A review by neonfrills
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

  • 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

5.0

 
A Sci-fi fantasy hybrid that follows Gideon, an indentured servant to the Ninth House, keepers of the Locked Tomb, who is contracted to become the cavalier for the heir of the Ninth House, Harrowhark, who is a powerful necromancer. The pair are summoned to the First House, along with the heirs of the other houses, to compete to become Lyctors, immortal, powerful servants of the emperor. What starts off as simple challenges soon leads to murder, with Gideon and Harrow learning to trust one another for survival.

This book is just a lot of fun. The worldbuilding seems like it would be overwhelming at first, but elements are slowly drip-fed to you, so you experience the reveals at the same time as the characters, and can align your emotions with what the characters are feeling in that moment.

Characters: I love them all. This book has very strong Hunger Games: Catching Fire energy in that there’s a squad that forms based on a shared desire for survival against adversity. A lot of the characters are very morally gray and their allegiances switch throughout the book, leading to the final confrontation being very interesting since you have no idea what is going to happen next.
I wanted to talk about the central “romance” between Gideon and Harrow; they really are enemies to lovers done right. Starting off hating each other, but then the forced proximity of Gideon playing the role of Harrow’s cavalier, to then Gideon fully accepting the role of cavalier and pledging her heart and soul to Harrow… it's iconic. I also loooooove a duo where one is sworn to protect the other, and so many of the necromancer-cavalier pairs we meet in this book have that trope in different fonts.

Bottom line:.... I may have bought the 3rd book and already started the second, and will be cosplaying from it. So you can call me obsessed LOL