This review has been a long time in coming. I borrowed Harrow the Ninth on Libby back in February and made it 60 percent of the way through before the app stole it back (one advantage of physical books is that you can keep them way past their due date and just pay them back later, instead of the library yoinking them away through your phone). After two and a half agonizing months on the waiting list, I finally got it back last week and finished it in less than 24 hours. Friends, I am obsessed. I truly cannot stop thinking about this book, which is why I am reviewing it now instead of dealing with my massive backlog of other books I need to review.
Things are not going well for Harrowhark. After the events of Gideon the Ninth, the misanthropic necromancer has become a Lyctor, a saint of the God-Emperor of the Nine Houses. But Lyctorhood is not all it’s cracked up to be. Harrowhark will have to to quickly learn how to use her strange new powers, avoid being bullied (and possibly murdered) by her fellow Lyctors, and pretend to laugh at God’s cringey jokes. Also, she is pretty sure that she is going mad.
This book is super weird, in the best way possible. Turns out when most of your characters have the ability to manipulate human flesh and bone, the fight scenes can get…pretty fucked up. The dialogue is snappy and full of cultural references, which run the gamut from the Bible, Shakespeare, and Edgar Allan Poe to Homestar Runner, Arrested Development and the Miette “Jail for Mother!” tweet. And while the high concept “lesbian necromancers in space” premise and the memelord humor might seem gimmicky, the novel is built on a solid foundation of complex characters and well-considered themes.
You could even say…it’s got good bones.
…okay, I’m done.