The New York Times Book Review - Amal El-Mohtar
…a devastating debut that deserves every ounce of hype it's received…Muir marshals a gorgeous cast of characters to delirious effect in a perfectly paced haunted house murder mystery…Muir is fantastic at both humor and horror, not to mention moving me to tears. I should also note that Gideon the Ninth is not a romance, though queer longing abounds; it's deft, tense and atmospheric, compellingly immersive and wildly original. It's honestly perfect as both a satisfying stand-alone and the launch of a trilogy, and I can't wait until the sequel lands next year.
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/25/2019
Queer necromancers vie for power, solve ancient puzzles, and cross rapiers while exploring haunted deep-space ruins in this madcap science fantasy romp that manages to be both riotously funny and heartbreaking. Eighteen-year-old orphan Gideon Nav has spent her life devising ways to escape indentured servitude to the Ninth House. When Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the sole daughter and heir to the Ninth, sees a chance to become a Lyctor, right hand to the Necromancer Divine, she needs a cavalier by her side if she hopes to beat out the candidates of the other eight Houses—and only Gideon will do. Much as her necromancers do with human remains, Muir effortlessly compiles macabre humor, body horror, secrets, and tenderness into the stitched-together corpse of a dark universe, then brings it to life with a delightfully chaotic, crackling cast of characters and the connective tissue of their relationships. From the mad science joys of necromantic theory to the deliciously ever-evolving tension between Gideon and Harrow, this adventurous novel not only embraces its strangeness but wrings delight from it. The result is an addictive, genre-bending book that will wow readers with its vibrant energy, endearing cast, and emotional gut-punch of a finale. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Deft, tense and atmospheric, compellingly immersive and wildly original.” —The New York Times
“Unlike anything I’ve ever read. Muir’s writing is as sharp as a broken tooth, and just as unsettling.” —V.E. Schwab, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
“With a snorting laugh and two middle fingers, the whole thing burns end-to-end. It is deep when you expect shallow, raucous when you expect dignity and, in the end, absolutely heartbreaking when you least expect it.” —NPR
“Warm and cold; goofy and gleaming; campy and epic; a profane Daria in space.” —Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
“I can't remember the last time I was so delightedly baffled by a book. An astonishing, genre-defying, hilarious-violent-tragic-horrifying-thrilling wonder of a novel.” —Kiersten White, NYT Bestselling Author of And I Darken
“Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!” —Charles Stross, author of The Laundry Files and Empire Games
“I started this book chuckling at the outrageous premise. I finished it crying, because the ending punched me straight in the gut.” —Vox
“Space opera, murder mystery, comedy, grotesque horror, and fantastic necromancy spin together in a book like no other.” —BuzzFeed
And Five Starred Reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Library Journal, BookList, and BookPage
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-07-01
This debut novel, the first of a projected trilogy, blends science fiction, fantasy, gothic chiller, and classic house-party mystery.
Gideon Nav, a foundling of mysterious antecedents, was not so much adopted as indentured by the Ninth House, a nearly extinct noble necromantic house. Trained to fight, she wants nothing more than to leave the place where everyone despises her and join the Cohort, the imperial military. But after her most recent escape attempt fails, she finally gets the opportunity to depart the planet. The heir and secret ruler of the Ninth House, the ruthless and prodigiously talented bone adept Harrowhark Nonagesimus, chooses Gideon to serve her as cavalier primary, a sworn bodyguard and aide de camp, when the undying Emperor summons Harrow to compete for a position as a Lyctor, an elite, near-immortal adviser. The decaying Canaan House on the planet of the absent Emperor holds dark secrets and deadly puzzles as well as a cheerfully enigmatic priest who provides only scant details about the nature of the competition...and at least one person dedicated to brutally slaughtering the competitors. Unsure of how to mix with the necromancers and cavaliers from the other Houses, Gideon must decide whom among them she can trust—and her doubts include her own necromancer, Harrow, whom she's loathed since childhood. This intriguing genre stew works surprisingly well. The limited locations and narrow focus mean that the author doesn't really have to explain how people not directly attached to a necromantic House or the military actually conduct daily life in the Empire; hopefully future installments will open up the author's creative universe a bit more. The most interesting aspect of the novel turns out to be the prickly but intimate relationship between Gideon and Harrow, bound together by what appears at first to be simple hatred. But the challenges of Canaan House expose other layers, beginning with a peculiar but compelling mutual loyalty and continuing on to other, more complex feelings, ties, and shared fraught experiences.
Suspenseful and snarky with surprising emotional depths.
![A Court of Silver Flames (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]: A Court of Thorns and Roses 4](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/2940159459510_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "A Court of Silver Flames (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]: A Court of Thorns and Roses 4")