Gideon the Ninth

Rides the line between "is this too stupid to be funny?" and "I, too, am stupid, and I can't fucking breathe." I will read the rest of these.

Now I didn't, but I liked a bunch of things that it does. I enjoyed reading it, but I'm not eager to continue with the series.

Just incredible. Pretty rare to find such and imaginative and rich world built into such a compelling narrative that is SO FUN. It's funny, heartbreaking, action-packed, mesmerizing, and thoughtful all at once. Can't wait to read the rest.

Oh my GOD did I love this book! I didn't head into it with very high hopes even, as I've been let down by highly rated and recommended books before. While initially I was a little put off at some of the Marvel-movie-esque dialogue from the protagonist, I slowly settled into loving every bit of every single character written in this universe. To the point where "turbo cancer" absolutely took me out in the best way.

Muir has done an incredible job at crafting both an incredibly in-depth world and magic system. With such beautiful and ornate descriptions let you picture every single thing in remarkable clarity. As I mentioned prior, she's also crafted so many well rounded and intriguing characters that I wanted to know more about every. single. one of them. Even the assholes. I find most authors are either good at building worlds or building characters, Muir has shown to be so amazing at both I wouldn't be surprised at all if she was two people in one body!

I'm immediately moving on to the next in the series because I cannot bear to be away from this world and the characters a day longer.

I've seen a lot of people raving about this and I was curious to try it, so was glad when it came up as a text for a book club I'm in. Having now finished it, I can see why some people really love it, but it's not really for me. It plunges you straight into the universe and it's overwhelming and bewildering for a long time as there's nothing too familiar to ground yourself on and work out what's going on. It's very stylised, with a strong authorial voice, which I don't mind, but information is doled out very slowly, both to the characters and the reader, so it does feel like wandering around in the dark a lot. The ending does reveal a lot of things that help to make sense of what's gone on before, but you need to cling on in faith that it's going to be revealed when the time goes along, and I'm still not sure the rest of the universe here makes too much sense. I may read the rest of the series, but I'm not urgently arranging to get hold of them.

From a universe where necromancy abounds, comes Gideon the Ninth.Her home planet, the Ninth Planet, holds trials to determine who will inherit unimaginable power.

As the heir of the Ninth and the strongest necromancer on the planet, Harrow needs... a sword. Luckily, Gideon knows the sword.

Since they can remember, Gideon and Harrow have hated each other.

The moment Harrow dangles freedom in front of Gideon, Gideon knows she will have to follow through with the plan... even to the very end.

There’s just something about this book that doesn’t work for me. The first time I tried it, I wasn’t able to get into it. My second attempt was more challenging, but I got through it.

It is because of Gideon herself and the style of the book that I did not enjoy it. She sounded like she was trying way too complicated to be edgy and cool. I found the other characters to be one-dimensional - even Harrow doesn’t get much development until the end of the book. Oh, and if you are seeking a good lesbian romance, you will be disappointed. There’s nothing romantic about it.

The second problem was that it felt aimless. The start of the series seemed promising, and for a while it did. However, once it became apparent, it was going to be a pointless tournament arc with murder; I lost interest. There are no rules, only vague objectives, and it is impossible to follow the person solving the puzzle, so things just sort of... happen. The characters and style didn’t appeal to me, which would have been fine if I enjoyed it.

The third problem, I also found the world building to be vague. There was a lot of aesthetic detail on, with skeletons and bones and locked doors everywhere. Beyond that, it was hollow. Despite the brief spaceship journey at the beginning, it is not science fiction, rather fantasy.

What is the purpose of the Emperor? Are there any reasons becoming his servant is so desirable? Where do the other planets stand? What is the purpose of necromancy?

I’m not sure whether I’m going to continue.

You can also find this review on my blog: Click here

I'm not sure how else to describe Gideon. The dark atmosphere of the book is one that I really enjoy. It's got little twists and turns. I found it easy to settle in with and difficult to put down.

I loved Gideon as a character and her relationship with Harrow. But that's about it. The book is written in a very confusing way. For example, all the characters are dumped at once into your lap without any sort of introduction, and it's hard to know what's happening in particular scenes. <spoiler> Because of this, it was impossible for me to connect with any character other than Gideon and Harrow, so I really didn't care as they died... and by the time all the revelations came I was so bored I didn't care either. I also think the ending was terrible.</spoiler>

Schönes Setting, doch zu wenig ausgebaut bisher die Welt. Manche Charas hätten spannend sein können, blieben aber zu oberflächlich, insbesondere halt 90% der Leute aus den anderen Häusern. Der Mittelteil war verworren, der Showdown dafür all over the place?! Werde mir die zwei Folge-Bücher mal anschauen. Mit gefiel auf jeden Fall der space goth Aspekt davon sehr.