Gideon the Ninth

Wow.

Just... wow.

This was a hell of a fun ride. I love stories which just throw you into the world, and expect you to figure it out as the story goes along. That is, as long as the author can give you enough clues and description and character development to show you the world she's building.

And Tamsyn Muir is more than capable of doing just that. She is a wonderful writer, and I would read anything else she chooses to write, no matter the genre or material. Hell, even the Acknowledgements at the end of the book were entertaining.

I won't give the plot away, except to say that this is a great twist on the traditional swords-and-sorcery fantasy genre, with a bit of a sci-fi element. Her characters are modern and smart and three-dimensional. The dialogue is crisp and funny and sometimes poignant and always moving forward. The characters are well developed and in full 3D, and while you have to be paying attention, it is sooooooo worth it.

There's a reason why this book was nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula. There are a million worse ways to spend your reading time and dollars, and while there may actually be one or two better ways, I can't think of any.

This book is the most original fiction I have read since picking up The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. It's not as flawless as the previously mentioned book, but it's different for sure.

Theoretically it's science-fiction, but the science part only comes up in passing. There is mention of planets, shuttles, spaceships, a galactic empire, but that's not what we experience in this novel. Instead we get a necromantic version of And Then There Were None by Agatha Cristie, the seven heirs to the necromantic houses of the Empire, and their respective cavaliers stuck in an ancient building, trying to figure out how they can ascend to the role of Lyctor, an important position to the Emperor. While they explore the crumbling ruins, there are mysterious deaths and scary bone monsters.

Our protagonist is the somewhat unwilling cavalier Gideon the Ninth, who is an orphan in the Ninth House which excels at bone magic. Her necromancer Harrowhark and Gideon kinda hate each other since their childhoods, and the whole cavalier gig is Gideon's ticket to freedom from the Ninth. Gideon herself is a delight. She's queer, foul-mouthed and extremely good at swordfighting.

The book is uneven. The pacing of the first third before the arrival at Canaan House is not great, and the world-building is confusing. Yet the rest of the book kicks so much ass and is so fascinating, in a unique writing style that I can't but love it. There are glimpses of a bigger world at the end of the book and I want to learn more. Can't wait for the next book, Harrowhark the Ninth.