Readers who have been impatiently waiting for a sequel to the phenomenal Gideon the Ninth will be thrilled to know that Tamsyn Muir’s Harrow the Ninth lives up to the promise of that first novel and more. Considering how good Gideon was and how Harrow raises the stakes, the last book in the trilogy will probably be so good that my head will explode. One quick note: if you haven’t read Gideon the Ninth, you will be very lost if you try to start the story with Harrow.

Harrow is a broken woman after the events of Gideon the Ninth, but isn’t quite sure why. She knows that something went wrong with the process of becoming a necromantic dynamo known as a Lyctor, but she believes that she can out-stubborn, outsmart, and out-magic anything that the universe throws at her. She’s not so confident about the state of her mind or about the rest of the Lyctors’ odds against ravening beasts that have been trying to destroy all living things since the beginning of time—beasts that she has only just learned about after waking up as a newly minted, albeit incomplete Lyctor. Oh, and someone is trying to kill her. It’s a lot for a woman with a messed up brain to deal with.

Even though I’ve read Gideon the Ninth and remember quite a lot of it (how could I forget a book about lesbian necromancers in space!?!), I thought I had missed something in the first chapters of Harrow the Ninth. The narrator—unnamed for most of the book—tells the story to “you” (Harrow), but the story didn’t match what I remembered. Harrow’s version of events, I slowly realized, was a mental fiction created out of her grief and guilt over the loss of Gideon at the end of the first book in the trilogy. While we deal with our unreliable narrator and main character, details about all kinds of plots start to emerge. This book demands a lot of attention to detail as there are no red herrings; every dropped comment or strange discovery is a clue to what’s really going on.

Just like when I finished reading Gideon the Ninth, I am now very annoyed and saddened that I have to wait until the last volume in the series is released to find out how all of this tangled plot turns out. I even took breaks during the last hundred pages of Harrow the Ninth to make it last a little bit longer. It was a very hard thing because those last chapters were an incredible ride with multiple layers of reality, inchoate monsters from the depths of gibbering space, betrayals, conspiracies, amazing sword fights, ghosts, and big questions about sacrifice and the greater good.

Muir’s novels are so imaginative that they leave me in awe at their creativity and psychological depth. Run, do not walk, to read this series.

I. Loved. This book. Just when I thought I had a semi-firm grasp on what happened in Gideon the Ninth, this book came in to thwack me over the head and call me a fool. I had absolutely no clue what was happening for half the book, and I read each page with pure exhilaration. Every time all the pieces clicked into place to reveal something New and Important I had to set the book down and silently scream inside my heart for a full five minutes. Harrow’s POV is fascinating—because she’s deliberately made it hard for both of you/us to understand what’s going on. BRILLIANT. can’t wait to make a bookmark with all the the names & details to reference when I have my own copy to clutch to my chest like Gideon’s sword.

In Tamsyn Muir’s Harrow the Ninth, sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrow has cracked the mystery of becoming a Lyctor and joined the Emperor as one of his saints. But the process went wrong and Harrow is struggling to master the skills she will need to face an enemy strong enough to challenge her God. As the enemy approaches and time runs short, Harrow is left facing a mystery around a possible traitor and battling against the deceptions of her own mind. That’s all that can really be said without massively spoiling the plot.

80% of this book did not work for me and unfortunately it was the first 80% of the book. I’m giving it three stars instead of two because I loved the final fifth of the book. I should clarify that the first 80% was still interesting and may work well for other readers, but I don’t enjoy unreliable narrators or mysteries and that is what the narrative hinges on. This book takes everything you thought you knew at the end of the first book, sets it on fire, and throws it out an airlock into space. I couldn’t enjoy most of the book because I was so confused and frustrated about that confusion that it overshadowed the rest of the experience. Once the mystery was resolved/revealed, I was fully in the narrative and loving everything, but until then I seriously considered putting it down. Again, I don’t seek out mysteries because it’s a genre that I don’t enjoy, so your mileage with that aspect of the book may vary. That said, Muir’s writing is still amazing. For those who came out of Gideon the Ninth wanting to know more about Harrowhark Nonagesimus, this book is finally in her prickly, dryly sarcastic perspective, albeit in second person. I laughed out loud more than once at her reactions to things or comments on other characters. We also finally learn more about the Nine Houses and the secrets of Lyctorhood, which was fascinating. To sum up – the particular plot devices of this book were not ones that I generally enjoy, but it’s a fun continuation of the bonkers universe of space necromancy that Muir introduced in Gideon the Ninth. Be prepared to be very confused for a very long time, get some questions answered and an epic finale, and then have the epilogue destroy everything you thought you had understood once again.

I was very excited for the sequel to Gideon the Ninth. Gideon was such a fun read and the casual gay-ness made it all the more delightful. But, while there were interesting aspects to Harrow's story, I just wasn't drawn in the same way.

Full review TK on The Young Folks in August but let's just say this was a wild ride from start to finish and I need the 3rd book yesterday??

Gideon the Ninth was my absolute favorite book of 2019. Marketed as "lesbian necromancers in space", it's all that and so much more: a game of disparate rivals called together to a decaying (space) mansion under mysterious circumstances, then trapped there to figure out an intricate riddle of horror, survival and transformation. While being completely dark, gross and terrifying, it is also one of the funniest books I've ever read. And so Harrow the Ninth was my most anticipated read of 2020. I had colleagues stalk Macmillan on my behalf at PLA. I was granted an ARC on NetGalley. Praise them for giving galleys to librarians.

Our now heroin, Harrowhark the First (neé Ninth), has ascended to Lyctorhood at great cost. Still reeling from the trauma she experienced at Canaan house, she is thrust into her new role in service to god, the Emperor Undying. Though her necromantic powers are now immense, they are unwieldy. We soon discover that there are parts of Harrow that are broken, missing, or completely contradictory. Barely able to trust herself and teetering between madness and lucidity, will she be able and willing to save herself in time to save the world?

Anything else I could write would contain spoilers.

You will want to keep that first book on-hand or do a complete re-read before diving into this sequel. One of the things that I loved about Gideon was the author's total lack of exposition; the sequel is no different, diving right into a whirlpool. You will not understand what is going on; then you will think you understand what is going on, and then you will be foiled again. Tamsyn Muir has once again crafted an intricate mystery tucked inside a snarky, action-packed, time & space head game.

Hands-down the best, meatiest, wildest series currently going in my world.

The beginning of this is confusing as all get out. Actually, it's confusing for a really long time, but I was willing to dive into it and trust that the author was going to make it work. And they did! I didn't love this quite as much as the first because I love Gideon's voice and Harrow's voice just wasn't as strong, but it was intriguing and kept me coming back to read more. The plot is a bit discombobulated but overall enjoyable.

I loved Gideon the Ninth and was very excited to get an ARC of the sequel. I found this book very confusing in the beginning and chalked it up to the fact that this isn't a genre I read routinely. I kept trying to place the events in context of the first book and could figure it out. I posted on social media that I was confused and got encouraged to keep going because ""the pay off is worth it". Agreed! While the beginning was slow going for me because I was trying to understand, the second half flew by as one revelation after another kept me reeling! Harrow's perspective is so different from that of Gideon. Also, the vocabulary! I was glad to be reading on my ipad so I could look up some of the very descriptive adjectives. I am so glad this comes out in time to get into library before students come back. I think it will fly off the shelves! I will help make this happen.

I noted in my brief add-on review of Gideon the Ninth that I was a clear outlier in terms of response to that book, and my guess is the same will be true of the sequel, Harrow the Ninth. So something to keep in mind as you read this review, which will be short as I don’t like to belabor points in a negative review.

Harrow the Ninth picks up shortly after its predecessor, with Harrow an “incomplete” Lyctor who has joined the few other Lyctors (including Ianthe) and “God” (the emperor) to continue her training in preparation for a battle against planet-eating Resurrection Beasts. Thanks to her incomplete nature, Harrow — and her companions — have good reason to doubt her sanity, to the point of her not knowing if what she sees is really there or if what she just experienced really happened. Another story thread proceeds alongside this one, set in the same House as book one with many of the same characters so it seems as if it’s a replay, save that events play out wholly differently.

The same originality of big-picture concept I enjoyed in book one remains here, though in a more limited fashion. And there’s clear craft here. I have nothing to criticize on that level—it’s not badly written. For instance, Muir shows facility with multiple POVs, including second person. But what it came down to is I just didn’t care. I found 90% of the book (based on my Kindle) truly tedious. As for the last ten percent or so, interesting elements do kick in, but basically it felt like an overwrought, melodramatic rush of one character after another revealing a particular plot. I could go into more detail, but I won’t bother. Suffice to say I wish I had stopped 100 pages in rather than continuing to slog through another 400+ pages. I’m sure people will be raving about this one as they did Gideon the Ninth, but I’ll be ending the series here. Sometimes you're just not the reader for a particular author and clearly that's the case here

Who knew miserable Harrowhark contained multitudes? The second in the Locked Tomb Trilogy camps out in the Reverend Daughter's perspective as it introduces new, god-like characters and higher stakes.

I could not get my grabby hands on Gideon the Ninth fast enough when I heard it described as necromancer lesbians in space. And I was not disappointed. Tamsyn Muir wrote a fantastic gothic locked room mystery, peopled with aristocrats vying to be the Undying Emperor's new Lyctor. In the process, she managed to crush my heart with the ending.

So I was Very Excited to receive an ARC of Harrow the Ninth. I *needed* to know what happened next. And oh my Necro Overlord, this was not the book I was expecting. It was better. Muir could have done the expected and written more of the same. We could've watched Harrow train and hone her powers, mentored by Emperor and his three remaining warriors.

But oh no, Muir gives us second person POV, switching it up with first and third. Harrow's body and mind are failing her so she's an unreliable narrator. The book moves around in time so when events from Gideon the Ninth are revisited, you get a different perspective.

And there's still that coming, unwinnable battle looming.

The storyline was bonkers, the writing exquisite. The shoutout to Starbucks hadme gigglesnorting. This book is a rare and beautiful gem.

Just as brilliant, even more disorienting, but not quite as much fun as GIDEON. After the Events of Gideon the Ninth, we now switch to Harrow's POV - as a Lyctor, and in what are apparently flashbacks to her time at Canaan House. The worldbuilding gets even wilder and more interesting - we spend a lot more time in space, which is fun, and we get to hang out with God, the Emperor of the Nine Houses, and his horrible Lyctors.

Of course, the story leaving us where it did, we have now switched from Gideon's POV and delightful narration to Harrow's, which is not nearly as much fun. And even at the best moments of this novel, I found myself missing Gideon. The ending, which is truly bonkers, does set us up for a STUNNING 3rd book, so I'm glad to have had the chance to read this early and I can't wait for ALECTO THE NINTH.

...

Gripping and gruesome, disconcerting and sensational, powerful and tempestuous. Harrow the Ninth is science fiction fantasy at its nonpareil zenith.

So...

I read Harrow...I drank in every word...I swam through rivers of bones and blood...and even now...I still don’t know how to describe it properly...there are no words on this planet that can 100% accurately summarize the mind-bending, reality-altering thing that is this book.

But because I received an arc of this from the publisher in exchange for a review, here goes my attempt at one.

Harrow the Ninth is a brave and bold leap into a 2nd person perspective that switches to 3rd and back throughout and includes drastically varying timelines that interweave in often baffling but always, in the end, rewarding ways.
I personally was terrified of 2nd POVs before now but reading Harrow was a baptism in fire that has won me over.

Harrowhark is as bone-loving and sarcastic as ever and the cast of characters she encounters are marvelously compelling and terrifying in equal measure.
There are returning faces, who will not be who you expect to see, and new characters that will leave you questioning if black, may indeed be actually white.

It is gritter and darker then it's predecessor too, if that's possible.

The SCALE of the world we were introduced to in Gideon, expands massively in Harrow, and I mean...MASSIVELY.
We deep dive into necromancy in ways Gideon never did and it will leave you using macabre bone references for the rest of your life.

Long buried histories are pulled screaming and ghostly from their graves to overturn everything we thought we knew.
We knew nothing.
And honestly, though I know a great deal more having actually read Harrow...i still know nothing.

Gloriously grisly humour and leave-you-staring-into--the-void-for-eternity reveals and plot twists litter this book more thickly than bones do gravedirt.
Every moment I thought I had something figured out Muir threw a whole new curveball at me and I was left hanging and with no clue what was going to happen next, once again.
This book was a wild ride, i believe my brain itself melted more than once as the plot twisted and did backflips and about-turns I in no way saw coming.
Then again, by the end, I realized at least one of my 5457 theories did prove to be mostly right, which pleased me no end.


I could go on much longer about the fucking treasure this book is but it’s best to just say, if you enjoyed/liked/loved Gideon then get and pre-order this book asap.

P.S. I will probably need a resurrection or two before we get Alecto.

Muir continues to deliver heart-stopping, raucous Science Fiction — thank you, Tamsyn Muir, for the lesbian necromancers! Harrow the Ninth opens and tells readers that, no, they will not get a straight forward story. Like the first novel in the series, nothing is as expected. Harrow's struggles with reality give the text a nervous energy, and at times makes it's hard to put the book down. The first novel does benefit from taking place primarily in one closed location, with a focused mystery. There are times in Harrow where the reader knows more than Harrow , and any suspense in that regard can feel a bit frustrating. Luckily, there is still plenty of mystery to be dished out. It's simply painful knowing readers now need to wait for the third book in The Closed Tomb Trilogy.

When I read Gideon the Ninth last year, I didn’t know that I would be a wreck by the end of the book. I didn’t know it would create such an impact in my emotional well-being. I didn’t know that it would be one of the best books I read in 2019. Reading its sequel, Harrow the Ninth, now is like enjoying a nice, eventful walk… and then getting hit by a bus. This brilliant, confounding, and heartstopping sequel will quench the thirst of the fans, but not without leaving a new set of mysteries to keep us hooked.

Harrow the Ninth focuses on Harrow training in the Emperor’s haunted space station to fight an impossible war. Fresh off of lyctorhood, everything should be going easy for Harrow. But the truth is that both her body and her mind are failing her. And on top of that, someone just keeps trying to kill her.

Muir’s back with the same unique writing style, if not more visceral and more atmospheric. The author describes everything in great detail and uses metaphors and other literary devices that make certain lines and moments so poetic and powerful. I also loved that we get to see the signature humour and sarcasm we first witnessed back in Gideon.

A good chunk of the book is also told in a second person, which I was both excited and hesitant towards when I found out about this because I wondered, “why second person?” and “how will the author pull it off?” But trust me when I say Muir pulled it off—she pulled it off and more. With this new perspective, the readers are given a closer and deeper look into Harrow’s backstory and her new impossible situation. Add this to the shifting timelines and mind-twisting storytelling, readers will want to keep turning the pages to know more.

The plot, of course, is as wild as Gideon. Maybe even more. We see Harrow try to move forward and make sense of being a lyctor (all the while dealing with her unreliable mind), and we see her and the other characters try to fight a new deadly threat.

It starts out simple and slow, but Muir knows how to perfectly build up plot twists and shocking moments. All throughout the book, you will find bits and pieces that will make you gasp out loud, and by the end, you’ll definitely be holding your breath. I particularly loved how the author handled revealing the twists and turns. Other times in other books, multiple revelations near the end come off as cartoonish, but here in Harrow, it’s done so elegantly and carefully. Fellow fans will be delighted that several unanswered questions from Gideon are confronted here in Harrow. At the same time, I’m sure they will be astonished to know what Muir has in store for them.

New characters are also introduced here and they definitely made the story ever so interesting. We finally get to know the Emperor and his living lyctors here, and it was particularly exciting to meet these characters as they all share a history we don’t know about yet. This adds to the mystery and the puzzle of the book. We also see more of Ianthe and witness the newfound alliance/civil friendship between her and Harrow.

I also have to commend the author for developing and focusing on Harrow’s character beautifully in this book. We get to know more of Harrow like we have never before in the first book, and as a result, I rooted for her and I felt for her.

The world-building is one of my favourite things in Gideon the Ninth, and it gets even more expansive here in Harrow. We delve into new topics and get new information on the process of lyctorhood, spirit-magic, the planets and the space they move in, the Locked Tomb, the first saints and lyctors to serve the King, and even the Emperor himself. There’s a scientific explanation for almost everything, and yet, it still feels so otherworldly.

Overall, Harrow the Ninth is mind-boggling from start to finish, and it’s an electrifying sequel you do not want to miss.

I really loved Gideon the Ninth so I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of the sequel. It was fun to experience the world through Harrowhark's eyes and to learn more about her past (unreliable as her memories may be). I thought the plot mechanic of (spoilers!) Harrow's memories having been tampered with was very interesting, although I will admit that I found certain plot beats hard to follow. I loved learning more about the world an getting to see some of the consequences of the long lives of the Emperor and his Lyctors. With the exception of some confusion due to the multi-level narrative (body-switching! unreliable memories! different planes of existence!), I had a great time. I can't wait for the next book in the Locked Tomb series.

Harrowhark is an absolute genius of a necromancer, but the process of becoming a Lyctor, immortal servant of the undying Emperor, broke her. She begins her training with the Necrolord Prime hamstrung by her inability to trust her own mind or her supposed allies: a trio of 10,000-year-old warriors and a twenty-something sociopath as likely to kiss as kill her. As they prepare to battle an enemy of unspeakable horror, the narrative veers between past and present, second person POV, third, and even first, until ancient crimes and recent deceptions collide to upend the events of the past two books. The payoff is worth the wait.

I admit that I was afraid that this might not have turned out as good ... as brilliant ... as the Gideon the Ninth, but now that I've read it, I'm happy to say that I'm very happy indeed.

If you're a fan of Nevernight and enjoyed it's sequel Godsgrave, then you'll need to pick this up and because it gave me major similar vibes when it comes to progression and character development.

The entire story read like you're watching an anime. It was like Soul Eater plus Tokyo Ghoul and Assassination Classroom and any other horror/humor anime there's out there. I absolutely ate it up with a giant freaking spoon! I love me some dark humor and some dark fantasy and this delivers both. Tamsyn Muir kept her cards very close to the chest being careful not to reveal too many secrets and surprises until the end. This was a similar circumstance to Gideon the Ninth and it's something I really love so experiencing it again was a JOY.

But as the story unfolds and more info is revealed, you start to see the twisted and demented world Tamsyn Muir invented here. You're introduced to the problem in book 1 and boom, here is how we're going to deal with it in book 2.

Aside from issues with the writing style, the rest of the story is fantastic. I think what really sells this book is how many surprises it can give you and the characters themselves.

Just finished reading Harrow the Ninth. I don't have words for a traditional review at the moment, so I'm opting instead for the play-by-play of my reading experience:

1-25% WTF is going on
35-45% okay, I'm with you
45-55% I have theories
55-70% WTF is going on
70-79% Bwahaha I am genius I guessed the thing
79-85% Cackling with laughter
85-95% I know nothing
95% SHE (author) ALWAYS DOES THIS
95-99% Maybe...maybe...
100% WTF just happened?

To be clear, I loved it, just don't ask me to explain it until I have time for another full reread of both Harrow the Ninth and Gideon the Ninth. Now I have to wait in agony for the final book in this, The Locked Tomb series, Alecto the Ninth. Gah!

Harrow the Ninth is the second and incredibly highly anticipated novel in Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series. Odds are pretty good that you heard about Gideon the Ninth, which blew through the literary world like a storm. Well, now it's time for Harrow to tell her story.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus is one of the most driven characters you'll find. She survived the events in Gideon the Ninth, and now, as a Lyctor. Unfortunately, she's not exactly sane or stable at the moment. She is a necromancer who has always been, shall we say...haunted.

That is a problem made all the worse by the fact that she's one of the last few necromancers standing at the side of her Emperor – a god in her eyes. It may even be an unwinnable war – especially when one considers the opposition. Yet here Harrow will stand.

“'I need you to hide my infirmity,' said Harrowhark. 'You see, I am insane.'”

Holy saints, my mind is reeling. It has been a week since I finished Harrow the Ninth, and I'm only now sitting down to write a review. Why? Because I feel like it took me that long to properly digest it all.

There is SO much that happened within this novel, and I loved all of it. But before I dive into all of that, I should mention a few things. First, a large chunk of Harrow the Ninth is written in second person. I know that this tends to put off many readers, but trust me, there's a reason for it.

The second person formatting intentionally obfuscates and confuses, which makes it absolutely perfect when coming from an unreliable narrator. Something that Harrow certainly is. Her sanity is even more in question this time around, which is saying something.

This was admittedly a bit of a risk, but frankly? I love that Tamsyn Muir was bold enough to take it. Given the success of Gideon the Ninth, she could have basically done whatever she wanted. Instead, she took a huge leap and created something like I've never seen before.

Harrow's journey lived up to its namesake – it was a harrowing read. It was intense and brilliant, and I personally loved trying to suss out the truth through Harrow's confusion and jumps through time. It was such a unique reading experience, and one I will not soon forget.

So let me just say this: if you're struggling with the second-person perspective, give it a bit of time. Around the sixty percent mark (I tried to make note of the transition), you'll be seeing less of it, all while getting answers to many of the questions that'll have been building up that whole time.

Speaking of buildup, it was exquisitely done here. I mean that with as much sincerity as possible. I was on the edge of my seat by the end of the book, something that wouldn't have had nearly the same amount of impact if not for the mystery that came before.

Looking back on it, and knowing what I do now, so many of the little details strewn around make sense. Additionally, I'm left wondering what Alecto the Ninth will be like. I have an idea now, thanks to Harrow's tale. Frankly, I can't wait to dive in and find out for sure.