Book Review: Gideon the Ninth

I've spent more than a little time reading over the last few weeks, as North Carolina has been sheltering in place for more than five weeks. Odyssey moved to remote learning on March 17th, the first school in Buncombe County to make the decision to close the physical campus to students. And while my outside "container" has gotten a lot smaller, I've been exploring the multi-verse of recently published fantasy and sci-fi novels. Here's the first of a series of book reviews:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a book I didn't want to love. I'll be honest; I haven't ever read a necromancy adventure novel, and truthfully I thought myself happy without having done so. I was wrong, dead wrong, heh, heh. Told from the perspective of a lesbian swordswoman with a penchant for dirty magazines and combat, the book had me in thrall by the end of the first chapter. The world is bloody and well-drawn, peopled by skeletons, secrets, monsters from the deep, and a pack of necromancers all charged with competing to solve God's unsolvable puzzle. The stakes are high, and the writing is relatable and sharp, the voice of Gideon so honest that I am rereading it to spend more time with her, a caustic, embittered character who is at the same time so full of combustive friendship and love that everyone around her is to drawn to her side (and this after not being able to speak for a significant portion of the novel). 

Yes Gideon's voice is unique, but author Tamsyn Muir's plotting is out-of-this-world--literally and figuratively. The book is intricate, well-paced, and as complicated as a series of gymnastic twists, turns, and flourishes. I don't say this often but the last hundred pages I stayed awake in the wee hours of the morning reading, and then when I finished, I immediately went online to find out when the next book comes out. I'm sad to say, the publication of Harrow the Ninth has been pushed back because of the pandemic. So now I have to wait for a chance to see where this incredible story goes next.
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Yes, this novel surprised me. This may be my favorite quality in a book, to be held in thrall and also not entirely know where I am headed until I arrive. So if your days at home are filled with monotony and the small details of cooking and gardening, then spend a bit of time with this story. Gideon won't disappoint.

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A lot of fantasy, a little bit of science fiction, from an #own voices LGBT author. Be ready for blood, gore, and murder.