I have yet to come across a BookTuber who has read Gideon The Ninth and said “It was fine, but I’m not going to continue with the series.” As someone who watches a l o t of BookTube I can attest – this is a rarity. However, I still wasn’t ready to take the plunge and buy the book. So I trotted myself down to my local library to pick it up, it wasn’t there. The following week, same again. Reader, I have waited four months for this book to become available at my local lib. My anticipation was sky-fucking-high. So here we go: Necromancers in space, Rosenburger’s review.
Warning, if you want a review that contains no plot points at all – this is not for you
What is Gideon The Ninth about?
Gideon is a woman desperate to get off the Ninth House – a planet that is dreary with death and decay and a ruling necromancer who specialises in manipulating bones. It’s really not Gideon’s scene and she’s been trying to get off-world since the age of four. The only thing that has kept her going is her love of the sword (and bad jokes, probably). In a flick and swish, she’d take your damn head off. The ruling Necro – Harrowhark Nonagesimus – does not care for this or her. But then, the Emperor begs a necromancer and their protector (’cavalier’) from each of the Houses to come to the First House for a series of trials where they will eventually become right-hand to the Emperor himself. Harrow is seriously powerful. Gideon is seriously powerful. They team up to become Lyctors and basically, boss bitch this shit.
Arch-nemeses at the beginning of the book, Gideon and Harrow traverse space, murder attempts, murder, political intrigue and a haunted house whilst learning to trust themselves and one another.
What is going on?
The question I asked myself the most while reading this novel. Muir doesn’t want you understand the plot and where it is leading until the opportune moment. As soon as you understand one plot point, another five come into play that leave you equally muddled. There’s no point in reading and re-reading sentences to piece things together. Just log it in your head so that you understand once the reveal is made.
I thought this was fucking brilliant. There’s no awkward exposition in this book or long warbling explanations of lore spanning the founding of the Houses to the present day. 200 children died in the Ninth House which has made Gideon and Harrow the only people in their generation? No questions on this please, we won’t get back to it for AT LEAST another 200 pages so gird your loins. You’re not spoon-fed anything here. You’re expected to be an attentive reader who trusts the author to present their narrative accurately, you only need keep up.
World-building
Gideon The Ninth is set in space. There are Nine Houses – planets – that spin around a sun called Dominicus. We spend our time on two of those planets – The First and the Ninth.
The Ninth House
This is where the book begins and where we stay for the first 100 pages or so. The other seven houses worship the Emperor but it seems that the Ninth’s religion more closely worships The Locked Tomb – the place where the Emperor’s greatest enemy’s corpse resides. The planet spins slowly, leaving the inhabitants in darkness for much of the year but I am sure this doesn’t matter the main dwelling appears to be a drill shaft into the planet (where I assume, it is quite dark). The air is sulfurous. The atmosphere is pumped in. The soil is dry and hard. Everyone paints their face like skulls. It’s miserable.
The First House
The First House is uninhabited so nope, I didn’t make a typo when I wrote ‘seven houses’ above. Very different to the Ninth House, the First House is covered in salty water and is often warm. The only inhabitable place upon it is Canaan House. This is where the majority of the book takes place. Canaan House is a warren of corridors and locked doors, some with trials behind that the duos must complete to reach Lyctorhood. Although initial appearances of the planet make it seem like a place of safety, Gideon quickly learns that indomitable darkness resides within.
Gideon & Harrow
I would die for these two. (dramatic but true). They are fucking foul to each other in the beginning – Harrow especially to Gideon. She grinds her down again and again, taking away any bid for freedom, any sense of agency or autonomy. I loved Gideon so much that I didn’t think I could ever like Harrow because of the way she treated our sweet pun-loving Nav. I was wrong though. Muir gives this friendship time to grow. She doesn’t shy away from making scenes awkward and allows the characters to say the wrong thing in a moment of acid outrage. There’s no gratuitous ‘lack of communication’ trope (thank god). There are just people who eventually begin trusting and defending one another in order to survive and painfully make that choice over and over again, no matter how difficult it can be.
“And Harrowhark rose to the occasion like an evening star.”
Gideon The Ninth Age Rating
15-16 years. Mainly because the writing style is intense, but there are some particularly gruesome scenes.
The Locked Tomb Series
0.5. The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex 1. Gideon the Ninth 2. Harrow The Ninth 2.5. As Yet Unsent 3. Nona The Ninth 3.5. The Unwanted Guest 4. Alecto The Ninth (release date: unknown)
Is Gideon The Ninth spicy?
Not at all. There are no sex or spicy scenes in the book.
Is Gideon The Ninth sapphic?
Gideon is a lesbian and a relationship is hinted at / can be interpreted between herself and Harrowhark in an enemies-to-lovers fashion. Personally, I read them as deeply in love and so yes, would consider this a sapphic novel.
Series Order: First book in The Locked Tomb series Genre(s): Gothic fantasy, sapphic, dark comedy, murder mystery Publish date: 10 September 2019 Content warnings: Violence, body horror, death, gore Rosenburger Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
