Gideon the Ninth made my Top 10 Fav Books list from last year, so you know I bought Harrow the Ninth as soon as possible. And I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Libro.fm for access to the ALC, so I could listen to it while following with the physical copy. This was a wonderful experience because the narrator was truly phenomenal, the perfect voice, but also because I needed both reading methods to carry myself through. This book was unbelievable...in the literal sense! 

 

We leave Harrowhark Nonagesimus at the end of the first book after losing Gideon and becoming a Lyctor (as she wanted!) and meeting the Emperor/God. We come back to her at the start of this second installation as she begins her training with God's remaining three Lyctors (Augustine, Mercy, and Ortus) alongside her only surviving new Lytor "classmate" Ianthe Tridentarius. They're facing having to learn new Lyctor skills right quick, because the Emperor's enemies are coming....and the inevitable confrontation is likely unwinnable. Plus, Harrow's sword makes her sick, her mind is playing tricks on her (was everything that happened with Gideon in book one even real, and if so, why is her mind rewriting it?), and someone is definitely trying to kill her. 

 

Here we are. Book two of this gloriously confusing sapphic space necromancer saga. Like seriously, I have never gotten more enjoyment out of reading a novel that I mostly don't understand. And I mean that for real - for the first third, I had actually no clue what was going on. About a third in, I finally started to have some pieces falling into place for me (or at least, I thought) and some suspicions about what might have happened and/or might be going on. I think it's not a spoiler to say that about a third of the way in was when I realized and truly began to settle in to the fact that alongside the "current" storyline, we were getting a re-writing of the events of book one, in short, as they may have been without Gideon. Once I cottoned on to that, I enjoyed the suspense of that prior story unfolding alongside the "what is going on in present day that made Harrow make herself forget Gideon?" And THEN about three quarters of the way in, everything hit the proverbial fan. Like, everything. The rewriting of the past (in the spirit world) began unfolding simultaneous to the present day invasion fiasco of the Emperor's stronghold (in the physical world) and the millenia-long drama of the Emperor's lies and the Lyctor's secret plans (and lots of super complicated and awkward body-switching and reproduction stuff) comes out into the open in the MOST INTENSE WAY! Like, reading/listening to it all come to light....I could NOT put the book down. It was truly epic-level, mind-blowing drama. Plus, again, hopefully not a spoiler, that 3/4 point was when we finally got Gideon's voice back and let me tell you, the second her narration hit the page I was CHEERING. I can think of very few narrative voices that I love as much as her creatively-dark snark/sarcasm and reluctant love/protection for Harrow. UGH YES. 

 

Yea, I'm not really sure what else I can even say about this book. I'll tell you what, there is no "playing it safe" or "bridge-book" vibe to this second-in-a-trilogy novel. Muir dives in head first and continues to take risks and write with such creative edginess and originality. There's something so compelling about the world-building and character interactions and, honestly, the entire vibe, that just makes me want to bury myself in the book and never leave. Holy effing YES I am into this series and I cannot wait to hear more about this terrible Alecto the Ninth (and, obvs, to see what happens to my beloved duo Harrow and Gideon) in the final installation! 

 

“…once you turn your back on something, you have no more right to act as though you own it.” 

 

“….but you were seized, all over again, by doubt in the face of fact. The uncertainty of the insane. The conviction of the mad.” 

 

“There’s a difference between keeping a shred of dance card […] and saving the last dance.”