A review by miclikesbooks
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gideon The Ninth is a dark Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel that mixes the political Sci Fi concepts of Dune with the mystery of an Agatha Christie Novel, alongside the irreverent wit of the Zoey Ashe books.  Also, lesbians and skeletons.

What worked for me: 

• The characters, particularly the protagonist Gideon Nav.  Gideon is cynical, witty, and honestly, just cool.  Inside she is more complex and insecure, which rounds her out quite nicely. Having her as your main POV character let's you view this creatively dark and cynical world through some levity.  
  • The other characters are, for the most part, really fun.  They ARE a bit overshadowed by Gideon, but a few standout, namely the arrogant-but-compassionate Palamedes and his badass Cavalier Camila.  Most of the characters are fun little plays on archetypes, but we don't spend too much time with most of them.
    which is probably a good thing, as I wouldn't recommend getting attached to ANYONE in this book
     
• The World is so creative: It is a solar system where each planet is represented as a royal "House".  Each house specializes in a form of Necromancy: The reanimation of the dead (Ex: The Eight House focuses on Souls, The Ninth House does bones,
  motherfucker
  ) and all are ruled over by some Wizard God King Emperor.  They also use swords, not guns, because futurespace.  Magic all runs on the energy released upon death, which is a really cool concept and is (one of the few things) explained very well.
• The LGBTQ+ representation in this book is VERY well done.  They feel like characters, not token stand-ins, have personalities outside of being "so into ladies", and are handled very genuinely, similar to Linus in The House on the Cerulean Sea.  But like, y'know...badass.

What didn't work for me:

• The book commmits, for me, one of the biggest sins of both Science Fiction and Fantasy Books: It does not naturally explain its world to the reader.  A LOT of the times, the reader is left in the dark and it is just assumed that we have the information that the characters have.  This book does not do the best job explaining its world, which can be alienating for the first half of the book.  There IS a Glossary in the back that gives you a better idea, but I feel like its intended to be read AFTER the book, as some of the supplementary material is a little spoilertastic.
  • I will add that this is the first in a series, so it may be intentionally vague, but it did make the earlier parts of the story a little less enjoyable.
• Some of the characters are forgettable or bland.  This isn't so bad with side characters, but I found Harrowhark, arguably the secondary protagonist, a bit cliche'd and grating.  I'm kind of bummed that the second book is going to focus on her.

Mixed Bag Elements:

• The plot is a cool concept: Essentially, it's an Agatha Christie Whodunit in space.  Unfortunately, it does get a little muddled here and there.  There is a LOT going on, which does keep you from guessing the twists, but there's some things that just...don't add up (though, this may be because it is the first in a series).

Overall: I really liked this book!  It was new, creative, and I absolutely loved the protagonist.  I'm VERY curious to see where they go from here, especially with THAT ending.
4/5 Stars.  Would recommend.