Gideon the Ninth

Executive Summary: So in reviewing the sequel to this book, I realized I never got around to writing a review for this one. I felt like this book started off slow but once it hooked me in I really enjoyed it. I think the mystery aspect and Gideon's snark are what makes this book so enjoyable.

Audiobook: I initially borrowed this book from the library and ended up enjoying it enough to pick up the audio mid-read from a daily deal. Moira Quick was so good it was a no brainer that I'd do the audio for this one.

She does a great job with voices and really brought Gideon's snark to life. I loved listening to the way she read Gideon and Harrow talking to each other.

This became a must listen series moving forward.

Full Review
When I first heard about this book, the tagline I heard over and over was “Lesbian Neuromancers in space”. And while that was true, I feel like it does the book a disservice by making it sound like a romanctic fantasy book.

There are necromancers. Check.

It's in space. Check. Although for most of the plot purposes of this book that seemed to be unimportant to me. Maybe it will matter more later in the series.

There are Lesbians. Check. While it's somewhat important to the plot, I don't think it's the focus (or point) of the story. It's just another aspect of some of the characters.

As a CIS White guy I'm the last person to try to be an authority on representation in fiction. I've always been represented. For me this isn't about that though. Personally I just don't want to read a lot about romance of any kind. So for me the level of romance in this book was good (it's there and part of the story, but not the point of it).

For those looking to see themselves represented more in their fiction, that aspect probably means a lot more. Again, it's hard for me to really weigh in on that, so I will leave it to others.

I just know I wasn't really interested in reading the book as marketed. However I really enjoyed this book once I read it and I'm glad that Sword & Laser decided to make it a pick or I'd probably never have picked it up.

For me what I loved about this book was the sort of escape room/haunted house mystery vibe it gave off. I wanted to know what was going and had a bunch of theories throughout. Some proved to be true while others were way off base. This was a lot of the fun for me.

Then there is the snark of Gideon herself. Initially I found her a bit annoying, but as the book went on I liked her more and more.

I liked this book enough that I pre-ordered the sequel and listened to it not too long after release. If you're turned off by the tagline you may want to give it a try anyways. At least if you enjoy mysteries and snark.