Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (ARC Review)

Title: Harrow the Ninth
Author: Tamsyn Muir
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, LGBT
Publisher: Tor.com
Date published: August 4, 2020

Note: This book is part of a series, so there may be spoilers for a previous book/books in the synopsis below.

She answered the Emperor’s call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman’s shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath — but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor’s Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

⤖ My Review ⬻

I was both excited and very nervous to read Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to Gideon the Ninth. I absolutely loved the first book and was excited to see what would happen next. Harrow the Ninth is also a middle book in the series, and I tend to struggle with middle books, which is why I was nervous about reading it. But, as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about! Harrow the Ninth was absolutely incredible! It really expanded the world as the plot developed, and with every chapter, I was more and more amazed not only by Tamsyn Muir’s writing but also her plotting and planning abilities!

I am still drooling over the complexity of Harrow the Ninth‘s overall structure. Drooling. I’m a sucker for organized and complex plots, so reading this book and trying to pick everything apart and thinking about how Muir planned it all out was a dream come true for me! I would also like to point out the complexity of the world in which these books are set as well as how unique it feels to me! I’ve never come across a world, plot, or characters like this before…and I personally think that this is a rare thing for someone who reads 100+ books a year to say. Needless to say, I need the next book in this series STAT and I highly recommend this series as a whole!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Tamsyn Muir is a horror, fantasy and sci-fi author whose short fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Her debut science-fantasy novel GIDEON THE NINTH will be published September 2019.