Scan barcode
risaleel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Terminal illness
Minor: Abandonment, Cursing, and War
tbd24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
fantastic read. the only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is that it’s a bit confusing in the beginning, trying to figure out who everyone is and how they relate to each other. I wish the author gave us just a cursory background in the beginning. But once I hit the middle of the book it was like a switch flipped and I felt like I understood everything and also I loved it. The cavalier/necromancer relationship is MY SHIT. Fuck enemies to lovers, how about enemies but they’re duty bound beyond every fiber of their beings to back each other up and they eventually learn that they’re secretly best friends AAAAAH i’m incoherent. Jovial prose, tidy plot writing, characters you can love and hate and relate to and judge, the perfect amount of sexiness in the face of danger, seriously this book had it all for me. Can’t wait to read the next one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Cancer, Cursing, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Minor: War, Slavery, Confinement, Torture, and Religious bigotry
fromthefoxhole's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think that whoever said Gideon the Ninth is about "lesbians in space" deserves to be kicked in the teeth. It is simultaneously an over and under explanation of the story, which is to say it's almost entirely incorrect.
I would move to say there is next to no romance here, only subtext and potential. I am awash with feelings, a great many of which amount only to "f***". That said, let me try.
Gideon the Ninth is DENSE. Less than 500 pages, and yet, at the beginning, I felt as though I were wading through a bog. You'll have millions of questions about the world, and receive precious few answers. I'm still not 100% sure if the houses are full on planets or space stations or some other secret third thing. I do not really understand what a Lyctor is, or why necromancing is even possible in this world. I understand even less what the hell happened in Canaan House.
Gideon is kind of the prime example for an adult who had a messed up childhood. She is brash, thoughtless, and runs on pure spite. Harrow, her childhood nemesis who also happens to be Very Important to the Ninth House, is cold, reserved, and thinks Gideon has a brain full of rocks. Their mettle and relationship are tested when Harrow half blackmails Gideon into acting as her cavalier (to the furthest I understand, a cavalier is akin to a personal bodyguard?) and accompanying her to Canaan House on the mysterious summons from the Necromancer Prime; the Resurrection; the God of the Nine Houses; the Emperor Undying (yes they're all the one person, and yes, there are actually more titles than the ones listed). Canaan House, as it turns out, is a house of horrors. Nothing is as it seems, no one can be trusted, and the truth is hidden behind doors that should probably have stayed shut. The plot actually picks up around 35% of the way through, and shifts from a slog through unfamiliar terms and jargon into a rather fascinating and terrifying scavenger hunt.
Listen, I liked this book, I think. I plan to read farther forward in the series to truly decide it, but for now it's at least passable. But god, am I mad at that ending, and am I mad at the empire. We do bones, b*tch.
I would move to say there is next to no romance here, only subtext and potential. I am awash with feelings, a great many of which amount only to "f***". That said, let me try.
Gideon the Ninth is DENSE. Less than 500 pages, and yet, at the beginning, I felt as though I were wading through a bog. You'll have millions of questions about the world, and receive precious few answers. I'm still not 100% sure if the houses are full on planets or space stations or some other secret third thing. I do not really understand what a Lyctor is, or why necromancing is even possible in this world. I understand even less what the hell happened in Canaan House.
Gideon is kind of the prime example for an adult who had a messed up childhood. She is brash, thoughtless, and runs on pure spite. Harrow, her childhood nemesis who also happens to be Very Important to the Ninth House, is cold, reserved, and thinks Gideon has a brain full of rocks. Their mettle and relationship are tested when Harrow half blackmails Gideon into acting as her cavalier (to the furthest I understand, a cavalier is akin to a personal bodyguard?) and accompanying her to Canaan House on the mysterious summons from the Necromancer Prime; the Resurrection; the God of the Nine Houses; the Emperor Undying (yes they're all the one person, and yes, there are actually more titles than the ones listed). Canaan House, as it turns out, is a house of horrors. Nothing is as it seems, no one can be trusted, and the truth is hidden behind doors that should probably have stayed shut. The plot actually picks up around 35% of the way through, and shifts from a slog through unfamiliar terms and jargon into a rather fascinating and terrifying scavenger hunt.
Listen, I liked this book, I think. I plan to read farther forward in the series to truly decide it, but for now it's at least passable. But god, am I mad at that ending, and am I mad at the empire. We do bones, b*tch.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Blood, Confinement, Cannibalism, Vomit, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic friendship
harrimyers's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i Love this book. i love it. i love it so so so so so so so much. the ending has devastated me. i am broken. what the fuck what the fuck i anticipated not a single plot point. not one. what the fuck
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Colonisation, Child death, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Blood, Confinement, Violence, Terminal illness, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, and Death of parent
carrieclothwright's review against another edition
Setup is really grim; none of the characters seem lovable, their main interest is in level of spitefulness; I'm not interested in necromancy; cursing is not out of place given the context but still kinda meh; basically seems really depressing, can't get into it, and don't want to immerse myself in a downer right now. Might try again some other time.
eta: just went through the list of content warnings and wow, for being less than 10% in that's... a lot. I think this book just might not be my style.
eta: just went through the list of content warnings and wow, for being less than 10% in that's... a lot. I think this book just might not be my style.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Violence
crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
In an objective sense I recognize that Gideon the Ninth has a lot of good points, but it's not for me.
Young Gideon was raised as an indentured servant of the Ninth House, a planet ruled by a despotic, necromantic regime under a distant Emperor. Although she constantly tries to escape, her attempts are foiled by her teachers and by the heir to the House, Harrow.
But everything changes when the Emperor summons representatives of each house to his own planet, demanding they undergo a trial to become "lyctors". Dragged along to the planet by Harrow, Gideon finds herself facing dangers she never imagined...
On the positive side, Gideon is very likeable and sassy as a protagonist. Regarding worldbuilding, it was intriguingly different to the average fantasy novel - it's a kind of scifi/fantasy mixture with the combination of necromancy and space tech. I also enjoyed the variety in the characters' physical appearances. The lesbian representation is a nice bonus, especially as it's the protagonist, although I would warn any hopefuls thatGideon does not get into any romantic relationships .
However, the plot felt a little aimless because the protagonist's goals are not kept at the forefront. Gideon begins the book with a desire to escape and join the Imperial Army, but this is rapidly forgotten as she gets kicked around by fate for the first third of the book.
Also, I didn't find this goal terribly compelling in the first place. The entire Empire was depicted as rotten to the core with few redeeming features, so what good would it do to move around to some other place in it? It seemed like the only worthwhile goal Gideon could have would be to destroy the whole system, or else to leave it.
The pacing is also very slow; even by the 40% mark, the mysteries of the lyctor challenge are still largely untouched. I also found the large number of named characters difficult to absorb. Similarly, the necromantic magic system is complicated and largely left unexplained. This made it seem like any kind of magic could theoretically be performed, if it was convenient for the plot.
I also found it hard to reconcile the fact that early in the book,Harrow acts in a truly unforgivable way towards Gideon, but Gideon later acts very loyally towards her . In general, I found it hard to accept Harrow as the deuteragonist. It might be because I found the overall atmosphere of doom and gloom to be discouraging.
I think I would have liked there to be more in the story's world that Gideon felt was worth fighting for - more people she wanted to be there to protect, or happy experiences she hoped to have, that kind of thing.
I'm unsure whether to recommend this book. I guess I'll say that if you think it's not for you, it's probably not.
Young Gideon was raised as an indentured servant of the Ninth House, a planet ruled by a despotic, necromantic regime under a distant Emperor. Although she constantly tries to escape, her attempts are foiled by her teachers and by the heir to the House, Harrow.
But everything changes when the Emperor summons representatives of each house to his own planet, demanding they undergo a trial to become "lyctors". Dragged along to the planet by Harrow, Gideon finds herself facing dangers she never imagined...
On the positive side, Gideon is very likeable and sassy as a protagonist. Regarding worldbuilding, it was intriguingly different to the average fantasy novel - it's a kind of scifi/fantasy mixture with the combination of necromancy and space tech. I also enjoyed the variety in the characters' physical appearances. The lesbian representation is a nice bonus, especially as it's the protagonist, although I would warn any hopefuls that
However, the plot felt a little aimless because the protagonist's goals are not kept at the forefront. Gideon begins the book with a desire to escape and join the Imperial Army, but this is rapidly forgotten as she gets kicked around by fate for the first third of the book.
Also, I didn't find this goal terribly compelling in the first place. The entire Empire was depicted as rotten to the core with few redeeming features, so what good would it do to move around to some other place in it? It seemed like the only worthwhile goal Gideon could have would be to destroy the whole system, or else to leave it.
The pacing is also very slow; even by the 40% mark, the mysteries of the lyctor challenge are still largely untouched. I also found the large number of named characters difficult to absorb. Similarly, the necromantic magic system is complicated and largely left unexplained. This made it seem like any kind of magic could theoretically be performed, if it was convenient for the plot.
I also found it hard to reconcile the fact that early in the book,
I think I would have liked there to be more in the story's world that Gideon felt was worth fighting for - more people she wanted to be there to protect, or happy experiences she hoped to have, that kind of thing.
I'm unsure whether to recommend this book. I guess I'll say that if you think it's not for you, it's probably not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Confinement and Slavery
Body horror, violence, death: It is a book about necromancers, after all. An example of the "body horror" involved isSuicide: The backstory of some minor characters.
Slavery, confinement: Gideon's "indentured servitude" is close to slavery. After a failed escape attempt, she is confined to a few rooms.
scarlettskyes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, Cancer, Grief, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Medical content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Medical trauma, and Child death
arobear's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So conflicted on rating this book. In my heart I know it's a 5... (but honestly the ending killed me and I want to yell for a long time.... I'm not sure I'm going to be ok anytime soon...) but my feelings are complicated to put it best. I'll 100% be rereading it in the future though, and the sequels one I give myself a minute to recover.
Worldbuilding and character development are excellent; the setting feels mysterious throughout and (for better or worse) I love the characters. They're my shitty little children now!
Be ready for strong emotions though, fair warning.
I want to see where it goes with the necromancers in space thread next. Not sure it will be for a while though.... just ugh my heart, I have so many feelings...
Worldbuilding and character development are excellent; the setting feels mysterious throughout and (for better or worse) I love the characters. They're my shitty little children now!
Be ready for strong emotions though, fair warning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Self harm
Minor: Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
At the end of this book I experienced emotional damage and I fully expect it to make me cry again on re-reading in the future.
I went into this book knowing almost nothing beyond the tag line of Lesbian Necromancers in Space and that it was genre-bending for sci-fi and fantasy. That was enough to sell me on reading it, even though I heard mixed things.
Did it deliver on those premises? Mostly. There are characters that identified as women and showed attraction/flirted with others that also identified as women, some of those characters were also necromancers. With regards to being in space, there is very limited space shuttle travel, so I don't know that I would really quantify it that way, though there is ample room for that to change for the future in the series.
This book was indeed a crossover between sci-fi and fantasy in that it involved a technologically advanced civilization (space travel, and such) but with the deep roots of necromancy that almost took it into dark academia territory. The necromancers are all obsessed in learning new theorems/spells and figuring out things in their specializations, and there are also trials they have to pass and mysteries to solve before they can advance.
There's a lot of tension because it is a competition and you don't really begin to understand the stakes until Act II and then the full whammy hits you near the end.
Also, I feel like I have a conspiracy theory based on the epilogue/info peppered throughout the book so click for spoilers, I guess:
Okay, so Gideon did not die with all the other children even though she was close to the vents for 10 minutes and her parents were hella scared about that. In the epilogue, the Emperor says they couldn't retrieve Camilla (who was last seen alive) or Gideon's bodies so what if Harrow has Gideon's soul, but like, the body/vessel is still alive? And Camilla managed to be resourceful because she definitely is wicked smart and they escaped the First planet...? Or hid until they left? I dunno. Maybe I just don't want Gideon to be dead because her gay panic was so relatable. And everyone else. I loved the Fourth teens with their perpetual embarrassment and the Fifth cav Magnus was so sweet...
I went into this book knowing almost nothing beyond the tag line of Lesbian Necromancers in Space and that it was genre-bending for sci-fi and fantasy. That was enough to sell me on reading it, even though I heard mixed things.
Did it deliver on those premises? Mostly. There are characters that identified as women and showed attraction/flirted with others that also identified as women, some of those characters were also necromancers. With regards to being in space, there is very limited space shuttle travel, so I don't know that I would really quantify it that way, though there is ample room for that to change for the future in the series.
This book was indeed a crossover between sci-fi and fantasy in that it involved a technologically advanced civilization (space travel, and such) but with the deep roots of necromancy that almost took it into dark academia territory. The necromancers are all obsessed in learning new theorems/spells and figuring out things in their specializations, and there are also trials they have to pass and mysteries to solve before they can advance.
There's a lot of tension because it is a competition and you don't really begin to understand the stakes until Act II and then the full whammy hits you near the end.
Also, I feel like I have a conspiracy theory based on the epilogue/info peppered throughout the book so click for spoilers, I guess:
Content Warnings
Minor: Abandonment, Body horror, Cursing, Suicide, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Cancer, Death, Slavery, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Child death, Stalking, and War
brittni_in_ink's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Gideon the Ninth isn't for the faint of heart. It's a sci-fi/fantasy epic that is part mystery, part action thriller, and part ensemble drama. The story requires a little bit more from the reader in terms of piecing together how the world works and the politics of the character interactions - but that's my favourite kind of book!
The writing style throughout reflects Gideon's snarky sense of humour - which is super hard to pull off effectively - and Muir balances the tone with the narrative flow in an expert and effortless way to make the Gideon-like phrases sing in the text.
I loved all of the characters, although it was difficult at times to keep all of the names and House affiliations in mind. I realized afterward that I could have made better use of the dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, and that there was an appendix!
The settings and fighting sequences were exceptionally well-crafted, and the slow reveal of the mystery hidden in Canaan House was satisfying. Each line of dialogue felt natural and nuanced. I was invested in this book from cover to cover, and I can't wait to read the next one!
The writing style throughout reflects Gideon's snarky sense of humour - which is super hard to pull off effectively - and Muir balances the tone with the narrative flow in an expert and effortless way to make the Gideon-like phrases sing in the text.
I loved all of the characters, although it was difficult at times to keep all of the names and House affiliations in mind. I realized afterward that I could have made better use of the dramatis personae at the beginning of the book, and that there was an appendix!
The settings and fighting sequences were exceptionally well-crafted, and the slow reveal of the mystery hidden in Canaan House was satisfying. Each line of dialogue felt natural and nuanced. I was invested in this book from cover to cover, and I can't wait to read the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Cancer, Death, Suicide, Death of parent, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury