Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Summary

Harrow the Ninth is a 2020 science fantasy novel by Tamsyn Muir that continues the story of necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus after her ascension to Lyctorhood. Drafted by the Emperor to fight an unwinnable war against Resurrection Beasts, Harrow must perfect her necromantic skills while battling failing health, memory loss, and hallucinations. The novel unfolds as a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery and mayhem, revealing that Harrow performed brain surgery on herself to erase memories of Gideon Nav.

Harrow the Ninth is perfect for readers who thrive on complex narratives, interpersonal character dynamics, and genre-blending fiction that combines space opera with necromancy. This book appeals to fans of puzzle-box storytelling who enjoy unreliable narrators, experimental narrative techniques, and visceral, grotesque imagery paired with witty dialogue. Readers who appreciated Gideon the Ninth and want deeper exploration of Harrow's character, trauma, and the lore of the Nine Houses will find this sequel particularly rewarding.

Harrow the Ninth is worth reading for those who can navigate its deliberately challenging structure and experimental storytelling. Tamsyn Muir demonstrates exceptional skill with character development, visceral imagery, and intricate social dynamics between millennia-old characters. The novel has won the Locus Award and earned multiple nominations including the Hugo and Nebula Awards. However, readers should expect a confusing, non-linear narrative that rewards careful attention and patience with spectacular payoffs in character revelation and plot twists.

Tamsyn Muir is a New Zealand author best known for The Locked Tomb series, which includes Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Nona the Ninth. Her fiction has won the Locus and Crawford awards and received nominations for the Hugo, Nebula, Shirley Jackson, and World Fantasy Awards. Originally from Howick, New Zealand, Muir currently lives and works in Oxford, United Kingdom. Beyond The Locked Tomb series, she has written Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower and several novellas set in the same universe.

Yes, reading Gideon the Ninth before Harrow the Ninth is essential for understanding the sequel's complex narrative structure and emotional stakes. Harrow the Ninth directly references and subverts events from the first book, with alternating chapters that deliberately contradict Gideon the Ninth's timeline. The emotional weight of Gideon and Harrow's relationship, the mechanics of Lyctorhood, and the true nature of what happened at Canaan House only resonate fully when readers know the original events that Harrow has surgically erased from her memory.

Harrow the Ninth deliberately confuses readers by using unreliable narration from a protagonist who has erased her own memories through brain surgery. The novel alternates between second-person present narration and third-person past narration that contradicts the events of Gideon the Ninth, replacing Gideon with Ortus Nigenad as Harrow's cavalier. This disorientation mirrors Harrow's fractured mental state, with hallucinations, missing memories, and bubble realities created within the River. The confusion resolves as readers discover that Gideon Nav herself is the second-person narrator trapped in Harrow's subconscious.

Lyctors are immortal necromancer-cavalier pairs who have achieved a form of fusion through a necromantic process that grants immense power. In Harrow the Ninth, the Emperor reveals that traditional Lyctorhood requires the necromancer to consume their cavalier's soul, which John has deliberately obscured from the Nine Houses. Harrow's ascension was imperfect because she performed brain surgery to preserve Gideon's soul rather than fully absorbing it. The novel explores how Lyctors like Ianthe, Mercymorn, Augustine, and "Gideon the First" have survived for millennia fighting Resurrection Beasts—the vengeful ghosts of planets killed during humanity's resurrection.

The second-person "you" narration in Harrow the Ninth is revealed to be Gideon Nav's perspective, trapped in the basement of Harrow's consciousness after their imperfect Lyctorhood. This narrative technique creates an intimate yet distant voice that addresses Harrow directly while readers experience events through this fragmented lens. The second-person chapters occur in the present timeline as Harrow serves the Emperor on the Mithraeum, contrasting with third-person flashbacks to an altered version of Canaan House. This experimental structure emphasizes Gideon's presence as both absent and omnipresent in Harrow's mind.

Gideon Nav spent most of Harrow the Ninth as a semi-omniscient narrator trapped in Harrow's subconscious after their imperfect Lyctorhood. Before ascending, Harrow requested Ianthe perform brain surgery to obscure her memories of Gideon, preventing Gideon's soul from being truly absorbed. When Harrow is stabbed by Mercymorn, Gideon unexpectedly roars back to consciousness in Harrow's body during the final battle. She discovers she is the Emperor's daughter, conceived when Commander Wake artificially inseminated herself using stolen genetic material intended as a weapon against the Locked Tomb.

Harrow the Ninth explores grief, trauma, and the lengths people go to preserve those they love, even through self-destructive memory erasure. The novel examines unhealthy coping mechanisms as Harrow literally surgically removes her memories rather than processing Gideon's sacrifice. Identity fragmentation and dissociation feature prominently through Harrow's hallucinations of "the Body" and missing memory chunks. Power dynamics and betrayal emerge through the ten-thousand-year relationships between John and his Lyctors, culminating in the attempted assassination plot. The book also questions the nature of sacrifice, asking whether Gideon's gift was honored or rejected by Harrow's refusal to consume her.

Common criticisms of Harrow the Ninth focus on its deliberately confusing narrative structure that can alienate readers expecting a straightforward sequel. The plot and worldbuilding become "wobbly" as Muir introduces complex timelines, bubble realities, and John's ten-thousand-year history without always providing clear explanations. Some readers find the alternating second and third-person perspectives exhausting rather than clever, especially when combined with contradictory versions of events from Gideon the Ninth. The book's middle section drags as Harrow wanders through fabricated memories, and the dense necromantic terminology can overwhelm even dedicated fantasy readers without sufficient context.

Harrow the Ninth is dramatically different from Gideon the Ninth in tone, structure, and protagonist perspective. While Gideon the Ninth featured first-person narration from the irreverent, muscle-bound Gideon Nav with a murder mystery structure at Canaan House, Harrow the Ninth uses experimental second and third-person narration from the traumatized, politically astute necromancer Harrowhark. Harrow provides more worldbuilding about how necromancy and the Nine Houses function, whereas Gideon focused on character dynamics and survival. Gideon the Ninth is more accessible and plot-driven; Harrow the Ninth is a puzzle box requiring careful attention to narrative unreliability, memory manipulation, and layered timelines that ultimately deepen the emotional stakes established in the first book.