Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir · first published 2019
56% recommend33% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
A fun, genre-bending space necromancer story with an irreverent voice and a very distinctive feel. It is offbeat and unlike most anything else in its field.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense. Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up
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Mentions per year
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Some favorites from this last year: Gideon the Ninth, & Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Delta V by Daniel Suarez (space mining!!!) Battle Grounds, & Peace Talks (Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher Bobiverse 1,2 & 3 by Dennis E. Taylor
on “My Favorite Books 2020” ↗Gideon the Ninth - this was a huge surprise to me and lots of fun. I've never read anything else quite like it. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - This is usually my go-to book recommendation for "whats your favorite…
on “Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far)” ↗Not a bad list, out of these I enjoyed Children of Time, Gideon the Ninth, The Martian and the Murderbot books the most. Another good book which I saw an another HN post is "There is no Antimemetics Division", well worth a read.
on “The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade” ↗As someone whose way of making money and surving is to deeply understand things, this book is terrifying. It is one of my top 2 books of all time. I can't decide if my favorite is this, or Gideon the Ninth (a very different vibe).
on “There Is No Antimemetics Division (2018)” ↗…implementation mistakes Linkerd vs Istio: William's honest take Open source sustainability and enterprise monetization The enterprise sales journey from engineer to CEO Book recommendations: Hyperion, Gideon the Ninth, The Book of the New Sun
on “ServiceMesh at Scale with William Morgan Creator of Linkerd” ↗> "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!" --Charles Stross This does properly describe Gideon The Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir.
on “Show HN: Crunching 1,200 Authors' Favorite Reads of 2023” ↗When reading novels, I usually find myself skipping the portions that setup the atmosphere or looks of characters. I feel like a lot of it is forced. The latest book I read was Gideon the Ninth, and I found myself doing that quite a bit. I am more interested in the story and interaction between characters. Of course a bit of setting is indisposible such as where, when, rules of the universe,…
on “Show HN: I co-wrote a novel with GPT-3 in 118 hours” ↗…translation work, at least in the genre fiction section. Covers get modified towards more blandness, language gets defanged, etc.. One of the more prominent examples in recent times is their translation of Gideon the Ninth and its sequels (international bestseller, Nebula and Hugo shortlisted, "easy money" when importing a work). It went so badly they apparently stopped publishing the series altogether past the second book.
on “The time Terry Pratchett’s German publisher inserted a soup ad into his novel” ↗The Locked Tomb series: - Gideon the Ninth - Harrow the Ninth - Nona the Ninth Liked the first Locked Tomb, didn't really enjoy the remainder of the series. The Witch King (from the Murderbot author), was alright. The Time Travellers Almanac.…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗