Everyone opens up Harrow the Ninth after having read Gideon the Ninth and fallen in love with Gideon's character. "Is she okay?" is the only question I wanted to see answered. Does Harrow the Ninth deliver?

No. Gideon is not mentioned for the majority of the book. But it's worse than that. We're actively getting flashbacks to Gideon the Ninth's plot with Gideon erased from it! Fantastic.

The world-building is going strong, there's lot's of drama, bloody action, twists and betrayals. I'm still on board with the series. Every decision on the writer's part is surprising and fun. This book was a typical 2nd book and a bit of a filler. Is the story going anywhere? Probably yes, but I also don't really care. I'm here for lewd necromancers in space, and I don't think this series will run out of those.

PS: Haha, some great quotes:

At this, there was a fractional relaxing of Mercymorn's frowzled brow: not relief, but the germination of the seed of relief.

Old people should be shot.

It was not the way of the Ninth House to pray with such wilful credulousness; yet you prayed all the while knowing Ianthe's facility for tergiversation would have given the whole universe pause.

So I'm shut in here—walled in, really— to prevent the Nine Houses becoming none House, with left grief.