Book Review | Fantasy | Thriller
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The combo of sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and her sword-fighting
Hi, I’m Sarah, and welcome to this Book Review. Today, I will be reviewing Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
I would classify this book as sci-fi/fantasy and mystery. Gideon Nav just wants to get away from… the Ninth House and from Harrowhark Nonagesimus.
But when Harrow offers Gideon a deal that she can’t refuse, she accompanies the necromancer princess across space, with her sword at her side, so that said necromancer princess can ascend to immortality and power!
Once they arrive on this other planet, and meet the representatives from the other houses, something seems to be stalking them. And then it becomes very clear that something is not as it seems.
I loved this book!
Particularly what I loved about it was, the characters. We have our main point of view character through Gideon, and she is wonderful. She has a very unique perspective that I really just enjoyed a lot.
But honestly, all of the supporting characters are equally fun, and I just really getting to know them.
There is a large cast of characters, which I think can be a little bit… overwhelming at the beginning of the story, because you can’t really differentiate people, initially.
It takes a while for everyone to sort of settle and you figure out who everybody is, and what they do, and their little niche.
Muir spends a lot of time introducing you to characters and giving you time to get to know them, but in doing so she also spends a lot time doing world-building, universe-building, and just giving the reader time to settle into this very, very unusual, unique… story.
For me, that was not a problem, because I loved it! I was like, really excited to keep going and hear more and learn more. And honestly, the whole vibe of sword-fighting cavalier alongside necromancer… wizard princess was like, always an aesthetic I was going to just enjoy… immensely, uh, and it was the gift that kept on giving. Delicious.
What I didn’t like about this book so much was that… I did feel like the pacing had problems as well as benefits. I really think that the beginning in particular was not necessarily well-built, because the initial scene right out the gate is super high-action and things are happening very quickly.
And then we hit this lull. And then we have this sort of gap of time between… certain decisions being made and certain… actions being taken. There’s like, a long… enough…. gap between these two things that I feel like it could’ve been condensed a little bit.
It felt like it… set the pace for the rest of the book to be that slow, whereas the initial scene of the book sets it up to be a very fast-paced, high-action sort of thing.
And this is actually really not a high-action book.
It is not action-adventure, even though it sort of looks and sounds like it would be; it is much more of a mystery. And speaking of the mystery, personally, I didn’t think that this mystery was particularly solvable, outside of… the story.
Like I don’t think there’s many people who are going to like, “guess the twist.” I don’t think that there was enough, like, clues given to be like, “oh, of course that’s what would happen!” But also, on the other hand of that spectrum, I’m not a person who tries to solve the book mystery as its happening.
I just sort of… ingest. And let it happen. That might be more frustrating to someone else, but I did notice it! That it was like, “I don’t know if I could’ve figured that out!” So, for me, not a BIG issue with the book, but I could see where other people would find that very irritating.
I give Gideon the Ninth 4.6 out of 5 stars.
It just didn’t hit that, that 5-star moment for me, which is… too bad. But I am super excited for the sequel! I would recommend it!
Especially if you like the combo of sci-fi and fantasy in a book. Plus, necromancy, sword-fighting, and a very large cast of interesting, lovable, fun characters. If that’s your jam, this is right up your alley! Thank you so much for reading. 😊
