Gideon the Ninth

The Locked Tomb, #1

by Tamsyn Muir

448 pages

Published July 18, 2019 by Tor.com.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-31319-5
Goodreads:: 42036538

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(6 reviews)

"The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.

Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.

"The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead."

4 editions

KnittedMushroom reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #1)

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Oh my GOD did I love this book! I didn't head into it with very high hopes even, as I've been let down by highly rated and recommended books before. While initially I was a little put off at some of the Marvel-movie-esque dialogue from the protagonist, I slowly settled into loving every bit of every single character written in this universe. To the point where "turbo cancer" absolutely took me out in the best way.

Muir has done an incredible job at crafting both an incredibly in-depth world and magic system. With such beautiful and ornate descriptions let you picture every single thing in remarkable clarity. As I mentioned prior, she's also crafted so many well rounded and intriguing characters that I wanted to know more about every. single. one of them. Even the assholes. I find most authors are either good at building worlds or building characters, Muir …

coldwave@book.dansmonorage.blue reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Good?

3 stars

Runs on Rule of Cool, nothing strictly makes sense, but that's ok. I feel like this is the apex of a certain genre of young adult novels - the ones with factions and theming and everything. It's really well-written and having fun with it.

Refreshingly free of hetero plots.

Shallow, or at least nothing in it to interest me specifically. I will not be prioritizing the sequels.

finktank reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The only horror-genre novel I've ever liked?

No rating

I'm not into horror. Period. Don't like to read it, don't like to watch it. Don't even really like to hear it talked about. But this was a good ride, engaging, with profoundly beautiful visual description. It managed to be quite long and complex, and yet still relatively simple too. It turned cliches about and brought them back with something new.

Leah reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Fun!

5 stars

I'm not sure how else to describe Gideon. The dark atmosphere of the book is one that I really enjoy. It's got little twists and turns. I found it easy to settle in with and difficult to put down.

polymerwitch reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

dark fantasy for the jaded millennial

4 stars

I loved the characters in this book. Enough so that I greatly look forward to the next in the series. I did find the story structure telling a little light, and it often reminded me of epic adult Scooby Doo. It's a hybrid of the jaded millennial reluctantly participating in society (but on their own terms) and a Shakespeare-ian 5-act play, where the protagonist forms a band who tries to unmask the monster clue by clue. The telling was still lots of fun. I guess it just felt like it couldn't decide if it was quirky pop comedy or something deeper.

Darius Kazemi reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #1)

A love-it-or-hate-it proposition

3 stars

Count me as one of the people who really can't stand the author's extremely strong authorial voice. Sometimes it was genuinely funny and I loved it but it was SO omnipresent and overbearing that eventually it felt like I was being told a pretty interesting scifi/fantasy story by someone who desperately needs me to find them hilarious.

I love the world it's set in, I love the whole goth cultists in space thing. I don't like the protagonist and I don't like that most of the characters are emotionally confused teenagers. It feels like I was tricked into reading a mislabeled YA novel. And like, YA is fine, but I like to know what I'm getting into ahead of time?

I think that if your sense of humor aligns with the author you might love this novel! But if you don't, you might hate it.