Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Necromancers are required by the Emperor. We require a swordswoman for the Ninth Necromancer. Gideon has a sword, some questionable publications, and no time for more zombie nonsense. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir reveals a world of swordplay, ruthless politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her figures are as deftly alive as arcane revenants, springing off the page. As a result, a thrilling epic scientific fantasy is produced. Gideon is prepared to give up a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse after being raised by unpleasant, ossifying nuns, elderly retainers, and numerous skeletons. She gathers her soiled magazines, dirty shoes, and sword in preparation for her daring escape. However, her old enemy won’t release her without performing a favour.
Harrowhark is determined to have Gideon accompany her as a bodyguard now that the emperor has ordered his necromancers into battle. Gideon will be a hero and a free woman if she lives. If not, she can anticipate spending all of her time as a lumbering bone servant.
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Amazon.com
This is an extremely unique book to read, full of dark concepts, twisted worldbuilding, and the strangest sense of humour. It needs excellent writing, with vividly depicted characters and events, to pull it off. The plot density and cleverness are ultimately pleasing, and the narrator’s pacing is wonderfully done.
The Ninth House, who are the keepers of the Locked Tomb, employs the orphaned Gideon Nav as their servant, a role she despises. She is enlisted to accompany the House’s heir, the necromancer Harrowhark, on a mission to the First House after her most recent effort to flee is unsuccessful. If the Ninth is successful, the Emperor will view it as having influence and power. Strange duties, some of which will prove lethal even to those who have control over death, await the scions of all the Houses.
The book is a technological thriller in which the mismatched Harrowhark and Gideon grudgingly cooperate with (and against) members of the other eight houses to uncover the mysteries of the First House in order to determine who is deserving of replacing Lyctor, the Emperor’s right hand. Because our sole point-of-view character, Gideon, has only ever lived on the grim, dreary, and death-obsessed Ninth planet and has no knowledge of what the other worlds are like the setting—an empire of nine planets around a central star—is depicted in broad strokes.
It paints a very intriguing picture of an empire that has survived for ten thousand years against far-off external threats thanks to the unwavering vigilance of the mysterious god-emperor, whose real history, motivation, and even name remain a mystery. Worldbuilding is drip-fed slowly into the narrative.
Our main character, Gideon, is independent, self-sufficient, and hostile to authority. She also loves mysteries and longs for freedom but is unsure of what to do once she has it. She has a questionable co-dependent connection with the stern Harrowhark, who tries to be mysterious and respected (qualities that don’t usually go together well), but finds it challenging to do so because of her and Gideon’s animosity.
The main focus of the book is their relationship, and it won’t be much of a spoiler to say that they eventually come to an understanding and find a way to cooperate in order to defeat their common enemies. However, I must admit that I found the transition from outright enemies to bantering frenemies to be a little abrupt. When the oppressive atmosphere and baroque chicanery threaten to turn Turned-to-Eleven Gormenghast, Gideon is a strong (though archetypical) protagonist whose more easygoing, informal, and pomposity-puncturing style of speaking can be a bit of a relief.
A minor secondary cast of people from different houses, including soldiers like Marta Dyas, Naberius Tern, and Jeannemary Chatur, as well as house heirs like Dulcinea Septimus and Palamedes Sextus, are included in the novel. The secondary character is painted with skill and wit by Muir, who has a wonderful way with names. From Chatur’s young exuberance to Tern’s lethal assurance to Septimus’s wounded bird charm.
