Gideon, The Ninth

A lesbian necromantic coming-of-age novel, in space!

Gideon The Ninth is the funny teenage angsty adventure I didn’t know I needed.

This book has been on my radar for over a year, but I kept prioritising other reads. Now I wish I had started ‘The Locked Tomb’ series earlier.

* Spoilers Below, proceed with caution *

Plot and World Building:

I feel like I shouldn’t omit the fact that the world-building in this book, although incredibly interesting and well-written, took me quite a fair bit on mental maps and hierarchies to get my head around it. Maybe it was just me struggling to keep track of what cavalier was who’s, and what name and title everyone has, but at times, when characters were mentioned I had to stop and think back to my mental note of all characters.

Although I am aware that this is the first of a total of three books in ‘The Locked Tomb’ series and the world-building is key for report and continuation for the readers.

It was very digestible to get to see this world ( worlds?) from the perspective of Gideon. Gideon Nav is an orphan enslaved by the House of the Ninth, protectors of the locked tomb. Gideon and Harrow (The heir to the Ninth House and a necromancer) are the only teenagers in the whole house after a flu (not accidental) killed all the other children when they were young. But Harrow’s and Gideon’s upbringing couldn’t have been more different. On her 18th birthday, Gideon attempts to run away for the 87th time but is caught.

Gideon’s and Harrow’s relationship goes from very much hating each other to putting it aside to work together and stay alive, so maybe being a little bit friendly, all while it all so clear to the reader that there is definitely love (or maybe confused lust?) for one another.

Characters:

Gideon is funny in a himbo way (him bimbo btw). She is brute strength, awkward with feelings and short-fused. The overall feeling that most other characters give could be described as stuffy and overly formal, but Gideon is the antithesis of all of them. When they hide meaning between sentences and communicate passively, Gideon barges in with a direct question and an honest opinion.

Harrow is mean. But it’s actually because she’s crushed under the weight of her own existence and the tragedy of her parents, which is still a secret. Although most of Harrow’s tender moments come from her interactions with Gideo, Harrow is likeable in her own merit. She is likeable because she is, by far, the smartest and most hard-working person in any given room she walks in.

“Maybe it's that I find the idea comforting... that thousands of years after you're gone... is when you really live. That your echo is louder than your voice.” -Gideon Nav, Gideon the Ninth

I cannot wait to start the next instalment of this series!

I give “Gideon, The Ninth” a solid 3.5/ 5 stars.