Harrow the Ninth

Every so often you read a book that boggles your mind so thoroughly that you feel completely and wholly inadequate trying to express your thoughts as a reviewer. Harrow the Ninth is such a book.

I loved Gideon the Ninth when I read it last year, and it's killer ending left me anxious to read Harrow (for reasons that I suspect are obvious if you've read Gideon, and if you haven't... read on at your own risk). But part of me was worried the sequel would live up to my inflated expectations.

It did. It really really really did.

If it wasn't clear from Gideon, Harrow confirms that Tamsyn Muir is a writer who excels at experimenting with structure. The story follows a nonlinear timeline; the one fixed point is a countdown to the Emperor's murder, which we're informed of in the very first line of the prologue. We also experience Harrow's story in second-person narration, which Muir pulls off to spectacular effect in a way that rivals N.K. Jemisin's use of the second-person in her Broken Earth series.

Then you went under to make war on Hell.Hell spat you back out. Fair enough.

Gideon

You were only half a Lyctor, and half a Lyctor was worse than not a Lyctor at all.

Harrow the Ninth

Alecto the Ninth

I received an ARC of this book from Tor.com Publishing in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review originally appeared on The Fantasy Inn blog.