Harrow the Ninth

Locations
Call Number: Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn, Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn
On Shelf At: Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	On Hold Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	Due 04-23-2024
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	Due 04-25-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	Due 03-13-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Muir, Tamsyn	4-week checkout	Due 05-13-2024

"She answered the Emperor's call. She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend. In victory, her world has turned to ash. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath -- but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her. Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?" -- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Hm. submitted by Cassildra on June 11, 2022, 3:17pm Admittedly, as much as I loved the prequel, I struggle with this book. Second person is a hard thing to read, and while it's the narratively correct choice, it's a hard sell.

I have to admit I haven't finished this in book or audio format, but what I've managed to get through has been superb. Just... Maybe the second person makes it not for me.

KEEP GOING submitted by mintaroni on July 3, 2022, 9:53am The first third is hard but the second half absolutely makes up for it. Still a must read even if it's difficult to get through the beginning.

All time favorite submitted by Mayyash on June 16, 2023, 4:59pm Do you want a book about peculiar lesbians, abnormal uses of bone magic, and God being your weird father-figure? This is the book for you!

Harrow the Ninth is a love letter to grief and recovery. It is messy, convoluted, and downright confusing upon first read. It puts you perfectly in the mindset of Harrowhark. Slowly, you realize what exactly is wrong. This book doesn't hold your hand. It expects you to be paying attention and it expects you make connections. This is the book your literature teacher dreams you write your essay on.
Tamsyn Muir proves herself a wordsmith time and time again with her brilliant descriptions. And humor. It wouldn't be the Locked Tomb without a splash of pop-culture, eh? Her tendency to use words you'll have to Google is perfect for characterizing the Ninth House in all of it's quirky, necromantic, neurotic glory. And speaking of the Ninth House, this book will only make you fall more in love with this universe.
New characters are introduced such as God (Affectionally, nicknamed Jod aka John God by many fans) and his lyctors; the very thing Harrow was aspiring to be in our previous installment. While also keeping some oldies such as Ianthe and a certain two dead bodies. Through them, we can truly contextualize what Gideon taught us in the first. A world beyond only the houses and their internal politics.
A sequel without the protagonist isn't something many books are brave enough to do. But HtN pulls NO punches. We miss Gideon as much as the narrative itself does. One of the most haunting moments of the first book, to me at least, is:
[God] “I can’t,” he said. He had a bittersweet, scratchy voice, and it was infinitely gentle. “I would very much like to. But that soul’s inside you now. If I tried to pull it out, I’d take yours with it and destroy both in the process. What’s done is done is done. Now you have to live with it.”
[Harrow] “How dare you ask me to live with it?”
That excerpt alone fully encompasses the theme we find ourself with. How dare you ask us to go on living while our protagonist is dead. But life does go on, and life often sucks. Harrow is a lyctor like she set out to become. But it's at the cost of Gideon which is a price she doesn't know how to pay.
Harrow's mental state is a fascinating thing. She's a schizophrenic lesbian with religious trauma and has held the weight of 200 lives since her birth. I liked Harrow in the first book, but this book is where she became my absolute FAVORITE of the series. She's overflowing in guilt, sad for reasons she can't understand, and barely hanging on in most scenes.
The best way I can summarize Harrow the Ninth is: What if God forced a depressed teen to live on his party boat? And he was also in a complicated relationship with his two co-workers. And there was a second teen who was really weird and into the first teen. And some guy keeps trying to kill you but no one seems to notice. Oh, and Ortus is there. READ IT!
And if second person is putting you off, wait until the final act. It's worth it ;)