Harrow the Ninth: Tamsyn Muir: 2 (The Locked Tomb Trilogy)

Is this SF or fantasy? Rule of thumb: necromancy, magic, and a lot of fighting with swords, that's fantasy. Spaceships, advanced science - that's SF.But what about when they're all in there together? And what's more, the advanced science is necromancy?If that sort of question confuses you, you'd probably better not attempt 'The Locked Tomb' books. Because it gets a lot worse than that!If, however, you like complex but beautifully detailed world-building, vibrant characters, sharp dialogue and breathtaking action scenes, then you might want to give the series a try.You might still experience some confusion, though, because the plot isn't just convoluted, it's twisted half-way to insane. For example (while trying to avoid spoilers), the recollection you may have of events in the first book (and I would definitely recommend you read it before you attempt this one - it is NOT stand alone) is increasingly different from the main characters memories of those events. And some parts are written in a strange and different tense from others.It takes a lot of courage, if not outright cheek, for a writer to treat their readers like this. Muir gets away with it, firstly because she built up a huge amount of credit with me in the first book, and secondly because her writing is simply so good, so utterly engrossing that I was prepared to put up with the abuse just to find out what happened next!And what happens next did not disappoint. Not that it got any less confusing, but some things were explained. The weird style of writing some passages, for example, is not only fully justified but indeed demanded by the plot. And some mysteries were satisfactorily resolved - only to make way for other and deeper mysteries. I am desperately hoping that all things will be come clear in the next book, and I hope that it will not be delayed!

I thoroughly enjoyed Gideon the Ninth, with its necromancer magic and sparky characters. Given the potentially universe-spanning canvas, the small-scale Agatha Christie style 'characters trapped in a mansion' mystery was unexpected and fun, but suggested the author's fondness for 'one-set' play-like stories might become an issue in subsequent books. This is borne out in the first two thirds of Harrow The Ninth, where we are given a second-person perspective of Harrow, a small cast, another 'trapped in a mansion' setting and another supposed mystery. It quickly becomes a frustrating read, as by page 63 it's abundantly clear what the topline 'mystery' of what has happened to Harrow and Gideon is, but it's not until around page 380 that this 'revelation' is provided in the story, so there's an awful lot of readerly waiting around in the meantime (particularly given that for a lot of it, Harrow doesn't have 'agency' and things just happen to her, which is narratively very unsatisfying). Fortunately Muir's always-interesting writing saves all this from becoming unbearable, and once the revelation is out things kick into several higher gears and Muir's creativity and imagination suddenly explode onto the page. The last 120 or so pages return to Gideon the Ninth greatness and leave us nicely set up for book 3. So if you find the much of the book less than satisfying, hang on in there because it brightens up hugely in the latter stages. If Muir had cut a couple of hundred pages from the 'pre-revelation' section and added more meat (as it were) to the post-revelation section then I'd have given this 5 stars, but as its stands for me it barely scraped 4.

This is book two in the locked Tomb series. This is Science Fantasy or what was once known as space opera so pseudo magical powers and hand to hand combat involving swords goes hand in hand with Space Ships. Set in a futuristic empire where the Emperor Undying has mastered the power of death in his long war agaisnt a powerful enemy in book one the call went out to the nine houses of the empire to find new Lyctors, also known as Necro saints, the emperor’s most powerful servants most of the original nine have been destroyed in the long war. The events of that novel Gideon the ninth directly lead into this so if you are new go back and start there. While on the surface the format is near identical to Gideon the ninth, a young inexperienced queer protagonist is trying to find her way in a universe much bigger and more dangerous then she could imagine, in practice this is a very different experience.Where Gideon started her book as a fun loving teen desperate for adventure in a book who despite its Strange setting was mainly a straight forward adventure with a mystery at the heart of it, Harrow starts book two traumatised suffering from PTSD physically depleted with none of the combat skills that should have come with becoming a Lyctor, one of the Emperor’s undying Hands, with her Elders in the emperor’s service foretelling her demise. On top of that she is having recurring hallucinations, is at the mercy of the newly made lyctor Ianthe, and most worryingly can’t remember a certain someone from the first book and is instead remembering and dreaming about those events with another character in there place.All this set agaisnt the coming of the Emperor’s ancient, implacable enemy one who has destroyed Lyctors far more powerful and accomplished then Harrow.Told mainly in the 2nd person this is a gothic, overwrought tour de force of a novel while that may sound very dreary or dark while Harrow hasn’t the outsider perpesctive that Gideon had, Harrow is about as close to the ideal of a necromancer that you can get, Harrow is still a brilliant bitchy 17 year old with razor sharp observations and who is quick with a come back so the book is filled with humour if a good bit more pitch black then Gideon.The mythology expands and develops more about the emperor and his hands and there enemies are revealed even as it asks for more questions then it answers. Indeed if you were to pick a fault it’s that the ending doubles down on the mysterious and the metaphysical and has a lot going on to the point where I was not clear what happened at all on first reading and had to do a reread how you take that I suspect will directly affect how much you enjoy the book, in my case i thought it fit the whole tone of the book where Harrow, and the reader, doubted the reality Of everything and where unlike Gideon, Harrow neither expected or looked for easy answers.This is a amazing second book in many ways it’s a mediation on grief if shot through with some very funny moments, with it’s strength like Gideon the Ninth lying in its characters and there surprising depths and the strength of there entanglements with each other but it is brilliant and I now I wait with bated breath for book three. Magnificent.

Harrow the Ninth is an incredibly difficult read, at least for me. It's emotionally heavy and, like Gideon the Ninth, you will have no idea what's going on 98% of the time. The POV is second person, which turns a lot of people off, but I'm telling you there is a good reason for it. The memes and "direly serious thing followed by deeply silly thing" writing style remains. There are definitely parts I like a lot more than others. I skip the 'eh' parts on reread. Buuuut all the parts together make a fantastic story and contribute to the building of the TLT universe, which is incredible. There are so many layers to what's going on, you can't trust any person in the book to be who they say they are, or trust what they're saying they're doing is what they're actually doing. The ending is my favorite part and it gets better with every reread. I wish I could show you an excerpt of the descriptive writing for a certain part, but it would be a major spoiler. If you loved the first book and are struggling with this book, keep going. You know Muir won't let you down :) Even though this book is so difficult to read, I think it is the most intricately structured, experimental, and interesting of the series so far. Also, oh my god, there's a part that's so funny. I can't even tell you what it is- I was spoiled for it, but if you aren't, you're going to laugh so much. I hope. Happy reading :)

Tamsyn Muir is a great storyteller and a master of drama and plot twists! The second part of The Locked Tomb saga brings more mysteries and revelations with larger than life conflicts! Harrow The Ninth is a great sequence and I barely can wait for Nona!

Una perfecta continuación, ahora nos toca ver el lado de Harrow y es increíble, esta escrito en 2da persona por lo que cuesta un poco acostumbrarse pero una vez llegas al final de libro entiendes porque.Simplemente perfecto

La suite de Gideon est assez incroyable, d'une part la qualité d'écriture ne baisse pas, et d'autre part on nous propose un roman complètement différent du premier. On suit cette fois-ci Harrow la neuvième, qui cohabite avec l'empereur et les autres Lyctors au sein de leur base secrète. Intrigues, flashbacks déformés, et toujours autant d'humour. Nouveau personnage, nouveau style d’écriture, mais on est quand même pas dépaysés, et l'univers s’enrichit encore. Je suis fan.

5/5 for the plot of the book, this 1/5 review is about of the quality of this copy.The book is NOT original. While the listing and copyright page claim it's printed in the USA, this copy is a cheaply-made knockoff re-print from Wrocław, Poland.The spine and cover are misaligned. The misalignment carries into the inside of the book where a few pages (for example, the title page and the "act one" page in my photos) have a strip that should have been printed but isn’t. The cover has scratches all over it. The book lacks the blue "insert" that is supposed to peek through the front cover. The margins are differenet throughout the book: 1,3 to 1,6 cm - this may seem miniscule but it was enough for me to notice at first glance and annoying enough to measure. The paper feels different than in the original, poorer quality.The contents of the book seem to be fine (no missing pages etc) but the book feels very bad quality.