Hardcover, 512 pages
Russian language
Published Dec. 16, 2020 by Эксмо.
Мир «Гидеон из Девятого дома» Тэмсин Мьюир — это вселенная звездолётов, далёких солнц, мастеров фехтования, жестокой политики и лесбиянок-некромантов.
Воспитанная недружелюбными, окостеневшими монахинями, древними слугами и бесчисленными скелетами, Гидеон готова предать традиции и отказаться от рабства и загробной жизни в качестве живого мертвеца. Она зачехляет свой меч и готовится к дерзкому побегу. Но у Немезиды для неё другие планы.
Харрохак Нонагесимус, Преподобная дочь Девятого дома и экстраординарная костяная ведьма, отправляется в бой. Император призвал наследников каждого из верноподданных Домов на смертельный поединок — испытание ума и мастерства. Если Харрохак преуспеет, она станет бессмертной всемогущей слугой Бога Воскрешения. Но ни один некромант не может выступить без своего рыцаря. Без рапиры Гидеон, Харроу потерпит неудачу и Девятый дом вымрет.
Безусловно, некоторые вещи лучше оставить мёртвыми.
Amazing the second time again. There is so much foreshadowing in this book, that an additional read through is really worth it. Moving directly into Harrow the Ninth.
Outstanding. Already chomping at the bit to jump into book 2...
Nov 25th, 2022
I stayed up until 1 in the morning for this
April 5th, 2023
Muir is a god of prose. every line is perfect.
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 …
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.
You can also find this review on my blog: Click here
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.
Love it!
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 …
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.
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.
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!!
It's great! I love a setting where everything is so weird that you know it will take several books to even start seeing the big picture. The structure is perfect for this: The "empire" is one faction in a complex universe, fighting some enemies we don't know anything about. The eight houses seem to be the back country of the empire, only hearing tales from the front. The Ninth House is a pariah among the houses, not communicating with anyone. That's the Ninth House normally, but in present day it's worse: almost everyone is dead and the leader is just pretending. Harrow's great at pretending. From the point of view of Gideon it's as if Harrow knew everything. And compared to Gideon she really knows a lot! Gideon knows so little, there's a scene where she's befuddled by a bathroom.
I'm a sucker for these crazy alien universes. My favorite …
It's great! I love a setting where everything is so weird that you know it will take several books to even start seeing the big picture. The structure is perfect for this: The "empire" is one faction in a complex universe, fighting some enemies we don't know anything about. The eight houses seem to be the back country of the empire, only hearing tales from the front. The Ninth House is a pariah among the houses, not communicating with anyone. That's the Ninth House normally, but in present day it's worse: almost everyone is dead and the leader is just pretending. Harrow's great at pretending. From the point of view of Gideon it's as if Harrow knew everything. And compared to Gideon she really knows a lot! Gideon knows so little, there's a scene where she's befuddled by a bathroom.
I'm a sucker for these crazy alien universes. My favorite is how the Ninth House is all black and doom and gloom and skeletons and necromancers. Then we get to the First House and it's sunshine and glamour and skeletons and necromancers.
There's a lot of characters and a lot of stuff happens. I think there are different ways to enjoy it. You could read it with a fresh mind and just remember stuff, so when someone smiles at "the cavalier with the radiant topaz eyes" (not an actual quote), you know who that is. Or you could take notes, so when they turn right at the end of the dark corridor, then left on the stairs and up through the opening, you could look up on your map where you are. Or do like my sleep-deprive self did and just not worry about this stuff. She extruded some thanergy from a phalange? Good on her, whatever all that means.
There's a lot of action and world-building, but the bones of the book are in drama. Everyone is 200% full of emotions all the time. It's fun. I've started [b:Harrow the Ninth|39325105|Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)|Tamsyn Muir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602323622l/39325105.SY75.jpg|60943273] already.
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 …
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 referred to it as a "slingshot ending"), except it was happening in an uncompromisingly good book, and read thru to the end. Loved it.
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Reread on Sept 12th 2020:
Yeah this book is good.
Very fun read!
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 …
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 horrible as you might think.
General warning: most of the characters are in their teens and the book does not spare them from the violence.
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.
