo skulking. I loved how dramatic everything was, even the other Houses! The Eighth House candidates were absolutely ghastly while the Fourth House candidates were just lil youngsters, albeit with uncanny necromantic and combat abilities. Overall, I had an absolute blast reading this and can’t wait to check out the next one!