From the Bookshelf of The Sword and Laser…

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)

Tamsyn Muir

Start date: February 1, 2020

Finish date: February 29, 2020

Discussion: Gideon the Ninth

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Gideon the Ninth

GtN: Make this a video game!
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What Members Thought

May 17, 2020 Silvana rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fyeahfantasy, female-nonbinary-authors, freebies, sff-2020-reading-challenge, audiobooks, hugo-nominees-2020, lgbtqia, z-2020-fantasy-novel-novella, dnf-i-just-cant

First DNF in 2020! I gave it 90 minutes of my life that I'll never get back :(

I did not enjoy any of it. The world building was thin, uninteresting, not sure why it had to have space at all, and why it's classified as SF. Star Wars might have more SF than this.

Anyway, the thing I hated the most are the characters. Could they be more grating. I felt like hitting them with bones whenever they opened their mouths. I read better teenage fantasy than this one, and better banters too. I'm fine with th ...more

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May 01, 2020 mina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I did not read the synopsis of the book, but Tor.com had put out articles on this so many times which I avoided to read, and also the cover is awesome, so obviously I picked this book as one of my pandemic quarantine readings. I like the book and have decided to continue with the series.

This book is a fantasy story (necromancy), combined with a little horror and mystery, and some detailed explanations (or maybe they are vague to me, because the theorems or whatever just go over my head) on necro I did not read the synopsis of the book, but Tor.com had put out articles on this so many times which I avoided to read, and also the cover is awesome, so obviously I picked this book as one of my pandemic quarantine readings. I like the book and have decided to continue with the series.

This book is a fantasy story (necromancy), combined with a little horror and mystery, and some detailed explanations (or maybe they are vague to me, because the theorems or whatever just go over my head) on necromancy technology thrown in. The story is fast-paced after some slow introduction to the Canaan House, and it kept twitching to unexpected direction, made me constantly changing assumptions of who's actually responsible for the whole murders in the Canaan House, where all the representative necromancers and cavaliers from the 9 Houses assembled to become Lyctors.

The worldbuilding is original, but unfortunately not explained in detail, maybe because the author has several books in mind. The readers understand it by experiencing the story, which I like. But I still think my comprehension of their world is sketchy: What are the primary skill of each house? Who is the Emperor Undying, and why is he undead? Why does he needs so many Lyctors and what for? Why he has to wait so long to replenish his Lyctor numbers? What happened long time ago that led to the deep hate in his Lyctors' hearts? So many revelations are expected in the next books of the series: Harrow the Ninth (will be published in August 2020), and Alecto the Ninth.

Now let's talk about Gideon Nav, the redhead "cavalier primary" from the Ninth House, the protagonist: I like her loud and hilarious sarcasms (bordering to annoying, almost reminding me to the loudmouth protagonists in Andy Weir books), along with her soft heart for anything beautiful or skillful. I like her badass fighting skills (she did not even use her usual double longswords in this book) and her hate/hate/love-hate relationship with her necromancer, Harrowhark Nonagesimus. I like her righteousness and her decisiveness. But I do think she did not have time to show her full potential in this book *sigh.

Her necromancer, Harrow, on the other side, keep progressing to be even better than her parents and grandparents. She has to, her name is on the second book cover, so at least we know that she did not die (or if she died, she came back in one piece). Also badass and violent in a cold way, I admire this studious and talented character, and she stopped at nothing to get her way. Eagerly wait to see what she'll become in Book 2.

Other characters are originally interesting, too, each with their own unique quirkiness. But, ah, the ending, the ending!

The book is advertised quoting Charles Stross: “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!" but there is really no lesbian story in it. There is some feeble attempt here and there, but no romance scenes, which is good. I have read quite a lot of good fantasy books with meh love stories, that I think those books will be better without them. ...more

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Feb 23, 2020 Leesa rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookclub-pick, audiobook, 20xx_s-l_team_veronica, 2020

I liked this book quite a bit. Moira Quirk is an exceptional narrator.

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Apr 16, 2020 Sharlene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, library, ebook, women-writers, speculative-fiction, 2020

This book is an absolutely brilliant, soul-sucking, bloody, batshit crazy yet completely absorbing read that has you holding your breath with every insane twist and turn of this roller coaster of reading ride.

It is impossible to really describe this book accurately but I’ll try.

Gideon the Ninth is set in a very distant future (perhaps?) in which there are nine houses and all of them deal in a kind of death-related magic.

And there is to be a tournament in which each House sends a necromancer and This book is an absolutely brilliant, soul-sucking, bloody, batshit crazy yet completely absorbing read that has you holding your breath with every insane twist and turn of this roller coaster of reading ride.

It is impossible to really describe this book accurately but I’ll try.

Gideon the Ninth is set in a very distant future (perhaps?) in which there are nine houses and all of them deal in a kind of death-related magic.

And there is to be a tournament in which each House sends a necromancer and a cavalier who is an expert at sword fighting (although there are clearly more advanced technologies around, these Houses feel very ancient somehow, including the tournament’s preference for the cavaliers to use rapiers).

Gideon Nav is the cavalier (well, sort of, more like a sub really) to the Ninth House, to Harrowhark, with whom she has had a mutual hatred since they were young. But she has been promised freedom if she accompanies Harrow to this tournament to become a Lyctor. Lyctors are insanely powerful and work directly for the Emperor in his war against an unknown enemy (I’m guessing it’s to be revealed in the rest of the series). And guess what, this tournament takes place on another planet. And it turns out all the Houses exist on different planets.

So yes, let’s see, there are necromancers, there are warriors, there are skeletons and death magics and they all take place on a galactic empire. And the Ninth House is the creepiest, the weirdest House of all, the kind which has people avoiding their gaze in case they inflict a curse on them or something (and yet dying to watch every little thing they are doing). Sounds a bit insane but it is gloriously brilliant (and also insane).

Ok so this might sound a bit too “out there” for some but this was for me, an absolutely compelling read. The crazy world building, the heart-thumping action, the dark whimsical magic, and that Gideon, that funny, irreverent humour, that hate-not-hate relationship with Harrow, it was everything. ...more

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Jul 01, 2020 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Gideon and Murderbot would be absolutely best friends and this book was funny and enjoyable and fast, sort of like an Agatha Christie mystery with skeletons that make dinner and necromancer teen angst and an ending makes you go “NOOOOOOOOO....ok.” Super recommended.

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Nov 15, 2020 Troy rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, ebook

I went into this thinking I was going to read a fantasy novel, instead, I quickly realized it was swords and necromancers in space! I was immediately drawn to Gideon and the arc of her relationship with Harrow was great. Throw in a world that you have limited information about, an interesting cast of other characters and necromancers, and a mystery, and I had a hard time putting the book down. The ending does leave some big thread left dangling so I will definitely be adding the 2nd book to my r ...more

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