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mburnamfink 's review for:
Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
Gideon the Ninth is rollicking stylish gothic space opera, a snarky tale of swordswoman and necromancers. We meet Gideon about to make her escape from the House of the Ninth, a planetary sepulchral. She's stopped from getting on her shuttle offworld and a new life in the Legions of the Undying Emperor by Harrowhark, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth, powerful necromancer, stone cold bitch, and Gideon's nemesis. There's a once in 10,000 year opportunity to join the Lyctors, the elite champions of the Emperor. Houses 2 through 9 are sending their champions, and that means that Gideon and Harrowhark have to work together.
The challenge to achieving the rank of Lyctor is hidden somewhere in a vast crumbling palace full of locked doors and deadly experiments. And when someone or something begin murdering the applicants, the stakes are raised very very high. This books works as both gothic space opera and also gen-Z sarcasm. Gideon has a ton of foulmouthed wit and charm, laying down swordstrokes and burns with equal aplomb. There's a raw authenticity to the best frenemy relationship between Gideon and Harrowhawk, who despise each other and are the most important people in each other's lives. The murder island setting makes the 'what-if high school but scifi?' YA-dystopia tropes come alive. Gideon is also very much into women, though describing this as a lesbian book is a bit of a stretch; lots of lust, but no love.
I've got a couple of quibbles. The cast of characters isn't that big, but the fact that the necromancers and cavaliers of each house are referred to at various points by first name, last name, nick name, and occasionally title meant that about half of them swirled as faceless opposition, rather than real characters. The resolution of the murder mystery is a bit of an out-of-context ass pull, rather than something a reader could conceivably figure out. But verve and joy count for a lot, and Gideon the Ninth is the best new speculative fiction I've read in months.
*** UPDATE for 2024 ***
Due to some personal health issues, I was recovering with audiobooks, and got about a third of the way through the audiobook, which is excellent, before running out of credits and finishing on Kindle. Everything I said previously still applies. More thoughtfully, the first act on Drearburgh is incredible. The last scene, the epic knock-down drag out fight, is also fantastic. But the middle drags, especially before the murders start, and the revelation that the sickly Dulcinea is actually the Lyctor Cytherea is impossible to guess from the evidence provided. But again, style counts for a lot.
The challenge to achieving the rank of Lyctor is hidden somewhere in a vast crumbling palace full of locked doors and deadly experiments. And when someone or something begin murdering the applicants, the stakes are raised very very high. This books works as both gothic space opera and also gen-Z sarcasm. Gideon has a ton of foulmouthed wit and charm, laying down swordstrokes and burns with equal aplomb. There's a raw authenticity to the best frenemy relationship between Gideon and Harrowhawk, who despise each other and are the most important people in each other's lives. The murder island setting makes the 'what-if high school but scifi?' YA-dystopia tropes come alive. Gideon is also very much into women, though describing this as a lesbian book is a bit of a stretch; lots of lust, but no love.
I've got a couple of quibbles. The cast of characters isn't that big, but the fact that the necromancers and cavaliers of each house are referred to at various points by first name, last name, nick name, and occasionally title meant that about half of them swirled as faceless opposition, rather than real characters. The resolution of the murder mystery is a bit of an out-of-context ass pull, rather than something a reader could conceivably figure out. But verve and joy count for a lot, and Gideon the Ninth is the best new speculative fiction I've read in months.
*** UPDATE for 2024 ***
Due to some personal health issues, I was recovering with audiobooks, and got about a third of the way through the audiobook, which is excellent, before running out of credits and finishing on Kindle. Everything I said previously still applies. More thoughtfully, the first act on Drearburgh is incredible. The last scene, the epic knock-down drag out fight, is also fantastic. But the middle drags, especially before the murders start, and the revelation that the sickly Dulcinea is actually the Lyctor Cytherea is impossible to guess from the evidence provided. But again, style counts for a lot.