Gideon the Ninth

I like to think I’m pretty good at guessing where a book is going to go—this is not the case with Gideon the Ninth. Every time I thought I had a grip on what was going on and where we were going, it took a turn. Every time I thought I had an idea of how I felt about a character, new lore dropped, and I fell in love (or in hate, or in a complicated love/hate thing that I have yet to figure out).

By the time I finished, I was torn between picking up the second book in… show more.

With a cover like a Halloween fever dream, I expected a lot of otherworldly gothic creepiness, which this book delivered. What I didn’t expect was Gideon, an unforgettable character whose unapologetic frankness is like a shot of whisky in what could otherwise be an overwrought space opera. It’s a bit of stretch to call this historical fantasy, but I love that the world-building implies a complex backstory both for the characters and their world. Which sets up a wonderfully weird juxtaposition of ancient and modern.  Set in a feudal world, inhabited by undead necromancer lieges and their cavalier servants, I… show more.

I was pleasantly surprised by just how weird this book is.

It is, as it was often marketed to me, “gay necromancers in space,” but it’s so much more than that. Disorientation, cerebral puzzles, and intricate worldbuilding permeate this whole book from chapter one. Tamsyn Muir is unapologetic about writing exactly what she wants, even if it’s outside a lot of readers’ comfort zones.

I found the strangeness of the societies, the challenges, and the mysteries woven into this book intriguing. It’s a murder mystery! In a high-stakes competition! With queer female main characters who have a lot of friction… show more.

I love necromancers in space settings and opinionated characters with a strong voice, and Tamsyn Muir’s book did not disappoint. The book gradually ramps the action, emotion, and secrets until I couldn’t put it down. I was pulled into Gideon’s plight, first as she attempts to yet again escape indentured servitude to the necromancer Harrow, then as she helps Harrow navigate the deadly mysteries of Caanan House in exchange for her freedom.

I loved the fraught relationship between Harrow and Gideon as they navigated their complicated emotions and expectations of each other. The ending was particularly poignant, as their earlier… show more.

Gideon the Ninth lit up the sky of the science fiction/fantasy world when it was published, launching the Locked Tomb series (which is ongoing, and great; third volume Nona the Ninth is especially lovely).

It's been described as "lesbian necromancers in space" but it's more "lesbian necromancer and swordsperson on various weird planets in the far future with a god-emperor who uses death magic to fight planet-sized spectral monsters...." for a start.

The whole series is enigmatic, complex, and laced through with humor, action, and yearning, but the first book is notable for the power of Gideon's voice.

It's a strange way to kick off a series of science fiction recommendations, but the first thing that drew me into this book is that it’s really more of a fantasy novel (that just happens to take place in space).

This book was my break from a long self-imposed laundry list of the classics, and it completely shook me up as a reader. I remembered what it was like to be so engrossed in a book that you’re staying up late in bed and ordering the next in the series when you’re only halfway through the first. I remembered what… show more.

The oh-so-many blurts of “No, she won’t” moments before she did. The howls of laughter at Tamysyn’s outrageousness. The amazing, vivid, ingenious worldbuilding. 

The prying at where is she going with this? The action, the innuendo, the voice. The gender-bending freak show enculturation built up at a near epic levels. I cannot remember the last time a book entertained and intrigued me on so many levels.

Gideon the Ninth was recommended to me with its alluring tagline, “Lesbian necromancers in space.”

It took me a while to get into it, but when I did, I surprised myself with how invested I became in what initially sounded like a pretty silly premise.

This delightfully byzantine construction of a novel is full of easter eggs, of bizarre and gross bone magic, but also of children who are isolated and deprived. It is, in the end, about trauma and grief, about maintaining your dignity in impossible situations, with great pathos and dirty jokes.

I have had so many conversations… show more.

Okay I’m fibbing a bit again with this one, but the books in this series are unabashedly queer and weird, and the method of space travel is like nothing you’ve ever seen.

These books fall much more clearly on the line of space fantasy than straight-up sci-fi, but they are wild and unforgettable reads. Gideon Nav is the titular character of Gideon the Ninth. She’s hilarious, goofy, loyal to an absolute fault, and utterly filthy. The other characters will break your heart and patch it up multiple times over the course of this book and the others.

Thankfully, most of… show more.

Really, this book had me at lesbian necromancers. Who could resist that?

I stuck around for the sheer weirdness of the world Tamsyn Muir creates and the snarky toughness of the main character, Gideon Nav. Is this fantasy? Science fiction? Queer romance? Yes. And no. I love that Gideon doesn’t care about any of the things she’s supposed to care about. She just wants to survive in all her sarcastic glory and she’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.