Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Started: 3 September 2021
Finished: 8 November 2021
I think I might be the last person on the planet (or at least on Book Twitter) to read Gideon the Ninth. And after reading it, I do understand the hype. The tension and conflict between Gideon and Harrow leaps off the page. The action is a mix of the familiar — sword fights and rivalries — and the bizarre — the necromantic constructs and bone melting magic. It is inventive, unique, driven for me, primarily, by the relationship between Gideon and Harrow. Gideon is the reader’s perfect lens to the story, because if I was confused by some of the ways the necromancy was described or I didn’t quite understand all the political scheming of the other houses, neither did Gideon.
This is a book that stretches the imagination, and has a surprising conclusion, (that of course I won’t spoil here!) I did get a little lost in the plot, so the pieces didn’t always come together for me with Gideon the Ninth, but overall, the relationship between Gideon and Harrow kept me reading and invested to the last page.
2021 Reads:
- This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- Shuri by Nic Stone
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
- Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
- Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
- The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
- Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
- Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri
- Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey
- Magic’s Promise by Mercedes Lackey
- Magic’s Price by Mercedes Lackey
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir