Gideon the Ninth

[alaterdate]

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir has got to be, hands down, my favorite read of the year. How could I find anything as good in the last four months of the year? Unless it's, you know, maybe Harrow the Ninth (but I have yet to get my hands on it).

The lore is thick, the lore is a measured ooze. And that turns some people away. They want to know what's going on. They want to know immediately. But all that matters is that Gideon kicks ass. Plus, the relaxed writing style is engaging enough to hold the weight of being dropped in this fantastical world.

I was thinking about the writing and it kind of reminds me of John Dies at the End by David Wong, but tighter. More focused. More sure. Need I say: better. It's really good. I loved the style a lot. It immediately drew me in.
Muir does however have her favorite phrases and images so that by the end they've kind of lost their impact, but that's not a major detraction because her writing is fun as hell.

The plot? The plot! The plot is so damn good.
Gideon is coerced to serve the head of the Ninth House in a way she never has before. As the cavalier to Harrow the necromancer. They go to a gothic mansion (on an entire different planet mind you!) to compete for the necromancer's chance at immortality against seven other houses. Seven other necromancers. Seven other cavaliers.
They don't play nice.

I knew very early on that it was going to contain so many of the things I love. It's that character plot about someone struggling with having every reason to "turn" on someone who treated/s them like shit (as I have said before), and having to decide whether or not to. Gideon doesn't struggle as much as other characters I've loved with this ordeal, but it's there. And I wondered how the hell Muir was going to get Harrow to a place where she's likeable enough to be the main character of the second book. WELL. She did it. (I need that book augh!) I must admit though that nearer to the end it seemed a tad forced perhaps, but still plausible.

Don't even get me started on the haunted gothic mansion bits. The mystery of locked doors, of knowledge kept beyond our grasp? THE MURDER. What more could someone ask for?
I really enjoyed all of that. Even when the answer was clear to me as a reader and the characters still fumbled around (in disbelief). Because you know something terrible. And dramatic irony is delicious.

As for characters: we all know I love Gideon. (If you didn't know: I love Gideon. And this review was nearly me repeating that single phrase innumerous times.) I love Gideon so much, I returned my borrowed copy of this book to the library and bought my own copy. My own copy that I promptly annotated (and colored in some of the roses and jewels). But did you know that I also loved everyone else in this book?
The character relationships between each necromancer and their respective cavalier is simply summed up with a chef's kiss. Complete loyalty. Betrayal. Also things I love to read about.
But I love Gideon the most.

Were we supposed to ship Gideon and Harrow? Did you ship Gideon and Harrow? It seemed to teeter there, but never quite cinched it. Despite the, you know, heroics. I was really rooting for Gideon/Dulcinea, but that turned out, uh, bad, lol.

In summary: this book was amazing. I love it dearly. And please take a very good look at the cover because it took me so long to realize in the kindle thumbnail that Gideon is wearing sunglasses. I love her so much. Muir's excellent, refreshing, writing style and the plethora of characters are not to be overlooked! Look at them!

Comments

[tetralogy]

I read GtN back in June. I can already say it's my favorite book of the year, because I highly doubt anything I read in the next three months is going to surpass it. Definitely love Gideon the character, too. I think her irreverence was so delightful juxtaposed against the broody gothic atmosphere. And against Harrow lmao. I did end up shipping them by the end (the pool scene! THE POOL SCENE!), but I think people who go into it thinking they're going to get a romance are bound to be disappointed. The book's not really about that, IMO.

I got HtN when it came out, and I still think GtN takes the cake. But HtN is a VERY different book from the first, so comparing them almost feels unfair. I'd love to hear your thoughts whenever you get around to it.

[alaterdate]

Gideon was so funny and cute! I agree! Her cheekiness was a highlight for sure. All the "my gothic queen" quips were amusing.

The pool scene is where I went, "Oh. OH! Oh?" I had read a comment from Muir that there wasn't really a romance in the book. Specifically: "the plot contains arguably very little romance" from an answer she wrote on goodreads. So I wasn't expecting much happening outside of Gideon's thoughts, however, there were a lot of times I was seeing it as an enemies-to-lovers thing (which I love). I just... augh... I think I shipped Gideon more with Dulcinea and that's probably what's mentally blocking me from jumping deep into Gideon/Harrow, unfortunately.... lol. But the latter part where it was basically like "they know each other so well because they hated each other" ugh my heart! That was so cool.

Did you have a favorite House besides the Ninth? I thought the Sixth House was interesting (and they got a lot of narrative tied to them), but every time the Eighth House came up, on all levels except physical, I became the eyes emoji 👀

I read the preview for HtN in the back of my GtN paperback ver. and I already assume it's going to lean harder into the sci-fi aspect which is fine even though I don't tend to read sci-fi. Honestly, I'm just hoping for some sweet, sweet (Gideon related) angst (also I want to know what that mysterious note was about!). Because I loathe hardcovers (and my GtN is paperback so they wouldn't match!) I'm waffling on just buying it, buying the digital then the paperback when it releases, or waiting the... 16 weeks... the library says it will take to get it in my hands. RIP.

[tetralogy]

I also found the Sixth House really interesting! My career is medicine-adjacent so medical-necromancy was a total treat to read about. The Eighth House was also fascinating, in a creepy sort of way lol. I think I actually have a soft spot for the Third, though? Like Coronabeth pretending to be a necromancer was tragic (and the foreshadowing I picked up during my re-read was delightful), Ianthe is so horrible lol, and Naberius is just a pretty tool, but I still feel bad about what happened to him.

I can promise that HtN contains buckets of angst. Angst of every variety :D

[alaterdate]

Have you read the Sixth House short story on the Tor website?
I loved how each house had their own style of necromancy, I didn't expect that.
Yes, I found the Eight interesting because it was so creepy. The scene in their room? Gideon couldn't get out of there fast enough for us both!
Ah, poor Nab. He was pissed wasn't he? lol. The turn around for the Third House was compelling. Muir did a great bit of concealing and foreshadowing with them.

Oh, thank the stars!

[tetralogy]

I thought I had read that short story (the version of GtN I have on my Kindle came with a lot of extra goodies), but apparently I have not! Thanks for sending it my way! :D