Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

 

            Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir was recommended to me by a friend and it was a wild ride from start to finish. Gideon is forced to team up with her childhood rival, necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus, and pretend like she was born to be her sworn bodyguard. Together, they fight against the seven other houses over who is going to ascend to be the Emperor's Lyctor, a saint-like immortal necromancer. 

Gideon is the narrator and one of the many main characters of the novel. While she does come across as reckless and brash, she really is an important person to have on your side. Muir has such an expansive world that it’s almost impossible to include everything in one book. Also, despite having so many characters to keep track of, they all have their own quirks and personalities. I feel like I was able to make real connections to the characters even though there were seventeen characters and eight (technically nine) houses within the galaxy, not including all of the side characters. I flew through this in less than a week (and immediately bought the sequel) and I will definitely have to go back and reread it because of all of the foreshadowing and the layers and layers of plot that Muir seamlessly weaves together. Muir takes a lot of risks in the novel and they all absolutely pay off and I wish I could give a more in depth review, but I think it’s best to go into this totally blind.

This is usually the part of the review where I post things that I didn’t like about the book, but honestly there are very few things to complain about. I will say, I do wish there was a little more world building, but Gideon is often just as confused as we are. The way that Muir creates the world of the Nine Houses does feel more authentic than having to stop every few paragraphs to explain each and every term that I do not understand. Plus, there is a glossary in the back.

Overall, I’d personally rate this a 4/5, mostly because there were still some things I was confused about, but either way I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in fantasy, dark academia, and eldritch horrors beyond comprehension.

Favorite Quotes

• Page 22
• “The more you struggle against the Ninth, Nav, the deeper it takes you; the louder you curse it, the louder they'll have you scream.”
• Page 47
• “If you want to wallow in your shockingly vast reserves of self-pity, cut your throat and save me the food bill.”
• Page 55
• “Things are changing. I used to think we were waiting for something…and now I think we're just waiting to die.”
• Page 226
• “I'm sorry. We take so much. I'm sorry."
• Page 231
• “Don't price you life so cheaply, Griddle.”
• Page 285
• “It's not fair,” and started up again with a great lungful of tears.
• “No. It's not.”
• Page 292
• “I can't bear it,” said Gideon honestly. “It's just such crap’
• “Life is a tragedy,” said Dulcinea. “Left behind by those who pass away, not able to change anything at all. It's the total lack of control... Once somebody dies, their spirit's free forever, even if we snatch at it or try to stopper it or use the energy it creates. Oh, I know sometimes they come back... or we can call them, in the manner of the Fifth... but even that exception to the rule shows their mastery of us, They only come when we beg. Once someone dies, we can't grasp at them anymore, thank God!—except for one person and he's very far from here, I think. Gideon, don't be sorry for the dead. I think death must be an absolute triumph.”
• Page 313
• “Harrow, I hate you,” said Gideon. “I never stopped hating you. I will always hate you, and you will always hate me. Don't forget that. It's not like I ever can.”
• Page 353
• “Of course I wouldn’t be worth it,” Harrow said scornfully. “I’m an abomination. The whole universe ought to scream whenever my feet touch the ground. My parents committed a necromantic sin that we ought to have been torpedoed into the centre of Dominius for. If any of the other Houses knew of what we'd done they would destroy us from orbit without a second’s thought. I am a war crime.”
• Page 385
• “To walk with the dead forever…enormous power, recycled within you, from the ultimate sacrifice…to make yourself a tomb.”
• Page 437
• "I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it.”