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Gideon the Ninth

Tamsyn Muir

2019 · Fantasy

dark moodmoderate pacebalanced tonecliffhanger ending

How it reads

Gideon the Ninth is fantasy (science-fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are family. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It opens a series. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.

Pick it up if…

  • you're in the mood for something dark
  • you like disappearing into an invented world
  • you're drawn to stories about family

Maybe not if…

  • you need something cosy, heartwarming or funny
  • you hate waiting for a sequel

All 15 dimensions

Genre
fantasy
Author gender
nonbinary
Author experience
early career
Setting: place
fictional world
Setting: time
timeless or multiple
Mood / feeling
dark
Pace
moderate
Tone / weight
balanced
Length
medium
Narrative style
third person, several viewpoints
Publication era
recent
Popularity
well known
Series vs standalone
first in a series
Themes
family
Ending style
cliffhanger

What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.

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