The Ninth House is different from the others, as its sole purpose is to protect the locked tomb that lies at its centre, housing an ancient and powerful enemy of God. Here we find Gideon Nav of the Ninth House (is it Pluto? I like to think so), who is planning her escape- again. Thousands of years ago the new God (the King Undying, the Prince of Death!) resurrected the universe, which now consists of nine houses, each with different necromantic specialties. Gideon the Ninth takes place in a far off (and possibly our dark future) universe ruled with the magical energy of necromancy. “ Ghosts and you might die is my middle name.” “Surprise, my tenebrous overlord!” said Gideon. “Teacher said the facility was chocka with ghosts and you might die?”
If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, horror, queer fiction, and elegant prose peppered with ancient memes, then these might be next on your TBR list. I had read Gideon the Ninth previously- as soon as I saw the review tagged on the front cover in the bookstore “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” I had to buy it- and I was super excited to read the sequel. I read these two books over the most recent lockdown, and they have quickly become some of my favourites. Harrow is a finalist for the 2021 Hugo award this year. Gideon the Ninth (2019) and Harrow the Ninth (2020) are Muir’s first novels, and have both been met with critical acclaim- Gideon having won the 2020 Locus award for best first novel and the 2020 Crawford award, as well as being nominated for the Nebula award for best novel and the Hugo award for best novel. Today we start with a series fairly new to the collection- the first two books of the Locked Tomb series by New Zealand author Tamsyn Muir. Whether these be novels, poetry, non-fiction, books helpful for research or genealogy- hopefully we will cover it all in our new Book Review Corner!
Welcome to a new segment for the Hocken blog, where our staff review books we hold in our collections. Post written by General Assistant, Gini Jory
0 kommentar(er)
