By the time I finished, I didn’t understand how the world fully worked. No, it isn’t as much as some larger fantasy novels and by the end a fair portion of the world is still enshrouded in mystery. On top of the characters there is also the world building. Which is a feat given that the story is less that five hundred pages, in a fantasy setting, and has almost twenty pertinent characters. With many appearing as fully formed characters. There’s a high degree of skill in writing and enough time was given to make all the necessary characters feel at least somewhat rounded. Readers are only given deeper access to a few of the characters, having them become a focal point in the story. While several characters are off beat, they aren’t from completely out of left field either. Which is fancy talk for bad bad necromantic side kick to the emperor. Waning society fantasy setting aside, there’s a murder mystery to be had as a motley group of unruly and humorous characters that aren’t the quite the typical fantasy crowd work to become Lyctor.

Though this particular society seems worse for wear and little threadbare.

Society with all it’s idiosyncrasies and traditions has existed for millennia. There’s a mixture of space age technology and the tried and true staples like swords and daggers. One can’t ignore the – perhaps coincidental – similarities of the names Harkonnen and Harrowhark. Characters have mouthy greek inspired names like Atreides, Nonagesimus, and Tridentarius. An absent yet fear imbuing emperor is in charge of them all. There are a bunch of houses, with their own roles and cultures, in control of their respective planets. In some ways the universe of Gideon the Ninth reminds me of Dune’s. Gideon the Ninth includes goodness from so many genres taking inspiration and components and mixing them together in a skilled manner to create an intriguing tale. Yes, even though there are more than a few sci-fi, horror, mystery, and urban fantasy elements sprinkled around the book, it is a fantasy series. If that name doesn’t give it away, it’s a fantasy series. It’s the first book in The Locked Tomb Trilogy. So good that I had to write about it with a bit more depth, while still striving to remain spoiler free. You can read my spoiler free review here or over on goodreads.

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