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A review by thesinginglights
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
4.0
I am reminded of [b:Gardens of the Moon|55399|Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #1)|Steven Erikson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548497031l/55399._SY75_.jpg|2646042] by Steven Erikson when I think of this book, perhaps fairly or unfairly. Both ambitious in scope, both maddeningly opaque and mysterious, with names thrown at you without context. You'll wrestle with it, begging for a morsel of information before you declare fuck it and admit that you need to be in for the ride and hope it makes sense with some careful reading. Don't worry about it, as you will get some of your answers; the rest you will have to work for. There's a certain charm about that.
For the eagle-eyed, this actually works in Erikson's favour. Despite me preferring this book, Erikson laid a lot of groundwork for some of the future reveals in Gardens (even if some others go unexplained lol), giving a often disjointed book some continuity, especially in the last act. This book, less so. I think chracterisation and voice are much stronger and consistent here than with Erikson but I think he gave the through-line and the essential information a little better. The wider world is rarely hinted at and, while it adds to the increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere in Canaan House, I am left wondering about it.
I'm told by people I trust that it is something that changes with a re-read and I would be inclined to agree. It does feel that with each new bit of information, the mystery-box becomes more convoluted. Some of my frustrations lie with the inconsistent voice. The prose, while good doesn't soar because of its verbosity. Large passages of fights were tough to follow with the flowery verbiage being spewed at it. It hurt some of the comedy for me too. It's largely funny but some of the humour fell a bit flat.
My other complaints lie with withholding key information, which is my least favourite part of a mystery. You can't give everything away, naturally, but when characters have information that advances the story hidden when they could have explained themselves, it's irksome.
That being said! This has some interesting and unique flair, with cool necromancer in a sci-fi setting that works startlingly well. Gideon was a strong protagonist and fun voice for the situation and the character dynamics between her and Harrow are fantastic, some of the strengths of the book. I like how well it explores how distorted Gideon's view of events are and that things aren't quite what they seem, especially when it comes to Harrow. The characters are largely to be lauded. The mystery also works for the most part, but its hampered at points by some frustrating elements. The spectacle of the mystery as more interesting than the mechanics as what was happening actually was fairly simple.
So despite my complaints, I really enjoyed this book. I think the prose could use some smoothing down and I would like for some clarity but I respect it as a literary device. I'd also like to see more of the world which I believe we do get in the second book. I'm cautiously optimistic.
For the eagle-eyed, this actually works in Erikson's favour. Despite me preferring this book, Erikson laid a lot of groundwork for some of the future reveals in Gardens (even if some others go unexplained lol), giving a often disjointed book some continuity, especially in the last act. This book, less so. I think chracterisation and voice are much stronger and consistent here than with Erikson but I think he gave the through-line and the essential information a little better. The wider world is rarely hinted at and, while it adds to the increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere in Canaan House, I am left wondering about it.
I'm told by people I trust that it is something that changes with a re-read and I would be inclined to agree. It does feel that with each new bit of information, the mystery-box becomes more convoluted. Some of my frustrations lie with the inconsistent voice. The prose, while good doesn't soar because of its verbosity. Large passages of fights were tough to follow with the flowery verbiage being spewed at it. It hurt some of the comedy for me too. It's largely funny but some of the humour fell a bit flat.
My other complaints lie with withholding key information, which is my least favourite part of a mystery. You can't give everything away, naturally, but when characters have information that advances the story hidden when they could have explained themselves, it's irksome.
That being said! This has some interesting and unique flair, with cool necromancer in a sci-fi setting that works startlingly well. Gideon was a strong protagonist and fun voice for the situation and the character dynamics between her and Harrow are fantastic, some of the strengths of the book. I like how well it explores how distorted Gideon's view of events are and that things aren't quite what they seem, especially when it comes to Harrow. The characters are largely to be lauded. The mystery also works for the most part, but its hampered at points by some frustrating elements. The spectacle of the mystery as more interesting than the mechanics as what was happening actually was fairly simple.
So despite my complaints, I really enjoyed this book. I think the prose could use some smoothing down and I would like for some clarity but I respect it as a literary device. I'd also like to see more of the world which I believe we do get in the second book. I'm cautiously optimistic.