Aside from one friend recommending a wide array of books, I’ve never really encountered anyone who has talked about why someone should read Gideon The Ninth or its sequels. Tons of people talked about those books, but it was mostly hidden behind spoiler tags, involved little more than invoking the jacket blurb describing it as “lesbian necromancers in space,” or was people parroting quotations back and forth that were lines removed from context that mostly weren’t spoilers. No one really talked about the book in a way that made it seem interesting or appealing to someone who hadn’t read it yet, just talking about various critical plot moments or theories about the upcoming third book instead of really trying to expand the web of people who’ve read it. I will be the first to admit that I probably need to find better sources for books and book-related discussions given how unreliable my casual discussion spheres appear to be, but I also felt like this had become an established series for a lot of people which made it fall into the “of course everyone knows about this and has read it” void. Aside from the one recommendation I’d gotten from a friend (which is ultimately what made me buy the book since I deeply trust her taste in books), it seemed like no one ever felt the need to suggest it to anyone.
Thankfully, I bought it during a shopping trip with my guests over US Thanksgiving week and then read it over a few days a couple weeks later. It was an incredibly engrossing read, frequently keeping me up well past the time I should have gone to bed and consuming an entire Saturday as I sat in my chair, read, and only occasionally remembered that I was supposed to be doing laundry. To put it simply and easily, “lesbian necromancers in space” is an accurate description but I feel its unfairly reductive. I mean, first of all, very little of the book involves space travel. Our protagonist, the titular Gideon, only goes on one trip through the empty vacuum of space and while she is a lesbian, she isn’t a necromancer. Lots of other characters are necromancers, though, and necromancy appears to be a significant part of the worldbuilding in this universe, so that’s still a fitting descriptor. I know that the sequels to this book probably involve more space travel, but I feel like this is one of those books that has been lumped into the science-fiction section because it involves futuristic space travel despite definitely being a fantasy book. I mean, sure, they explain a bit of how the magic works (introducing something called Thanergy, or “death energy”), but that’s about as technical as it gets and there isn’t really anything else that fits the sci-fi archetypes. I mean, people still use swords and stuff. I didn’t see a single laser!
To be clear, the only part of this that I’m upset about is that I spent a bunch of time combing the fantasy section of the book store for the sequels to no avail. I eventually found them on a display table in the science fiction section and was able to make my purchases, but it was annoying. Still, I can forgive them this fault because I haven’t been as excited to continue a series in a long time. I rarely go to physical book stores anymore, since I find it a lot easier to order online (or via phone, for a couple local book stores in my rotation), but I didn’t want to wait for the sequels to get through the messy, crowded system that is holiday package shipping. I wanted them right away, if I could get them, so I went out to buy them (I also had an errand to run that involved going in to a Barnes & Noble physical location, so it was definitely a convenience thing).
Overall, the plot was enjoyable. It was a story were the specific bends and turns of the plot where what made it interesting because the place it was going to arrive was pretty much a given. I wasn’t really surprised by what happened, but I did get to enjoy feeling each puzzle piece slide into place as I figured out what was happening a step or two ahead of the protagonist. The only part of the story that gave me pause was a bit of weak characterization in what was otherwise the book’s strongest feature. Aside from this one moment (that felt weak to me on account of my own history and the way it stepped closely to my own trauma in a way that made the change in the characters difficult to buy), seeing the way the characters interacted with the world, interacted with each other, and grew into more complex and nuanced people was the highlight of the book. And, other than that one moment of weak characterization, the book was otherwise a couple steps above average at its worst. It really was an enjoyable read on all fronts and, unless you’ve grown up traumatized and entirely at the mercy of someone, you probably won’t struggle with the characterization like I did. The book’s example wasn’t as cut-and-dried as my own history was, but it still felt like an abrupt turn in a relationship that hadn’t quite earned it yet. It was on its way to earning it, don’t get me wrong, so it was more like thinking you’re at the bottom of the stairs and missing the last step as a result than it was like stepping off a cliff or falling down the stairs, but it was still a jarring moment that managed to break me out of the story I was reading even more than my own late-night exhaustion could.
It might be a bit late, considering how popular the series has become, but I definitely recommend giving Gideon The Ninth a read if you’ve got room in your reading schedule for a thick fantasy (or at least science-fantasy) tome. If you don’t have the room, I’d suggest making it since it’s well worth your time if you’re interested in a society that values necromancy as a natural part of existence (to varying degrees based on the specific sub-culture and said sub-culture’s history, which makes it perhaps the most interesting portrayal of necromantic practices I’ve ever seen) or just a book about multiple lesbians (and this book will definitely give you that) up to stuff in a weird semi-futuristic society ruled by mages. This book really has a lot of appeal on multiple fronts. Which is why it’s strange I haven’t read the sequels yet despite having owned them for almost two weeks (as of writing this). I’ve just had other stuff going on that has more immediately captured my attention or that feels more urgent that Harrow the Ninth (the next book) feels. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have more to say once I’ve read the next book and them probably even more once I’m through the whole series. Hopefully I’ll clear up some of the other stuff on my to-do list soon enough that it won’t be another month before I get around to them.