Tamsyn Muir

This was my first science fantasy book ever - and oh, I was not disappointed! I had so much fun reading this.

This is the story of Gideon Nav, who lives in the Dominicus star system in the Ninth House. Being an indentured servant, she constantly tries to escape, only to have her last attempt foiled by Harrowhark, the Ninth House heiress, who is about to compete to become an immortal necromancer and a right hand of the Emperor. What results is them traveling to a crumbling palace, where, with members of seven other houses, they must work together to solve the mystery and discover the secrets of the Lyctors, or immortal necromancers.

There was such a unique voice and I loved Gideon and Harrow and their dynamic so much. I found myself chuckling at some of the things they said - which doesn’t happen often!

It took me awhile to understand all the worldbuilding, but much of it is explained in further detail after the Epilogue. I didn’t connect much with the side characters - I felt like I didn’t know them that well even though they were quite present in the story, so it didn’t matter to me much when some of them met their fates.

Still, the ending took me by surprise and the climactic battle was fun to read, and it leaves several questions unanswered which I assume will be addressed in the sequel.

Looking forward to reading part 2 in this trilogy!… (more)