The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The author’s name “Tamsyn Muir” is written at the top on orange capitals. The title “Gideon the Ninth” is written in large white capitals in the bottom half of the cover. A quote from Charles Stross reads “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!” at the bottom of the cover in small white writing. The cover shows a woman dressed in all black, holding a sword, with cropped orange hair, black sunglasses and skull face paint. Behind her, skeletons and dust against a starry sky. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Gore
• Dead Bodies
• Death
• Skeletons
• Suicide
• Suicidal Ideation
• Blood
• Injury/Injury Detail
• Genocide
• Death of a Parent
• Terminal Illness
• Torture
• Infanticide
• Mass Genocide
• Child Death
• Confinement
• Toxic Relationship
• Emotional Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Murder

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Summary:

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

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Notes:

First things first:

Anyone familiar with the fandom world will be aware of how quickly controversy can spring up and implode a fanbase. Muir become embroiled in such a controversy in 2019, when it came to light that, in 2011, she had written a Homestuck darkfic. Homestuck is a media franchise, and a “darkfic” is slang for “dark fanfiction” (free, fictional stories written by fans of a piece of media, following the characters of said media). Darkfics are not uncommon in fandom, but they can be controversial for the topics they involve.

I do believe that this controversy was recently cleared up through Muir’s interviews, but if you would like more information I have found this Reddit post: it’s fairly long, but it’s a good rundown of everything and they link to a lot of sources to support what they are saying. Here is a link to a Tumblr post that also lists and links to a bunch of interviews with Tamsyn Muir in relation to the book series and the controversy.

Notes Continued:

For more information on content warnings, see here and here.

This is the first book the The Locked Tomb series.

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook/Kindle version.

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Archivist Comments:

When I tell you that the reviews on this book were feral-

I’ve started this one. Haven’t finished it yet but I’m making progress. It’s bloody long. But it’s descriptive, if not somewhat confusing. I’m enjoying it.

Now, notice the * next to ‘Terminal Illness’ above. There is a major side character with a terminal illness in this book, but there’s a twist that sort of…ruins it? I don’t know how to describe it without spoiling it too much, but just know that it’s a bit controversial.

The book is confusing at times, and long- both seem to be the consensus for all three books so far. In this one, you sort of start en-media-res and have to do a bit of untangling the plot in the beginning chapter or so.

But it’s very immersive and atmospheric. I think the concept is certainly interesting. Personally, I quite like that the characters aren’t all constructed to be righteous and likeable even if they are the main ones. And there’s definitely tension between the two MCs, though their relationship to one another is rightfully highlighted as being quite toxic at times.

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