I had seen Gideon The Ninth around but just never found the drive to pick up. I’m not even entirely sure what I read – it was a wild ride!
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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.
My Thoughts
I don’t even know where to start with this book. It was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. The book had me lost for the majority of it. It starts off in a totally unique world with all the world building that entails and just keeps sprinting from there. The cast of characters is huge (with lots of similar names). The Dramatis Personae at the beginning of the book came in handy multiple times.
The politics were heavy and somewhat confusing, mainly because they aren’t your typical political machination. For one thing, it includes necromancers with various strengths and powers. For another, they are in space, in a house filled with its own secrets.
The trials to become Lyctor are undefined and deadly, with 7 other houses vying for the role. Gideon and Harrowhawk start the book as nemesis and stay that way the majority of the book. As they are forced to work together, they come to a tentative truce, which then leads them to muscle through past misconceptions. I still don’t feel like I understand either of them very well, but definitely have a better grasp on Gideon.
I will be thinking about the ending for a while. It impacted me more the further away I’ve gotten from the book. Reading back through quotes has me more emotional than when I read it the first time. For that reason alone, I almost added some to my rating. It is rare for a book to stick with me like that.
It is also one that I may end up rereading. I feel like an additional read would help in my overall understanding of the politics and trials – there is nothing like reread to highlight all the details you missed the first time.
“Harrowhark’s talent had always been in scale, in making a fully realised construct from as little as an arm bone or a pelvis, able to make an army of them from what anyone else would need for one, and in some far-off way Gideon had always known that this would be how she went: gangbanged to death by skeletons.”
― Tamsyn Muir
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