Okay. I like this joke. I like the title of the next book. I liked the dozen or so chapters preceding this a truly embarrassing amout. I love these girls very much. I need a moment or a month to collect my feelings. That epilogue? Sure! I don’t fucking know! At least it would explain the memes. And I do love Camilla, so you know what, whatever it is, I’m up for it. At least this book destroyed my heart in the opposite order than the last, and left me feeling really pretty optimistic. They got this, I think. Now bring on the fanfiction
Anon who said I was here for the journey. :) That was awesome! Thank you for your thoughts along that ride. Your reactions and commentary were simply *chef's kiss*. I had listened to both books as audiobooks (which are narrated beautifully and hilariously by Moira Quirk and highly recommend if you get the chance). Though I do think that caused me to miss a couple clues that were pretty visual, but oh well.
I’m considering it! I like podcasts but I prefer to experience each medium as it was intended so I don’t generally listen to audiobooks, but I really wanna hear Gideon’s lines spoken aloud so might give it a try. Thank you for joining me on this journey, I’m still reeling but I have a long ass conclusion post in the works cuz I still have some feelings to get out. Whew. Now I really gotta get back to physics
Similarly to the last book, I’m overstimulated to all hell and back. Gideon is my favorite protagonist of all time, no question. The sheer endorphin rush I get reading her cracking jokes and being insufferable is just bonkers. I started this book with 2 spoilers, without which I might never have even started this book: 1) there was Gideon content in HtN, and 2) there was multiple Gideons content in HtN. On the first point, I’m more than satisfied; I’m currently buzzing with how ecstatic that was as a reading experience. On the second, Gideon 1.0 was a boring lump of dude lmao, the only interesting thing about him was his bodyswap poly relationship with Better Gideon’s mom, which, wow. What a 10,000 year old soap opera. So that was disappointing, but you know what, one Gideon is really enough.
The vast majority of this book was a miserable slog and it genuinely hurt to read to the point where I don’t know that I can recommend this experience to anyone who isn’t already a huge fan. Yeah, the payoff was massive and I was played like a perfect little fiddle, but I don’t approve of the tune. I think Muir could’ve cut out a good third of the book and at the very least 50% of the relentless torture she put Harrow through and it would have still been effective. I still have a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t have a problem with difficult or hurtful stories and I’m not trying to invoke any moralistic outrage here, but that wasn’t what I expected or frankly could have prepared for coming out of the (drastically tonally different) first book and I do believe it was excessive. It was blow after blow after blow to an isolated, terrified, pointedly disabled protagonist with no single moment of relief, comfort or connection until the fucking reveal and I don’t want it, thanks.
Okay that’s enough about that. Now the rest of it.
I really tried to care about the new characters, but no dice. God had his moments, but we haven’t really seen him do too much interesting shit. Ianthe was fucking excellent, though I really really didn’t want her to be. The rest were dead boring, I’m sorry. The blasphemous makeouts were their only redeeming moment. When we finally got some Palamedes and Cam, I could have cried. Wish we could have spent more time with them, but I have high hopes for the next book. Ortus, surprisingly, was awesome! I wish him a happy afterlife with his poetic legendary husband. Also he did nothing wrong and all that nonsense about finally fighting for what’s important yada yada was pure military propaganda, let the man write lengthy poetry about his ghost boyfriend in peace. Dulcinea was a fucking badass! So happy she got a chance to shine, and to say ‘nyah!’ Abigail was also fantastic. Well that whole section of the book had me swimming in endorphins so maybe it isn’t saying much, but I fucking loved them, I fucking loved how much Harrow cared about them, Harrow, who had been an emotionally depleted husk throughout most of the book, now showing the most heartrending vulnerability and care for this little found ghost family and practically rotating through them one by one to apologize in the most terrible, gutpunching way, and finally being told not everything in the whole fucking world is her goddamn fault. This is the only reason I was able to accept no Gideon reunion, not even a single word between them. I’ve been yearning for hundreds of pages for Harrow to find human connection and care, and I’m so happy these are the people she found it with.
Gideon. I’m like tearing up right now just thinking about this. After the endless tedium, suffering, emotional disconnect to the point where characters dying horribly seemed insignificant against the backdrop of unrelenting despair, to have that vibrant, wonderful, dumbass motherfucking voice back—it was beyond cathartic. I reread every single line multiple times and I still don’t think I’ve wrung em fully dry. It was amazing. The personality dripping off the page, the immediate chemistry with any character living or dead or dull as rock, the blatant, beautiful disrespect for the sombre self importance of the whole preceding narrative. It was my favorite character crashing into one of my least favorite books, and making it awesome. I think a lot of people try to write a Gideon, and most of the time the result is completely unbearable, and I’d posit there’s 2 reasons for this: 1) they tragically, mistakenly make their Gideon a man, and 2) they just aren’t funny. Of course an unfunny Gideon would be unbearable. Of course a funny but emotionally vacant Gideon would be dull. But this Gideon is a fucking delight with a real heartfelt gooshy selfless vulnerable yearning center, and every line I got to spend with her was a rush.
Harrow and Gideon. Oof. I’ve been going back and forth on whether I shipped them, whether I even could, whether it was the intention at all. But like, come on. This is clearly a love story. It’s a love story from start to finish, and it’s cool that it got me to doubt that so sincerely when it’s just this level of ride and die, jump into hell, carve out your brain, share a body and preserve its modesty against your every instinct and not even make any jokes about it, universe crossing, death defying, soul melding level of mushy ass romance. Harrow fucking kept Gideon’s shitty sunglasses wrapped in a love note. She did find&replace on her whole personality. She kissed Ianthe. I remember the first time I watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, where almost every other episode would begin with a lil fairytail backstory recap telling you about the little girl who saw a prince and was so enamored she decided to become a prince too. And you believe that narrative, because why wouldn’t you? It’s a stylized repetitive fairytale at the start of a show. Why would it lie? And then you find out, at the very end, that it wasn’t the cool manly prince who precipitated all of this, but baby Utena witnessing another young girl in pain, and deciding then and there that she was going to grow up and help her. And she does, even if she can’t remember why.
This was that level of paradigm shift for me. Harrow and her pile of letters and rules and her obsession and her nauseating work ethic, what was she doing?? Saving the world? Fixing a broken timeline? Trying to unlock unlimited power, bring back the corpse in the locked tomb, serve her god and emperor? Nope! She was just trying to keep her big beautiful dumbass girlfriend a little bit alive.
Yeah. It’s a fucking love story.
Random thoughts: I liked Harrow’s grudge against food and the word ‘pommel’. I liked the diminishing ages Mercy inflicted upon her. I liked the first/second person shenanigans, tho really, there’s no way that was Gideon’s voice, first of all, there was way too much anatomical knowledge there. (Gideon’s secretly a time traveling bone doctor, calling it now). I liked the fanfic AUs, and very sad we didn’t get a fake dating one or like a nice “there was only one bed”. Not gonna mention soulmate AUs cuz that’s just canon.
That was a ride. Coulda done without some parts of it, but don’t regret it one bit. Let’s see what kinda nonsense the next one brings!
Sorry I’m rereading Gideon’s bits and I just can’t not comment on all this beauty. I must. Yes Gideon you are the goodest girl yes you are 😭😭
This is just so fucking ridiculous and absurd and touching, so wrongheadedly considerate, such a stark reminder that Gideon doesn’t know jack shit about what Harrow’s thinking and feeling and no fucking wonder. Harrow is a tightly condensed ball of devotion wrapped in guilt rolled in self loathing packed in repression varnished in cruelty and then tucked into 5 additional layers of disassociation with skull makeup on top. And Gideon, well, is just a very good girl.
I lover her 😭 She just woke up and now she has to fight for her life with noodle arms while getting extremities chopped off willy nilly but she’s chiefly concerned with preserving her gf’s modesty and returning her body to her in perfect condition. Harrow, meanwhile, has never spared a moment’s thought to her body’s basic maintenance ever in her life and in fact would cut it into neat little ribbons for the chance to have Gideon back. In conclusion, two horrible dumbasses in love playing gift of the magi with one single body and a few surgically altered braincells between them.
ghosts are so funny. they’re people who were just like “actually, fuck dying” and decided to cause problems on purpose for the rest of everyone else’s lives. goals tbh.
That makes perfect sense! I think Alecto in Gideon’s body is probably right. I’m wondering why the setting they’re in seems so contemporary, with traffic and hotdog vendors, but the theory I’ve heard is it’s a blood of eden world, and since we’ve only really been exposed to the dilapidated ninth house and some space ships I guess we don’t know what the rest of the universe is like.
I really can’t wait to see some Skeleton Palamedes action, I’m really looking forward to him and Harrow hopefully scheming and geeking together again, this time onscreen. Also the sheer bodyswap gay crush shenanigans potential is just exponential hoo boy. I have high hopes for this one
Also if Gideon is reunited with her body it’ll make Harrow a full Lyctor, equivalent in power to God, which will be… quite exciting.
My assumption is that the nine planets are our solar system and BOE is more similar to our culture now vs the one John created after the resurrection.
Spoilers
Omg do you think that’s all it takes to reach god tier??? I haven’t even thought of that!! Hoooly shit. That would explain why that little bitch god kept the possibility of keeping the cavalier alive such a closely guarded secret and interfered with the process when others figured it out. I liked that after all the lyctors’ pretense throughout the book of being these ancient beings who see death as a trifle and don’t give a shit about anyone, it always comes down to losing their cavaliers in the end, the one deep primordial trauma none of them can let go of. It makes John’s betrayal that much shittier, that he hid that from them out of simple, boring lust for power
ok, so about HtN - on the acknowledgements page the author writes "Harrowhark Nonagesimus did not have anyone to put soluble banana-flavoured antipsychotics under her tongue for her condition. I do" and i am guessing that while she did have some issues from the surgery, she also has some disorder we are (at least i am) unaware of. thoughts?
HtN spoilers
Well I’m not really a fan of the “hero has mental illness symptoms but it’s actually supernatural elements” trope, I think it’s kinda weird and cowardly, as someone who’s had the whole psychiatric hospital experience I think it’d be a much more interesting and honest story if like, the hero has a mental illness and supernatural bullshit going on. So, sure, Harrow was haunted, but why not struggling with psychosis too? Her warped sense of self, chronic guilt and emotional instability might qualify anyway
For such a supportive mom it sure was homophobic of Abigail Pent to insult Harrow’s meticulously-constructed 250k hurt/comfort slowburn Griddlehark coffeeshop AU like that.
Hey man I read Gideon last week and I'm in the middle of Harrow now and it's the biggest mindfuck that has ever graced my poor brain and I just needed to scream that into someone's void for a sec
Fuck yesss!!!! I still haven’t recovered! Please feel free to scream at me with more detail, I live for this shit
I love characters that have never been loved before experiencing it for the first time. They’re taken aback by softness. They’re confused by warm words and being cared for. They’re almost scared by the loving way they’re looked at. Fleeting tender touches send them reeling. Their heart almost feel like it’s going to burst. What does it mean? All they know is they don’t feel as though they deserve that, even if they reciprocate. It’s been proven time again that they’re unlovable and yet…
Being treated so gently feels so good and they aren’t sure they want it to stop.
Hello! I loved Gideon the Ninth so much!! and would like to draw fan art, would you mind sharing any helpful summaries of what each character looks like? or must us fans hunt through the book for every offhand line of description? (not that I'm not planning on rereading it anyway)
I have let myself drift back onto Tumblr after two weeks, am deeply affrighted and excited at the idea that anyone has drawn my kids (I had an AMA on Reddit and as said there, my editor every so often hollered into my inbox about amazing shit people were doing, but I was too busy complaining back to him that my face had gone numb and that I no longer slept, but instead the darkness of the grave claimed me for four to five hours each night). Thank you so much to anyone who has already done this. Many people on my team have yelled and yelled.
Back early on in the piece I made a document for him about what characters looked like in terms of basic ideas/outlines for copyediting, covers and sense purposes, and I’ve dug out that document and slapped it up here for general delectation. As a note: I imagine specific things when it comes to my characters (I am a Kiwi: I write Kiwis In Space as a default) but as I have nothing but joy in my heart for how anyone would want to draw these characters, feel free to glance over this, then toss it out the window. It would bring tears of beauty to my eyes if anyone was like “Yes, but when I was reading I imagined Naberius Tern as a huge monitor lizard,” because absolutely yes, Naberius Tern was just a huge monitor lizard, godspeed.
I had only described below the specific cavalier-necromancer pairs, so that’s what you’ll find below, sorry if anyone wanted Teacher.
Anon who mentioned listening to the Locked Tomb audiobooks: You're listening to them! This makes me so happy! What do you think of the other voices/interpretations, so far?
I’ve only just started and been smacked in the face with the full snooty British noble energy Harrow radiates when in my mind she speaks as if she’s always in a library, a funeral, or struck with a horrible incurable sickness
I’m 2 hours into the audiobook and we still haven’t left Drearburh and I still haven’t gotten used to this Harrow voice plucked straight out of a “your English mistress scolds you for forgetting to polish the golden piss pot” asmr video. I really like Aiglamene (and finally finding out how to pronounce Aiglamene), and Gideon’s voice is pretty fitting, aggressive and enthusiastic, but Harrow is just so prissy and theatrical and high pitched! My Harrow voice is always gonna be raspy and monotonous, low and dour and portentous. If she can’t be bothered to feel her own emotions, there’s no way she’s gonna go to the effort of projecting any into her voice. And above all else I think Harrow is just constantly mortified by every aspect of living, moving, existing in her body, and I think her voice would reflect that, I think it’d be subdued and reluctant, like she’s mad at you for coaxing it out of her
Thinking about perceptions and relationships in HtN
Something I wish we’d gotten more of in HtN was Harrow’s perceptions and relationships with people contrasting with Gideon’s previously held ones. We got this a little bit with Crux, Ortus and Ianthe, and it was one of the more interesting parts. Crux I think was the starkest contrast; the support and relief he’d provided Harrow when he’d been possibly the most abusive presence in Gideon’s life was really fun to see. Getting to know Ortus was so unexpected and cool as well, when he’d been barely a pathetic afterthought in Gideon’s mind, and Ianthe becoming a main character was honestly one of the highlights of this book and I did not expect (or want!) to enjoy her so much.
Another interesting thing this illustrated was that despite her obliviousness and lack of guile and her almost puppy dog eagerness to make a connection with people, Gideon is actually not easily manipulated. We see this over and over: Gideon had a huge crush on Cytherea, she idolized her mother, she fantasized constantly about her mystery father, but without fail, the moment they reveal themselves to be manipulative, shitty people, she doesn’t hesitate to change her view of them and she’ll fuck em up if she needs to. She was even ready to turn on Harrow this way when she thought she’d murdered someone. She’s loyal as shit but more than that she’s dedicated to her (surprisingly well calibrated) moral compass, and her devotion isn’t as easy to manipulate as you’d think.
Harrow, by contrast, this secretive genius who’s always five steps ahead, trusts no one, analyzes every interaction… She fell hook, line and sinker for John’s manipulation, and it was heartbreaking to watch. Obviously she was deeply compromised, but I was just so struck by how fundamentally vulnerable she was when Gideon had been, despite everything she’d been through, actually very resilient. But also it wasn’t just Gideon herself and her coping mechanisms contributing to this solidity, it was obviously the two of them together. They were just so much more resilient together. And Harrow in this book, more than anything, was fundamentally alone.
Once again I just wish this book had given me more Relationships, more People, cuz really the strength of these books imo isn’t the setting or the plot or the mystery, but the characters.
Gideon: [gets down on one knee]
Harrow: Oh my god, it’s finally happening.
Gideon: [ties shoelaces]
Harrow, tearing up: She finally stopped wearing velcro...
