Gideon the Ninth

The Locked Tomb Trilogy

by Tamsyn Muir

paperback, 496 pages

Published July 14, 2020 by Tor.com.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-31318-8

View on OpenLibrary

(216 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."

7 editions

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

From a universe where necromancy abounds, comes Gideon the Ninth.Her home planet, the Ninth Planet, holds trials to determine who will inherit unimaginable power.

As the heir of the Ninth and the strongest necromancer on the planet, Harrow needs... a sword. Luckily, Gideon knows the sword.

Since they can remember, Gideon and Harrow have hated each other.

The moment Harrow dangles freedom in front of Gideon, Gideon knows she will have to follow through with the plan... even to the very end.

There’s just something about this book that doesn’t work for me. The first time I tried it, I wasn’t able to get into it. My second attempt was more challenging, but I got through it.

It is because of Gideon herself and the style of the book that I did not enjoy it. She sounded like she was trying way too complicated to be edgy and cool. I found the other characters to be one-dimensional - even Harrow doesn’t get much development until the end of the book. Oh, and if you are seeking a good lesbian romance, you will be disappointed. There’s nothing romantic about it.

The second problem was that it felt aimless. The start of the series seemed promising, and for a while it did. However, once it became apparent, it was going to be a pointless tournament arc with murder; I lost interest. There are no rules, only vague objectives, and it is impossible to follow the person solving the puzzle, so things just sort of... happen. The characters and style didn’t appeal to me, which would have been fine if I enjoyed it.

The third problem, I also found the world building to be vague. There was a lot of aesthetic detail on, with skeletons and bones and locked doors everywhere. Beyond that, it was hollow. Despite the brief spaceship journey at the beginning, it is not science fiction, rather fantasy.

What is the purpose of the Emperor? Are there any reasons becoming his servant is so desirable? Where do the other planets stand? What is the purpose of necromancy?

I’m not sure whether I’m going to continue.

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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.

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

No rating

Love it!

Books That Burn reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #1)

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Gideon the Ninth is a dizzying blend of deaths, betrayals, reversals, and epiphanies; A necromantic locked-palace murder mystery come struggle for survival. There's a strong aesthetic sense, complicated relationships, and horrifying levels of gore.

This book felt good to read; the blend of occasional older syntax and modern vocabulary made "necromancers in space", er, "necromancers on a desolate planet" feel complete. I love this depiction of magic co-existing with technology in a decidedly-futuristic space. I don't mean to play up the tech too much, it factors in about as much as the existence of elevators does... they're relevant whenever you need to use one. But their presence is a periodic whisper of "we're in the future and there's magic too..." The language has a visceral "crunch to it", which is a style I like.

Because the POV character isn't always up to speed on what's happening, there's a blend of heavy detail and suddenly important knowledge gaps which meant that for a large part of the book I was having trouble tracking what events were important and how everything connected. This is something I have difficulty with normally, so it's not necessarily a fault of the book, but if (like me) you struggle with that, this book might feel confusing for long stretches. However, the last quarter of the book pulled everything together in a satisfying way with enough explanation that as things were resolved I understood why and how they had resolved, even though I'd been having trouble tracking the details earlier. It meant that the ending felt complete, like a real resolution, despite my previous confusion. To me this is a strength of the book, since even if someone read this over a longer period of time than I did, the ending should still feel strong.

Most of the characters have several combinations of names, titles, and nicknames, but they are often used in ways that reinforce their connection back to each person and that made it easier for me to keep track. It made the level of formality in each interaction apparent immediately, even when no body language was described, and that did a lot to set up the tone of each scene in a succinct way.

lesepflaster aka schokopflaster 📖 reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Spannende Ansätze

3 stars

Schönes Setting, doch zu wenig ausgebaut bisher die Welt. Manche Charas hätten spannend sein können, blieben aber zu oberflächlich, insbesondere halt 90% der Leute aus den anderen Häusern. Der Mittelteil war verworren, der Showdown dafür all over the place?! Werde mir die zwei Folge-Bücher mal anschauen. Mit gefiel auf jeden Fall der space goth Aspekt davon sehr.

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

Fun, Wild, Fresh, and Deliciously Bizarre

5 stars

Gideon the Ninth is the most fun I’ve had reading a book in over a decade. Muir’s style ping-pongs between arch High Fantasy and banal internet memes that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. That said, her ability to craft tight, adrenaline-fueled sequences, unique magic/religious systems, and rich emotional topography should make this a must read for fans of fantasy, sci-fi, or frankly YA romance lit.

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book has been living in my head rent-free for the last four months. I can't stop thinking about it. I fell in love with Gideon immediately. Muir writes with a level of snarkiness you wouldn't expect from this universe, and it's refreshing as well. Expect lots of lewd jokes and sarcasm. The first 100 or so pages were confusing, but I promise it is absolutely 1000% worth it to stick it out. The first time I tried reading this book, I gave up 3 chapters in because I couldn't understand what was happening. But that's the point! This book is SO rewarding to reread as well, because you'll notice so many things the second time through that should have seemed glaring at first.
Read it!!

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I didn't know what to expect from this after 2 years of this series being talked about among people whose taste tend to align with mine in kind of ambiguous ways. I knew people liked it but I also half anticipated it to be a gamble for me on the basis of all the "memes references" and "ow the edge" talk. Both, as it turns out, were way overblown (at least to me), and instead I found an incredibly entertaining sci-fantasy novel with great worldbuilding, a clever magic system, a memorable cast, some really alluring lore, a core plot that reminded me of the Zero Escape video game series (which is a good thing), and a unique, refreshing author voice. Halfway through the 80 percents I realized I was in what I can only (unfortunately) describe as a Brandon Sanderson-style rollercoaster of a last act (I'm told Gene Wolfe once …

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

Would make an awesome show...

5 stars

Very fun read!

Blind_Mapmaker reviewed Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.25 Takes a while to get into and you should be okay with lots of gore, lymph, fat and of course bone (and boning jokes). There are a tad too many characters for my taste, but the main ones are very well-developed. The world-building is good, but sparse. It's really structured around being the first volume of a tetralogy. Gideon might not be the most relatable protagonist with her weird upbringing, but her wisecracks are generally not annoying and the conceit for making her shut up for the middle part of the book is quite nice.

In general, it's great to see some lesbian respresentation that doesn't drift much into the physical. The way the characters feel about each other actually does make sense for the horrible death-universe they grow up in. It's probably not for those just looking for a more upbeat read, but it's also not quite as …

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.

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Durante más de la mitad del libro no tenía ni idea de que iba,pero aún así me tenía enganchadisimo. A ver cuándo puedo poner las manos encima de la segunda parte.

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I read this by chance and I'm very glad I did. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first - all those bones! - but I was completely drawn into the story to the end. I also loved the matter-of-fact voice of the narrator, Gideon. A really fun read.

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

Review of 'Gideon the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Update: it's unusual for me to reread anything these days, especially only after a year, but in the wake of Harrow it seemed like the obvious thing to do. Second time round there are less surprises, but instead you get to appreciate how well they are set up and foreshadowed. The duels still stand out, capturing the intensity of combat, and the last third of the book is almost impossible too so reading (not including the substantial back matter that helps flesh out the world, which is missing from Harrow come to think of it). If you're looking for a Halloween read, this should be it as is hard to think of a box it doesn't tick: bones, witches, ghosts, monsters, costumes, face paint, prizes for showing off, childhood trauma and dad jokes.

This book seems to have been built from the parts of so many great things that is extremely hard to pin down what one thing it is, but it is certainly entertaining and hard to put down once it gets going. It's also the first book I've read where instead of yearning for a movie or TV series adaptation it really feels like it needs to be animated. Perhaps the poor souls behind the Castlevania Netflix series can pick this up.

Now follows a list of pop culture hybrid descriptions that don't do it justice: Goth Dune, literary black metal, Utena goes to the Hunger Games, Bleach in spaaaaaace, Agatha Christie's Dracula, Harry Potter except Voldemort won and everyone is in Slytherin now, etc.

While it is very much my thing, I can imagine some folk might be put off by the abrupt changes in tone, hyper modern dialog and relentless dad jokes, but all of these things just seasoned the broth to my delight. An unexpected bittersweet joy.