Reviews with content warning for Murder - Gideon the Ninth

This was a fun and engaging read once it got into the swing of things. Slowly understanding motivations and unraveling the lore of the universe that Muir built was a joy. She crafted an entire solar system and it's beliefs, and let it be uncovered slowly as to not let the reader be overwhelmed by its all, and I found that I was enjoying learning new bits of lore as they came up. It felt like a prequel to the upcoming series that you didn't even realize until it was all done. I found the action exciting with Gideon rattling off one liners that gave her the feel of an action hero, back up by her actual prowess and confidence. The back and forth between the two main characters got a bit tiresome, but once the third act started, it all payed off in a big way, even if it was altogether sudden. I think Gideons relationship with Harrow is more complex than anyone, even the writer, gives credit to. But looking deeper into it and the history between the two means that I am going to think about this book for a while and I am interested to see where it goes from here.
The ending could be very divisive and I am not sure how I like how it all wrapped up. It makes sense

and is beatiful in ways as it shows an ultimate act of love and sacrifice

but is also kind of annoying all at once with

Gideon now being gone, the future books may suffer from her absence.

I also thought the writing was overly wordy and pedantic at times, not really fitting the context and tone of the book. I am all for descriptive words, but I don't think they should have been used so firviously in this book, being what it was. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it was a great mix of action, mystery, and tension that was told through the lens of a total badass.

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dizzymisslizzy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious 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? No

4.0

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meg_thebrave's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

Wow. It was a slow read for me, as Muir built this world, but this is an incredible read and I’m so glad I stuck it out to the end. I just read a modern sci-fi masterpiece. And I’m excited to see what happens next. Huge fan of the incredible narrator, Moira Quirk, as well.

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chrisb913's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.5

The book overall is incredibly solid. Tamsyn Muir crafts a truly dark, dense, and complex world. The plot starts out a bit murky, trying to piece together the world and the magic system. If you are someone like me who will end up re-reading passages over and over again until you understand what is happening, the initial few chapters can be incredibly frustrating, as Muir tends to show you the basics of the world building over the course of the story instead of telling you about it all upfront. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion, just that it can cause a bit of a slog at certain points in the story.

The main character, Gideon, and her necromancer, Harrow, were very well written. Gideon, a lovable snarky badass woman, always with a retort, paired so perfectly with Harrow, a strict, powerful no-nonsense woman who wants to prove she can do everything solo. The bonding these two share as the story progresses had me clamoring for more scenes with just these two.

While the plot was pretty straightforward, as stated earlier, the writing was anything but. The twists and turns in this sci-fi fantasy turned mystery thriller kept me on the edge of my seat, clamoring for more. Really and truly, the only hinderence I found was the pacing of the world/story building reveals. I found myself floundering at different points, trying to figure out what was going on, especially in the beginning. I would say this book is between a 4-4.5 star. I will definitely be continuing this series with the next book Harrow the Ninth to find out what happens next.

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ellenwm's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

I was drawn in tight from the first chapter, which felt unique! The prose is fun. Gideon is just an awesome, magnetic character to get to know. The exposition feels natural and not too heavy handed. I enjoyed the mystery component and the characters immensely. This isn’t my typical genre, so grain of salt, but the world and concept felt totally fresh. I loved the audiobook narrator!!! Once you’re in the thick of it though it takes some doing to really keep the main 17 characters sorted in your mind, with who’s with what house and which partners and which skills and which titles. Might have been easier reading it written out, but keeping a character list nearby helped until I had it straight. There were a couple important emotional beats that faltered, unfortunately. Do be warned, there are some sections of body horror that aren’t enjoyable near meals or if you’re squeamish. Excited for the next in the series.

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shottel's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

4.25

The quote by Charles Stross on the front of the book sums up the setting very well: "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless Emperor! Skeletons!" Yet it misses the most notable feature of the book: The witty, gruesome writing. Much of the story is told as if the titular Gideon the Ninth is the narrator herself - sarcastic, crude, dark, judgmental, and witty. It frequently invokes death, decay, and viscera without ever being overbearingly grimdark.

"She was down there last night too and, if I'm correct, never surfaced. Her blood's on the floor down there." Because necromancers lived bad lives, he added: "To clarify. Her intravenous blood. Her intravenous blood."

The writing, plot, and world-building are brilliant. The only reason it is not a 5 star book is because I nearly put it away before I reached the half-way point. In the first half, it turned into a slog. Little happens with Gideon in terms of her advancing the plot, experiencing the plot advancing, or with her own development. To make matters worse, the tone of the book, which is otherwise brilliantly presented, stays completely uniform the entire way through. I had to sit through over a hundred pages of what felt like very little before experiencing an explosion of activity in the second half. This hundred pages of nothing did accentuate the drama of the second half, but that could have been done while allowing for tonal shifts or personal character development that would have made the first half more interesting to read.

Despite this, if you are like me, keep pushing through until about page 250 and the payoff will absolutely be worth it. I recommend this to anyone who would be interested in reading about lesbian space necromancy.

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chrispy_mac's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

4.0

A lot of books get popular because they're following some trend, and aren't actually good. Fortunately, Gideon the Ninth actually IS good. The only issue I had was the pacing, I really almost dnf'd this at about 45% of the way through. It really takes its time to set things up (maybe too much time). However, really great characters and an interesting world does make up for it in the end. I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

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kwthor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

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