February Book Club: Gideon the Ninth (Proof that everyone has a different taste in books)

"One flesh, one end, bitch."

Reading preferences vary widely, and no book can please every reader. This last month’s book club pick, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, sparked some debate among members and made this fact glaringly obvious. Personally, I love the gothic elements and witty banter, while others struggled with its complex world-building and somewhat unreliable narrator. This book also gave us a prime example of where sometimes physical books outweigh the audiobook (or vice verse for other novels).

What Did We Like?

We all agreed that Muir's writing was outstanding. She truly brings in complex world building, banter and levity during dark situations, and a one-of-a-kind conglomeration of necromancy, science-fiction, and pop-culture references.

There is a strong online following of The Locked Tomb series, including a 'zine of all the pop culture references. ( I truly adored even bringing in the stylized 'S' 90s kids would recognize anywhere!). We discussed that this becomes more prevalent in later books in the series as well, though, as only I continued the series, we tried to reign our discussion in to just the first novel.

Complex Characters and Even More Complex Relationships

There is a huge drive in the plot between relationships of the characters with one another. It was one of the things we all struggled with a bit. Gideon is flawed, rebellious, and completely undriven for much of the book (with a bit of a Stockholm Syndrome to Harrow in all honesty). Her commentary, though, made her a much more loveable dork, rather than an idiotic protagonist. Harrowhark, in opposition, seemed like a truly unlikable character for this first novel. We all seemed to have seen her as a genius, but with a hateful streak and a superiority complex that could rival her God.

The houses were a difficulty to keep straight (pun intended). This is where the physical book came in handy over the audiobook due to its reference pages in the front. An interesting note here that was brought up by Quinn and substanciated by Kait-- most of the houses tended to follow the enneagram. (This was a new point to learn for me, having never seen this before. If you are interested to learn more and see if you agree with us that the houses relate, read more here)

Final Thoughts

Gideon the Ninth is a bold, unconventional novel that divides readers. Its blended style of genres, morally grey characters, and confusing narration off-puts many readers, but the cutting edge ideology, world-building and pop-culture also drive an online cult following. This is especially true as you get into the further books (though two of the three of us state that the first one was so far out of their reading norms that they would not get into the next books).

If you enjoy character and plot-driven stories that challenge cultural and literary norms, give Gideon the Ninth a try. If you prefer clear, straightforward narratives that don't require re-reading after clarification comes to light in sequels, this might not be your favorite. Either way, the book (and our book club) encourages readers to explore new styles and voices that one might not normally seek out.