u/Familiar_Function_13

This book has been in my TBR for quite a while and I honestly had no idea what to expect and feel like I have stumbled on to a new favourite.

Gideon the ninth follows Gideon & Harrowhark of the ninth house, attending a summons issued to the houses 2-9. Once there, mystery, magic? And a lot of character growth ensue. This story will pull your emotions in each direction within the same sentence, and keep you constantly guessing and theorising.

This book is brilliant at weaving humour and fleshed out characters amongst dense world building. There is a lot to sift through and figure out and Gideon is a great although largely unhelpful companion through this journey, landing this book with reviews of ‘confusing’. I don’t think the author particularly tries to obfuscate what’s going on, you are just seeing the story through Gideon’s eyes - which if you are not used to or not a fan of - could be a bit jarring.

The prose felt lavish and I enjoyed the beautifully carved sentences and descriptors to then be hit with the sledge hammer of Gideon’s quipping ‘he had the eyes of a very beautiful person, trapped in resting bitch face’ or something of equal sass. Which worked brilliantly at breaking up some dense passages - I loved the humour in this book.

The world building was intricate and I connected with the establishing of the houses, the solar system they are within and the general (at current perception I have only read book one) bigger things at play.

On a character level, Gideon’s inner-monologue was rich in understand her motives and the world, but, the minutia is what brought her off the page for me, with sentences such as ‘She smelled nice, how Gideon imagined soap to smell’.

The pacing of the plot was great, I loved the mystery unraveling - there was a lot of subtle foreshadowing which I think re-reads must be great to pick up on - would highly recommend!

This is my first Bujold book, seeing so many recommendations in reference to those who enjoy Robin Hobb’s work.

I often see books cited as having good characterisation then mainly focussing on an individual. This book does a brilliant job of creating a cast that it would be interesting to see the story from their perspective; Iselle, Teidez, Betriz and even Orico. For me, that is a hallmark of creating good characters. There is a well-sized cast of engaging characters from petulant prince to a wise duchess with political nous.

This is a great book for readers who enjoy political intrigue, following inexperienced courtiers in navigating Chalions plots of both gods and men. The book delivers on its promise and its exploration of ‘the curse of Chalion’.

The dialogue in this book is great, managing to remain natural whilst conveying so much world-building - there’s a lot of mystery in this book, which feels authentic to uncover with the characters rather than believing they should already know.

The general world-building is great - seeing how central faith and the five gods are to the rituals, superstitions and actions of characters. The first instance we get of ‘death magic’ hooked me, the mutually assured destruction, the negative prayer and the perception of balance.

Our main character, Cazaril (Caz), is mid thirties and has lived a lot of life. Through Bujolds pragmatic prose we are shown his rich inner world. I found Caz’s thought process, humour and self-view to be engaging.

**slight Spoilers beyond**

My favourite aspect of this book was the e exploration of faith and agency. Caz’s reflections at the end of the book on the gods influence upon his actions but it was clear the daughter was placing him and pushing him all along. Can then reflect is Caz was chosen due to his noble actions or did her perform those actions due to influence.

My only criticism was that the antagonists were more plot device than substance, I found the De Jironals to be some of the weakest characters in the book.