
Gideon the Ninth is a fantasy sci-fi novel about lesbian necromancers entangled in a Battle Royale cum murder mystery in a haunted mansion in space. The book follows the irrepressibly snarky goth jock lead, Gideon, through action sequences that could rival the best of shounen anime. Despite a hand-wavy world-building at times, the extremely metal plot turns and great ending keep readers hooked. The storytelling style is described as a new level of reading, encouraging readers to give it a try, especially through the audio version for better comprehension.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of death, murder, violence, and abuse.
From The Publisher:
15+ pages of new, original content, including a glossary of terms, in-universe writings, and more!
A USA Today Best-Selling Novel, and one of the Best Books of 2019 according to NPR, the New York Public Library, Amazon, BookPage, Shelf Awareness, BookRiot, and Bustle!
WINNER of the 2020 Crawford Award
Finalist for the 2020 Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards
"Unlike anything I've ever read. " -V.E. Schwab
"Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!" -Charles Stross
"Brilliantly original, messy and weird straight through." -NPR
The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.
Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, first in The Locked Tomb Trilogy, unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. 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 be 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.
THE LOCKED TOMB SERIES
BOOK 1: Gideon the Ninth
BOOK 2: Harrow the Ninth
BOOK 3: Nona the Ninth
BOOK 4: Alecto the Ninth
Ratings (222)
Incredible (58) | |
Loved It (66) | |
Liked It (44) | |
It Was OK (25) | |
Did Not Like (21) | |
Hated It (8) |
Reader Stats (610):
Read It (219) | |
Currently Reading (9) | |
Want To Read (239) | |
Did Not Finish (24) | |
Not Interested (119) |
10 comment(s)
This was a series I for some reason where scared to start but I finally did in december of 2022. It was a really good story and kinda annoyed it took me so long to get to it. Definitely a series I'll continue with!
Hot damn, but does this book live up to its many rave reviews. The main character, Gideon, is one of the best protagonists in anything I’ve read for a long time. She’s a foul-mouthed, dirtbag, horn-ball, sword fighting lesbian goth with a necromancer named Harrow for her best frenemy.
The galactic emperor calls Gideon and Harrow to represent the Ninth House in an important ceremony. This means traveling to a dead planet full of walking skeletons so that they can learn how to ascend to his right hand, along with members of all seven other houses. Problem is, someone keeps killing house members in new and gruesome ways, and Gideon and Harrow have to put aside their differences to stay alive and keep one step ahead of the killer.
Muir builds a fascinating world that feels incredibly unique, all while telling a good old-fashioned murder mystery. I can’t wait for the sequel.
Made me sad. Still need to read book 2.
DNF at 60%. *sigh* This book had such promise.
It started out strong and intriguing, but the world-building left a lot to be desired. What made me quit, however, was that I could no longer tell most of the characters apart. I didn’t know who was whom or why I should care. They were all having an argument and I had no idea who was whom or what the differences were.
It was also somewhat predictable, which was driving me crazy. Apparently, Harrow and Gideon become an item? I called that from the friggin’ beginning of the novel. Goddamn it.
Granted, I’m frustrated with irl problems. But a book that takes place in an alternate universe should not have references to
Mean Girls or other pop culture references. I also didn’t like the use of internet speak, such as “Gideon noped out”. You’re writing a book, not a roleplay or chatting online. I took that to mean that they had internet culture like they do in real life, but now I’m not so sure that the book supports that hypothesis. Moreover, I’m not sure that, if Gideon had internet access, she’d have used it so frivolously.
I felt like the characters came off somewhat flat and, as I said, predictable. Nothing really surprised me very much after a certain point.
I hate when I dislike a popular book like this. It makes me wonder if I read the same book as other people.
I really enjoyed most aspects of this book, but so many things just didn’t connect or felt disparate looking back. The entire interstellar/space aspect felt like a last minute add-on and the overall story would’ve been the exact same without its inclusion. The ending, for me, was a *really* big let down—3 chapters of endless fight scenes with just, bones flying and a big construct with tentacles and sword play…it got old quickly (but I recognize that’s also personal to the kind of things that hold my attention as a reader; protracted fight scenes are often boring to me).
On the plus side, the irreverence of Gideon Nav and the interactions between some characters was super. I loved the shitty teens & Magnus, for example. A solid 3.5/5
Viendo que tanta gente no lo ha acabado me hace desear haber hecho eso tambien.
El primer tercio del libro no es salvable. Es aburrido, es cliche y a la vez es confuso.
El segundo tercio es muy bueno, 5 estrellas.
El final es muy peliculero, bien descrito pero meh.
Just finished a re-read of Gideon, and enjoyed it a lot more the second time around.
First time, I guess I had a preconceived notion of what the language would be like, and I was a bit nonplussed by Gideon's anachronistic, crass dialogue. Second time around, I loved her in all her hot bimbo, self-confident glory.
Some really intriguing world-building in the first novel, and though I've heard Harrow the Ninth is quite a different experience, it's a great invitation to delve deeper into the series
science fantasy with emotion. fantastic writing with horror and suspense aspects
I think I could have enjoyed this significantly more if I could have kept track of how many characters were in a scene. Too many names, titles, people.
I love Gideon so, so much; she's such a legendary loser. Tamsyn Muir's language is the best I have ever read; the way she weaves stories is incredible. This is also true for Harrow the Ninth, Muir does not disapoint.
About the Author:
TAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Series. Her fiction has won the Locus and Crawford awards, and been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Dragon Award, and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom
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