Harrow the Ninth

The Locked Tomb, #2

by Tamsyn Muir

Paperback, 528 pages

English language

Published April 12, 2021 by Tor.com.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-31321-8

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(189 reviews)

THE NECROMANCERS ARE BACK, AND THEY'RE GAYER THAN EVER.

SHE ANSWERED THE EMPEROR'S CALL.

SHE ARRIVED WITH HER ARTS, HER WITS, AND HER ONLY FRIEND.

IN VICTORY, HER WORLD HAS TURNED TO ASH.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight in an unwinnable war. Side by side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath - but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: Is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the …

THE NECROMANCERS ARE BACK, AND THEY'RE GAYER THAN EVER.

SHE ANSWERED THE EMPEROR'S CALL.

SHE ARRIVED WITH HER ARTS, HER WITS, AND HER ONLY FRIEND.

IN VICTORY, HER WORLD HAS TURNED TO ASH.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

8 editions

Niko reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

I managed to read 16% of this book because I’m deeply masochistic. I managed to stop reading this book because I realized that I love myself I’m too old to struggle through obtuse writing, waiting for an actual plot to kick in.

jon_bon reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Ja... Det blir lite för mycket feberdröm över det hela för att den röda tråden i berättelsen ska kunna hållas intakt. Lite som att försöka hitta "lösningen" eller "poängen" i någon av de mer bisarra filmerna eller TV-grejerna av David Lynch. Samtidigt välskriven med intressanta karaktärer, vilket gör att boken ändå fixar en trea i betyg. Men jag är inte överförtjust i det här überkryptiska berättarsättet där framtid, dåtid, nutid och all sorts sammanhållning bluddras ihop till någon sorts LSD-tripp. Hoppas på lite mer stringens i uppföljaren Nona the Ninth, alltså mer logik som med första delen Gideon the Ninth.

Poltirsh reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

None

2 stars

When a book starts with a cool sequence, and then swaps to the actual beginning of the story, it's usually a sign that the author and editors know that the beginning is boring but don't care enough to fix the pacing. It's the case here.

DNF because why would I inflict this on myself? There are good books to read.

Amy Page reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What if you and I shared a body while we learn about betrayal, grief, emotions, and a lot of body goop jk jk unless

Zivan reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Bewildering yet sucks you in and won't let you stop reading.

Adamgv@book.dansmonorage.blue reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #2)

“Good Soup”

4 stars

It’s like if David Lynch wrote lesbian sci-fi fan fiction and I love it.

Sergio reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

To me, this book feels like Muir wrote 3 books in-between Gideon and this, that's how much more confident this one's structure and writing feels. Whereas Gideon felt experimental and somewhat messy (in the most generous reading of those words possible), requiring me to commit more effort than I'm used to to pull me through it at times, this one had me hooked from the start, excellently paced, spinning threads that felt convoluted without requiring me to re-read fragments to make sure I'd understood what had just happened, and with a explosive last third or so that made me stay up at night reading through to the end. Loved it and can't wait to see where the series goes next.

Sep 2022 reread: yep still great. Onto Nona!

Josep reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Si tuviera que describir esta novela con una palabra, sería “extraña”. Al principio parece que es una cosa, después parece que es otra y, al final, estás dos tercios del libro sin saber qué estás leyendo.

He estado a punto de abandonar el libro varias veces, pero me alegro de no haberlo hecho. Podría decirse que Muir juega con nosotros todo el tiempo. A veces mejor, a veces peor.

Al terminar la lectura me queda la sensación de que es una genialidad, pero no puedo olvidar lo que ha costado llegar hasta el final.

jess reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #2)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

i read shakespeare for fun and this book was so confusing it took me six weeks to read. worth it tho… i think.

reading tea reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb, #2)

I didn't like it, but I liked it

4 stars

The first two thirds slightly annoyed me, in the last third it finally made some sense. Would have given this 3 stars if not for the very unexpected dad joke. 😄

marksutherland reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I spent the first third of the book confused about what was going on, the second third putting some of the clues together and the third getting a whole other bunch of questions to ponder. This is not a complacent sequel or rehash, it builds on Gideon while telling it's own story, with some glorious soap opera moments and dad jokes throughout. So good I'm probably going to reread Gideon now to see what I missed.

nex3 reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

None

5 stars

Absolute natbait. Not a perfect book, but the perfect cocktail of compelling plot, stimulating worldbuilding, gay, and shitposts that hit like a left hook out of nowhere.

TowerOfTheArchmage reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I don't even know where to begin. But damn.

anaulin reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

My notes: anaulin.org/blog/book-notes-harrow-the-ninth/

TimMason reviewed Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Review of 'Harrow the Ninth' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I found this rather less impelling than the first volume, but it's still a very good read. Harrow is revealed even more unpleasant than the first volume might have lead you to think. In fact, most of the characters, other than Gideon, are pretty awful. God is clearly evil, pressing unwanted cups of tea on everyone. Will there be cucumber sandwiches?

Update: having run out of books, I reread this one. Apparently, Muir holds that the narrating voice who second persons Harrow is Gideon. This seems very unlikely, as the voice is very different from that of the narrator of the first volume, and we later discover that Gideon, although she's in there somewhere, was only semi-aware of what was going on, and therefore unlikely to be able to give the fairly detailed report which we read here.

Muir offers Harrow redemption, and although she seizes it, slobbering pitifully over …