#It's Harrow attempting the dinner party with Gideon

[the-crepuscular-queen]

Something about this quote. Something about how trust is a major factor to Gideon's and Harrow's relationship to work together and how that snowballs into more. It's just going to rotate in my mind forever.

[katakaluptastrophy]

What do the Fifth House actually do?

Sure, yes, ghosts and tradition and the Heart of the Emperor, and Watchers Over the River - but none of those things give you the kind of assets that mean you can dress your cavalier in a coat that "probably cost more than the Ninth House had in its coffers" for a dinner party.

It's made clear very early on that the Fifth are a power to be reckoned with. When they first receive the letter about the Lyctoral pilgrimage, Gideon assumes it would be on the Third or Fifth. Harrow, meanwhile, has frequently-repeated anxieties about the Ninth being subsumed by the Third or Fifth, to the point that she worries that the anniversary party invitation may be an attempt to wipe out the other Houses. Teacher describes the Fifth's relationship with the Fourth as "hegemonic". The Fifth loom so large in the cultural imagination, they even inform the name of the made up porn magazine that Gideon offers to Crux.

The links between the Third and the Fifth that both Gideon and Harrow make seem to reflect both the fact that these two Houses have particular power and influence, but also that they frequently cooperate. Judith writes about the close cooperation of the Second, Third, and Fifth, a relationship which becomes a source of tension as the scions seek to establish authority after the Fifth are murdered. Judith says:

“The Fifth are dead. I take authority for the Fifth. I say we need military intervention, and we need it right now. As the highest-ranked Cohort officer present, that decision falls to me.” “A Cohort captain,” said Naberius, “don’t rank higher than a Third official.” “I’m very much afraid that it does, Tern.” “Prince Tern, if you please,” said Ianthe.

Which makes it sound as though Abigail might technically have been considered the highest ranking person at Canaan House (likely because she was head of her House and not an heir in waiting like Judith or Coronabeth), and that following her death there is some question as to whether the Second or the Third should take control, but notably no suggestion that anyone else might.

We know what the Second do: they are the leaders of the Cohort and the Bureau, the military and intelligence that forms the core of imperial expansion. Most of the information that we get about the other Houses talks only about their cultural or ritual roles in the empire - we get very little in the way of gritty details of what happens outside of the Dominicus system.

We know a little bit about what the Third does - according to Tor they are cultural trendsetters and players in soft power, but the one detail we get in GTN itself is revealing: when Gideon imagines her glorious future in the Cohort, one of the assignments she considers boring is the prospect of being "in some foreign city babysitting some Third governor." Which makes it sound rather like the Second are conquering the planets and the Third are then running them. But the books are even lighter in details about what the Fifth do, beyond ghosts and manners.

However, there is one suggestive detail: an important topic in HTN is stele travel - the necromantic FTL used by the Nine Houses. And Mercymorn, in describing a stele, specifically states that Fifth House adepts are required for their construction. Which rather makes it sound like the Fifth have a monopoly on the manufacturer of the technology required for FTL travel. Now that in and of itself could be the basis of their enormous wealth - selling aerospace tech to an ever expansionist military is probably quite lucrative.

But there's another element of House imperialism that only gets mentioned in passing that doesn't seem to be entirely accounted for, which Judith describes in As Yet Unsent:

"Their other line of attack is the business contracts. They claim that the services asked of them by the Emperor were set down in lifetime contracts by previous generations, who assumed the contracts would be terminated upon the Emperor’s death."

There are obviously some unanswered questions about the imperialist project of the Nine Houses - both Augustine and Coronabeth question quite why it works the way it does - but from the above it sounds like in many respects it functions exactly as you would expect an empire to: as a vehicle for the exploitation of others' resources.

Perhaps the Cohort themselves administer these business contracts. Perhaps they fall under the purview of the Third House planetary governors. But if you're exporting resources from the living planets of your empire to the mostly desolate planets of the Dominicus system, you're going to need some FTL ships and a whole lot of bureaucracy.

And if there's one other detail that we get about the Fifth, it's that there is something significant about the political power of their bureaucracy. As Judith puts it: "Quinn himself is a Fifth House bureaucrat with all that entails."

Are the Second, Third, and Fifth so close and so powerful because they form the bedrock of the empire: the conquest, control, and exploitation of planets beyond the Dominicus system?

[what-ive-been-reading]

Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir

One Sentence Summary:

Lobotomized nun realizes God and his Angels suck so so much.

Did I Like It?

Yes and no. I'm probably not going to read it again for a long while because of the second person writing style. Like, I GOT IT right away and I really did like what it was immediately communicating to the reader, but god damn were the third person "flashbacks" a breath of fresh air. It was like surfacing from my own personal River.

That said, Tamsyn Muir is an expert of her craft and her voice carried me through this book. On my first reading attempt right after Gideon I actually stopped reading for months because I hated the prose. Fortunately, I just couldn't stop thinking about the juicy implications and all that angst waiting for me to crack open and slurp down like so much bone marrow. It was absolutely worth it.

If you're reading the book and you don't "get" or enjoy the second person perspective: just get through it. It'll be worth it, I promise.

This book is so good it makes me feel stupider for having read it. It's like it laid bare all my inadequacies with my own writing. This is a good thing. I think it's still distinctly Upmarket, but it sure as hell isn't Commercial. Many sections are downright Literary.

In short: if you liked Gideon, you need to read it. Simple as.

Would Another Me Have Liked It?

God, probably not? There's a 50/50 chance pretentious teenage me would have thought this was either revolutionary or pretentious. It's kind of both, and that's what makes it so good. It plays it all with a straight face.

I think 17 year old me would've put it on the same shelf as House of Leaves and The Gunslinger. Do with that what you will.

Expanded Thoughts:

THE IDEA OF THE PROSE DRIPS WITH ANGST AND CONTEXT BUT UGH

Undead bees are such a cool concept and I think that it paints what could've been a very boring and samey concept (world devouring space monsters) in a really unique way. Hive structure, colony orders, cooking vibrations, and having your mind fracture when you look at them all works SO well.

Unlike the first book, the humor landed much better this time for me. Again, I still think Gideon the Ninth was funny but sometimes it tried a little too hard. I do not feel that way about Harrow the Ninth.

Much like the first book, nothing here is surprising but that's okay. Some people I talked to about reading the book seemed shocked that I had figured so much out so instantly? Like, I do find that weird but I think it's very much a reader issue rather than a writer issue. Tamsyn Muir doesn't seek to surprise you. Tamsyn Muir hangs the Sword of Damocles above your head and occasionally gestures towards it as if to say "Eh? EHHHH???" while you worry about when it will eventually fall.

For real, just read the Dramatis Personae of these books and you'll figure out like 50% of what's happening, which makes figuring out the rest while reading easy. You have Uno. It literally comes free with your XBox.

I respect Tamsyn Muir's dedication to putting these two kids through the wringer. Honestly? I hope they never meet.

I WAS absolutely wrong about the girl in the Tomb. I thought that was going to be Nona but very clearly that is not the case. Excited to see what that's all about. Surely Harrow isn't going to do anything dangerous. She's so stable. If I came to this series when it was still a trilogy, however, I would have made the same called shot and landed exactly where I intended.

Man this series loves dinner parties. I really enjoy how characters just get to breathe for the vast majority of these books. The action scenes are great and all, but that's not why I'm here.

The book plays with death so well. Genuinely the stuff in the River might be some of the most fun I've had with a fantasy setting in an extremely long time.

When they're explaining why THEY showed up in the River, I picked up on the plan and said out loud "There is no way this stupid poem is going to show up now" but then it does and it works and it was EXTREMELY impactful. Christ what a finale. Ortus, man. What an excellent expansion for a character.

Called Shots:

Have they said it's the Earth Solar System yet? I feel like maybe they have? It's very clearly Earth, right? Did they say it in Gideon and just never bring it up again? It's nine planets, dog. You really think I'll be tricked by the First House actually being the third planet? You made the Ninth Pluto.

Who's Nona? Harrow's in the river, Gideon's where she is, and there are no other Ninth House teenagers. I think we have a real One Body Problem on our hands? Although John could probably fix that Gideon issue lickity split.

The rest of the galaxy is like, normal ass people who are under constant threat from the imperialist goths. Please this would be so funny if true.

[dude1818]

Gideon the Ninth reread liveblog part 3: attempting the trials, and the game is afoot

Palamedes tries to bring “Dulcinea” tea at the Fifth anniversary party and is very weird about it. That's probably when he reached the conclusion that she's an imposter

There are many things to say about the Winnowing trial. I'm going to focus on how hard it was for Harrow to compliment Gideon on her sword fighting, but still how glowing the praise was. This might be the first time Harrow had actual respect for Gideon, and she simply doesn't know what to do with that feeling

And then the immediate whiplash with them finding the bodies. Muir is incredibly good at getting the perfect timing to break your heart

[The Third princesses] knelt side by side, holding hands, and for all that Ianthe had made fun of her sister’s intellect Corona never broke a sweat. It was Ianthe who ran wet with blood and perspiration.

Because Corona wasn't doing any magic! Gideon was too busy staring at her “skimpy nighties” to realize that though, and the other necros were doing their own necromancy

I'm not sure why Gideon hated the Fourth House so much at the beginning, other than just because kids are terrible. Even when Jeannemary was fawning over her at the dinner, Gideon did not seem pleased. It wasn't until the Fifth's death broke the kids that Gideon finally felt pity for them

Harrow arranging her breakfast was a concept so disagreeable there was no space left in her head for it.

Harrow let Gideon sleep in and brought her breakfast in bed. She wants them to finally be friends so bad!

“Compared to why, the question of who killed Pent and Quinn is almost an aside.”

“‘Who,’” said a voice, “or ‘what.’ I love the idea of what.”

I'm sure you do, “Dulcinea” 😠

“This is not intended to be collaborative.”

Dulcinea said, smilingly: “Why does everybody think that?”

Cytheria actually knows it is supposed to be collaborative. Reverse psychology by telling the truth?

“I wish Master Silas had just fought me. Not much can hurt me anymore … it would be an interesting sensation, is what I mean.”

That's even more fucked up coming from a Lyctor than from a girl with terminal cancer

“You can’t move thanergy from place to place like that,” said the Seventh, with very careful gentleness. “It has to be life to death.… or death to a sort of life, like the Second do.”

I didn't quite understand this the first time, but I think I see what's needed for Avulsion now. Necromancy is powered by thanergy, but this trial drains all your thanergy nigh instantly. You can't use an external source of thanergy, because it's like trying to get power from ground: that might have the biggest source of electrons, but their infinitely more stable there. Instead you need to find a hot wire, a living source of thalergy, to set up a current to power the necro inside the entropy field

“Because [siphoning is] something Palamedes wouldn’t do,” [Gideon] said, “and he’s a perfect moron over Camilla the Sixth.”

Perhaps the pot calls the kettle black because she's never had a mirror

When [Harrow] spoke again, she made her voice quite calm and normal: “Why?”

“Probably because you asked.”

Gideon slid her glasses back onto her face, obscuring feelings with tint. She found herself saying, “That’s all I ever demanded,”

The blackest they come

“It’s all right,” someone was saying, over the noise. “You’re all right. Gideon, Gideon … you’re so young. Don’t give yourself away. Do you know, it’s not worth it … none of this is worth it, at all. It’s cruel. It’s so cruel. You are so young—and vital—and alive. Gideon, you’re all right … remember this, and don’t let anyone do it to you ever again. I’m sorry. We take so much. I’m so sorry.”

[Gideon] would remember each word later, loud and clear.

This is Cytherea talking. This is why Cytherea is doing all of this

“Ha-ha,” said Gideon, “first time you didn’t call me Griddle,” and died.

I need to refer back to this for that scene

[Dulcinea] reached out one last time to skim a hand over Gideon’s forehead. She whispered archly: “Nice hair.”

Cytherea had figured out who Gideon's father was a while ago, when she inspected her eyes in the sitting room. This is probably the first time she realized who her mother was

Gideon mumbled, “Harrow, you can’t just ask someone why they want to be a Lyctor,” but was roundly ignored.

The first thing out of Gideon's mouth after nearly dying is a 10 thousand year old meme. I almost wish that there were some "future memes," rather than early 21st century meme culture crystallizing for 10k years

Eventually, she said: “I didn’t want to die.”

Notably, not "I don't want to die." This is Cytherea's reason, not "Dulcinea's"

A skeleton was packing linen-wrapped wheels of some waxy white substance into a box.

I break up this deeply emotional analysis to point out that Gideon doesn't know what cheese is

Protesilaus's ashes being so much older than they should have been was such a confusing wrinkle to throw in. There were plenty of hints (Gideon's descriptions of him always being like a classic Frankenstein, his automaton-like behaviors, Naberius just having described him as not being at all like his reputation), but it's the kind of mystery you don't figure out because you never even thought there was a mystery!

It's also a little confusing that Dulcinea's body was also incinerated, and had the same time of death as Pro. During Cytherea's exposition later, I got the sense that she killed Pro in self-defense as soon as she was spotted, but struck a deal with Dulcinea

God, of every death across both books so far, Jeannemary's is the most fucked up. It's so unnecessarily brutal. We finally start seeing the kids in a sympathetic light as everything starts crashing down around them, and then she gets murdered in the cruelest way possible. In the safe house! Mocking Gideon for thinking she might actually save someone! I've seen meta that Magnus was the first on-screen death as a “kicking the dog” moment, to make it clear that the bad guy was unrepentantly evil, but I think Jeanemary's death is the most heinous.

I'm also sad that we didn't get to see the twins again in Harrow the Ninth. Abigail mothered them too much and wouldn't even let them play in Harrow's dreambubble, but I would've loved to see more of Jeannemary now that she warmed up