Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a multi-genre adventure combining a dark fantasy, science fiction, and horror with an amusingly crass protagonist. It's funny, it's gay, it's suspenseful, and it's a novel of truly epic proportions! Gideon lives in the Ninth House, known as the shadow cult and keepers of the Locked Tomb, as an indentured surf of sorts. On the very day she's plotted to escape and enlist in the military her hated archrival, the necromancer Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus, announces that she and her Cavalier will travel to the First House to undertake a trial so she may become an immortal Lyctor in service to the God-Emperor. Except the Cavalier has fled (in the very shuttle Gideon planned to steal to get off-world), and now Gideon must assume the role in exchange for her freedom. Of course, things do not go as planned. Intrigued? Confused? Me too. Overall I found this book to be really exciting. I loved Gideon as a character and was really into her witty quips and irreverent temperament. I was also drawn in by the epic nature of the story and found many sections to be highly suspenseful and compelling. Unfortunately I did have a bit of a tough time tracking who was who and sometimes what exactly was going on. To be fair, Muir did provide a Dramatis Personae section at the beginning of the book, but nevertheless I just found this volume to be a little bit confusing. Muir chose to reveal information in a way that left the reader in the dark about a number of things until fairly late in the book. I can respect this as a storytelling device, but once again I simply felt confused or as if I had “missed something” throughout sections of the book. Despite these criticisms I enjoyed this book and hope to read the sequel soon. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️