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Gideon the Ninth
Gideon the Ninth
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GtN: the Snark is Strong With This One
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I really enjoy the mixture of Dark Fantasy and pulp Science Fiction elements in Gideon the Ninth - with Necromancy and God-Emperors and all - and they way it is subverted by the irreverent tone. This kind of mixture reminds me in a way of the trashy late 90s Science Fiction series "Lexx" with its dark empire, undead assassins and "His Divine Shadow" - the immortal Emperor. While the satire elements are way stronger in "Lexx" - the "feel" reminds me quite a bit.
Does anyone else feel similarly?
Edit: After rewatching a clip: Nevermind. My teen self saw that show with different eyes it seems
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I somehow missed that.
It can't have been very popular in Oz
It was a German/Canadian co production. It was cheap, wacky and incredibly dark and apparently didn't age very well...
Lexx was at its best when it was most off the wall. Towards the end it was blandified, but it was strangely fascinating at times.
I’m slightly less than a third of the way through and tbh the snarky tone is starting to grate a little. The setup is intriguing but the characters feel quite shallow. I’m finding myself thinking “shall I listen to Audible? Nah, let’s see if any of my podcasts have new episodes!” which is never a good sign...
Jan wrote: "Edit: After rewatching a clip: Nevermind. My teen self saw that show with different eyes it seems"Funny how our tastes change. I loved watching Speed Racer and Ultraman as a kid, but when I revisited them as an adult I couldn’t believe how silly and poorly-made they were. But kids don’t care. We are innocent and naive and everything is awesome.
Lexx was kind of like a poor man’s Dune back in the day. I’m convinced The Chronicles of Riddick was inspired by it. I couldn’t get into it, but it was paired with Stargate SG-1 on Showtime here in the States, and Stargate was just better in every particular.
Well, I finished it last night and I'm glad that it picked up as it did. It is one of my favorite books from the SaL book list since I started on Trail of Lightening. The characters sold me as well as the maturing relationship between Gideon and Harrowhark. The actions sequences were well timed and interesting to read.There was a need for the character guide at the beginning as I got lost a bit during many of the group conversations. It also felt more like a Scooby Do mystery book even until the end. It also was somewhat predictable on the major plot points. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the ride to the end and had to finish it.
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It was 'ok'. Better than Meh, but slightly worse that 'Good', IMO.
By the end, an 'everyone dies' scenario would have been acceptable. I never really cared about any of the characters. I liked the snark and animosity between Gideon and Harrowhark, while liking neither of them.
I won't be reading a sequel.
Tassie Dave wrote: "I gave it 3 Stars, but would have given it 2½ Stars if that option was available.It was 'ok'. Better than Meh, but slightly worse that 'Good', IMO.
By the end, an 'everyone dies' scenario would ..."
I'm with you. Once the Plot finally showed up, it wasn't a struggle to pick up the book anymore (well, press 'play' - I listened to it), but I won't be picking up any more in the trilogy.
Points for unreliable narrator, though. I enjoy that.
Should probably start a thread with spoiler warning to discuss it further.
I'm currently re-watching BlackAdder on Prime. In comparison, the snark here is insignificant:)
Trike wrote: "Lexx was kind of like a poor man’s Dune back in the day."Oh yes! "Irreverent Dune" may be a good description for "Gideon the Ninth"! Or maybe "YA Necrohammer 40K"...
I loved the snark. I had no trouble with following characters, but maybe if someone had more time pass between reading sessions, I suppose it could be confusing.I really loved Palamedes and Camilla, and I liked Dulcinea and Corona (although I can't say I really understand Corona's motives). Magnus was a nice guy, and Colum seemed a decent sort.
I enjoyed the characters of Naberius and Ianthe, even though I didn't LIKE them. We didn't see enough of Abigail to form an opinion, or Pro for that matter. Judith and her cavalier were kind of annoying. Silas was easy to hate. And I really had no feelings whatsoever for the shitty teens.
I have about two hours left in the audiobook and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.I like snark. :)
since we're mentioning the different house character's. I actually liked the fourth house shitty teen. there the only ones who didn't seem to be subject to Gideon's feeling on them. are viewpoint is so reliant on her perpestive that the other house turn in card board cutout roll players to me. Jeanmarie started off so timid even afraid of Gideon and ended up being braver than anyone else. since Gideon first impression always came out pretty accurate I expected them to be really shitty teens who we hate. other than Colum form the 8th they were the ones who surprised me.
I knew the second would be overbarring from the start, third would have personal disfuction but would be a major player and one of it members would be sacrafied, fifth would die first to nice for own good. sixth lacked conviction so I knew they would be a player but loss whatever competition was happing. I knew from the beginning that the seventh was off somehow and I was not surprised at all when there secret was revealed. eigth were creeps so I new what to expect from them or at least Silas. I thought the Fourth would cause more conflit and be killed early did not expect a sacrafical lamb senerio. overall pretty pridicable but entertaining as far a mysteries go. Ageatha Christy would be proud if not impressed!
I saw this as Ageathean mystery right away in the vain of and then there were none or clue to give another example. I couldn't have been the only one. this allowed me to separated the house into victims/suspects early on and my conclusions held pretty well. with 1.) the emperor/emperor's agents
2.) Dulcinea
3.) Harrowhark
4.) Third twin's probably Ianthe
being my suspects. very happy with the mystery aspect of the book. kept me going till the end!
Jan wrote: " Or maybe "YA Necrohammer 40K"..."you just took the silver medal in the Blurb wars, right behind Warren Ellis
I'll admit that "lesbian necromancers in space" had kept me from reading this before, but if someone had said "snarky lesbian necromancers in space" instead, I would have jumped right in. My fear was that it was going to be "oh so goth", but the snark defused much of that for me. I very much enjoyed it
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only gripe so far is that I wish their was more world building I don't know a lot about this universe why is it set in space after all? the last few sword and laser reads ITCOO and the snow queen has had really well describes universes I enjoyed. probably the strong part of those books.