eBook, 480 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but …
Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but she also knows that nothing lasts forever. And each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull-painted face...
Third book, third voice, everyone has a new damn name and the dog has too many legs.
I’m probably gonna reread and maybe understand more of the ride I was on.
It's a bit of a disappointment that, yet again, the reader is left to try to make sense of the characters, plot and wtf is going on. I wish I didn't have to go on forums to find out important information that was only very, very slightly hinted at in the book. It's one thing to want revelations and plot-twists and ah-ah-moments, it's another to leave the reader completely in the fog for 500 pages. If the writing wasn't that good and the characters that compelling, I would've left it a while ago.
Nona, the new Ninth character is different and very amusing. The setting is a planet with "regular" humans, and there is more backstory filled in on John/God and the general shape of the Locked Tomb universe.
It shouldn't be possible, after reading Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth, to finish another Locked Tomb novel and yet again be like "What the hell did I just read?!" However.
Nona the Ninth is yet another wonderful, unexpected, weird masterpiece from Tamsyn Muir.
Ok, confession time. I have given all the books in this series 5 stars without entirely being sure what is going on. I see this as a selling point, not a detraction.
Things become a little clearer in this book. A little.
At first it just seems a simple coming of age tale set in a dystopian city. However, the child concerned is a revenant of someone of great importance from the previous books (it's honestly not who you would think) and despite being adolescent has only actually been around for 6 months.
There is a fair bit of backstory reveal. It all started on Earth, slowly dying in the climate apocalypse and that sets the tone for all that comes after.
The prose is delivered in a style that always (to me) brings to mind REM lyrics, where the intent sometimes is to make meaning appear from random, unconnected …
Ok, confession time. I have given all the books in this series 5 stars without entirely being sure what is going on. I see this as a selling point, not a detraction.
Things become a little clearer in this book. A little.
At first it just seems a simple coming of age tale set in a dystopian city. However, the child concerned is a revenant of someone of great importance from the previous books (it's honestly not who you would think) and despite being adolescent has only actually been around for 6 months.
There is a fair bit of backstory reveal. It all started on Earth, slowly dying in the climate apocalypse and that sets the tone for all that comes after.
The prose is delivered in a style that always (to me) brings to mind REM lyrics, where the intent sometimes is to make meaning appear from random, unconnected snippets. This pulls you in hard as you try to figure out what is going on and the effort feels entirely worth it.
Apparently there is to be a fourth installment to wrap things up. The author is clear this is a case of the story running away from her. No complaints from me as I look forward to seeing the resolution of this.
Highly recommended if you are either invested in the series or prepared to start at the beginning. You can't just pick this one up and dive in.
