I just don't know what to make of this book! The two main protagonists, Harrowhark and, especially, Gideon, were just great. Gideon was a real wise cracker. She had a snappy comeback for almost everything. Her and Harrowhark fought like two sisters for years but finally came together. Their banter was definitely the high point of the story.

This is a story about magic. Magic in space! The Nine houses all live on different planets and travel around by spaceship. The Ninth House is all about necromancy. They get called together, I think to figure out who will become the next Lyctor. What a Lyctor is, I am not sure. In fact, I am not sure what to make of the entire story.

To begin with, I was never too sure who the other characters were. Each house sent their lead magic user and their best cavalier, a sword bearing defender. And each was described in so many different ways, my head was spinning. First names, last names, nicknames, houses, physical descriptions - I just could not keep any of them straight.

And magic! I generally do not like magic in my books, as it is too easy. And not only did the author not bother explaining it (besides the occasional talk of "thanergy"), she just jumped right in and had magic flying all around. Maybe because it was so pervasive, I didn't seem to mind it. They just did all kinds of magical stuff and it seemed to fit.

There were a couple huge battles and I could barely follow the action. Don't get too attached to any of the characters (if you can figure them out), because any of them could go poof. But the story moved along really well and I just plowed on, despite any confusion.

And the writing was great! I do a "Word of the Day" on my Twitter feed when I come across an interesting word in my reading and I haven't done so many entries since Stephenson's [b:The System of the World|116257|The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, #3)|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407712273l/116257.SY75.jpg|905463]! There were also plenty of laughs and some real gut punches too.

So despite being confused for most of the book, I was totally entranced as well. Maybe the two are intricately linked? I dunno, but I can't wait to read book two of The Locked Tomb, [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/1569871560l/39325105.SY75.jpg|60943273].