Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
first read: 2024/07/31 - 08/08
Second reading: 2024/12/06 - 12/14
Oh boy, I did not wait long to re-read this book, and that was a very good choice! With the knowledge of the three books currently out rattling around in my skull, I've been noticing things I either initially missed or had no way of knowing about. Especially anything regarding the character Harrow, lol. Which speaking of, I absolutely adore her relationship with Gideon a lot more this time around.
Okay, I should probably actually talk about the story instead of just my 2nd-time specific thoughts. So basically Gideon is a gay girl roped into being a knight for a necromancer, who she kind of hates (that's Harrow!). Harrow has been summoned, along with others, for a chance to become a right-hand (wo)man for their God, the emperor of solar system; and obviously it's just not fashionable for a necromancer to not have a knight, hence Gideon being dragged along. Also despite being a space-faring society, they vastly prefer animating skeletons as opposed to robots for doing chores, so expect lots of discussion of bones. But basically it quickly becomes a mystery because no one sure is sure how to pass these trials to get the gig, also murders start happening so lots of spooky shit contained in this novel.
Overall it's a fun read, Gideon is incredibly lame in such a charming way and Harrow isn't bad either. In the end, I was excited as hell to read the other books in the series immediately (I did).
P.S. there's a scene straight out of Final Fantasy X and I love the author for this.