Gideon the Ninth

I've listed this book as fantasy, which seems the consensus, but it's a little harder to classify than that. It's set in a far future solar system where power is in the hands of necromancers, so there are spaceships and signs of high technology, but most of the latter has been abandoned and the necromancy is never explained as anything other than magic... so fantasy is perhaps the closer vibe.

The story concerns a deadly trial being undertaken by representatives of each of the solar system's planets (including Pluto, from which the title character hails... I mean, it's never called ‘Pluto', but it obviously is). The fact that necromancy is the only form of magic anyone practices, and that the two central characters spend most of their time with skulls painted on their faces gives this a distinctly goth vibe and it can get pretty gloomy - and viscerally violent - at times. This is offset by Gideon's irreverent attitude, often bringing in more present-day sensibilities and speech when things threaten to get too highfalutin'.

At times, the large size of the cast becomes a little overwhelming, and it becomes confusing who exactly is who and which of the Nine Houses is which, but this does become easier as the book progresses. (There's also a glossary and a guide to the characters and houses, but these aren't so easy to access in the Kindle version I was reading as they would be in a physical book). The result is on odd book, but one that feels worth it by the end, and that does some good worldbuilding as well as providing us with a memorable title character. And, to be honest, a fair amount of Gothic gore alongside the splashes of humour.