Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Book Review

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – Book Cover

Tamsyn Muir has taken a step forward from her debut Gideon the Ninth, which was extremely promising but quickly descended into childishness. Its sequel, Harrow the Ninth, managed to shed some of its growing pains but in return became utterly incomprehensible. With Nona the Ninth, the Australian author continues her utterly unique sci-fi fantasy series that propels necromancy into space. But it feels like a few things in this part aren’t COMPLETELY clear either. For example:

Who, where, and what?

Oh, and why?

Let’s start with the easiest question: “Where?”

Both of the first two parts were set in pretty confined locations. Even though Tamsyn Muir’s universe opens up wide, the author—who exclusively moves necromancers, otherworldly monsters, and skeletons around—shoved them all into one single place. Nona the Ninth finally steps out into the world of humans.

This fixes one of the biggest shortcomings of the first two parts. Sure, it’s fine that the omnipotent emperor of the universe rules everything through necromancy, but wouldn’t it be even more interesting to know how that affects ordinary people? Spoiler: Not well, by the way. Not well at all.

And the answer to “Where?” is: in the city of Who-The-Heck-Knows on the planet God-Knows-Where. Or somewhere like that.

Who?

Now, this is an even better question.

If you couldn’t keep up with the characters in the first two books and think it’d be a shame to change the well-established setup, then you’re in luck: this time, it’s not even clear who the main character actually is. Because Nona is definitely not the Nonagesimus Harrowhark we know from before. So, who the heck is she? I couldn’t tell you. Wait, I mean—I literally can’t tell you.

As a seasoned reader with a decent memory, I confidently dove into the story, assuming I’d recall the characters along the way. And I expected Tamsyn Muir to help jog my memory with a few hints here and there.

Well, Tamsyn Muir didn’t do jack! And the only characters I could remember on my own were the Emperor, Gideon, Nonagesimus, and Camilla Hect. She was the one who stabbed Harrowhark with a knife for disciplinary purposes in Harrow the Ninth, right? Or wasn’t she?

Moreover, for some reason, Tamsyn Muir thought that having her already hard-to-remember characters occasionally body-swap, merge, or simply jump into someone else’s skin would increase the enjoyment of Nona the Ninth‘s.

But no. Not really. Quite the opposite.

What?

This one is also worth pondering. After all, even if you can’t figure out exactly who is who, you can at least try to follow what they’re doing. Actions speak louder than words, right?

Ah, that’s what you’d think. Easy to say!

Because most of the characters in this book just talk. And they keep a lot of secrets while doing so. As for the narrator, Nona—who, by now, has unfortunately regressed to the intellectual level of a six-year-old—she is utterly clueless about everything.

Why?

Haha! Even the question is ridiculous!

At the end of Harrow the Ninth, Emperor John Gaius was in for some nasty surprises. We also discovered who was buried in the Ninth House’s tomb. And yet, by the end of Nona the Ninth, the plot hasn’t advanced an inch. The setup remains the same. Not a word about the emperor. The Resurrection Beasts, which in theory were introduced as the looming threat in the previous book and are one step away from destroying everything, don’t get mentioned at all. That’s when you realize that Nona, much like the previous installment, is just a filler episode.

So, the answer to “Why?” is: Who cares?

Nona the Ninth is an absolute cutiepie

The reason you’ll likely read this book to the end is because of Nona herself. Tamsyn Muir has written her to be absolutely irresistible. Remember the moody Harrowhark from Gideon the Ninth? Well, she’s long gone. Nona isn’t just cute—she’s downright ADORABLE! You’d want to adopt her on the spot if you could. She’s sweet, silly, kind-hearted, and utterly lovable.

Much of Nona the Ninth consists of scenes where, with the occasional tear, you watch this adorable necromancer-in-training make friends at school and gradually fit in with her classmates. These moments, paradoxically, showcase how masterfully Muir can handle her characters—if she wants to.

And meanwhile, of course, you know that Nonagesimus Harrowhark, as a Lyctor, should really be out smashing the Resurrection Beasts with a massive club by now. Instead, she’s doodling with crayons and escorting little Kevin to the bathroom.

A necromancer! My God!

Ten thousand years ago, John Gaius (later: God) resurrected everyone on a dying planet, ushering in the age of necromancy. The chapters that look back at the beginning of this process create a mixed feeling. On one hand, you already know what happened. It doesn’t add much to the events currently unfolding. It happened millennia ago, after all! On the other hand, much like Nona’s school adventures, these flashbacks feel coherent compared to the chaotic and incomprehensible stuff going on on the unnamed planet. They have a clear beginning and end. And in this book, that’s already something…

Postmodern fantasy

Tamsyn Muir is fantastic with words, that’s unquestionable. In fact, she’s a God-given talent. She’s funny when she needs to be, touching when she needs to be. And so on and so on. Her dead heroes come alive through her writing. But while reading Nona the Ninth, you constantly feel like Muir is boldly prioritizing her own amusement over the reader’s experience. So, she’s probably having a much better time than her readers are.

The jokes and wordplay hidden in Nona’s text constantly pull you out of the mood of the book, which, given its theme, should be primarily somber. But it’s not. Not at all. And the constant lack of information is frustrating, especially since you know the author intentionally wrote it this way. While everything is perfectly clear in Tamsyn Muir’s mind as she churns out The Locked Tomb series at lightning speed, she’s only telling you a quarter of it. So, reading Nona the Ninth is like trying to solve a particularly complex puzzle, mostly in vain.

While you definitely feel that Muir’s book occasionally seems like something truly great, you still barely understand any of it. And so, driven by some inexplicable urge, you’ll probably keep going with this series, clinging to the faint hope that one day it’ll all make sense. Or is it simply just a mix of fooling around, sentimentality, and girlishly restrained corpse desecration?

Rating: 7.3/10

Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir
480 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2022 by Tordotcom

Other books in the series:
1. Gideon the Ninth
2. Harrow the Ninth

You might also be interested in:
The Unspoken Name by A. K. Larkwood
Dune by Frank Herbert

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