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language: English
country: Aotearoa
year: 2019
form: novel
genre(s): science fiction, fantasy
series: The Locked Tomb, #1
dates read: 24.8.20-25.8.20, 14.11.21-18.11.21, 30.8.22-3.9.22
there are very few books you could write that would be more perfectly tailored to my interests than Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth. on rereading — this most recent audiobook listen-through was the third time I’ve read it — I think it’s more theoretically sophisticated than I originally gave it credit for, in its tearing back the veil obscuring the horrific violence underlying this society.
that said, I still do not currently believe that this series will Stand The Test Of Time. the prose is at times repetitive (hearing it aloud really makes you realize how often Muir falls back on the word “terrible”), and while the plot, characters, and setting are all extremely engaging, I’m just not sure it has enough substance. I also think that the memes will age extremely poorly. it’s different in Harrow, where they are providing important characterization for [REDACTED], but I simply cannot accept that after 10,000 years someone would stumble on the exact form of “while we were [X], she studied the blade”. language is always the thing that most easily breaks my suspension of disbelief (there’s also the way they can all read 10,000-year-old handwritten notes with perfect ease, as if neither language nor handwriting styles have changed in all that time).
it is, however, possible that Nona the Ninth and Alecto the Ninth will change my mind. I would be delighted if they did. I would, in any case, still highly recommend the book, as long as you’re okay with written gore.
moods: adventurous, dark, funny, mysterious, tense. I would also consider adding “horny” to the list.