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Gideon the Ninth
RECOMMENDED: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is $4.99 and so is the follow-up, Harrow the Ninth. AJ and I did a lot of squeeing about this one on a podcast episode. Will you understand what’s going on? Probably not, but you’ll have a lot of fun being clueless. I also gave it a B+:
Gideon the Ninth is a unique and bloody bananapants book, and I do think it’s worth a reader’s curiosity. Gideon is an unforgettable protagonist.
Gideon the Ninth is the most fun you’ll ever have with a skeleton.
The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.
Of course, some things are better left dead.
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Never Kiss a Duke
Never Kiss a Duke by Megan Frampton is $1.99! This is the first book in the Hazards of Dukes series, which released in January. Elyse gave this one a C grade, so your mileage may vary with this romance.
A disinherited duke and a former lady are courting much more than business in the first novel in Megan Frampton’s newest titillating series, Hazards of Dukes.
Everything he had ever known was a lie…
Sebastian, Duke of Hasford, has a title, wealth, privilege, and plenty of rakish charm. Until he discovers the only thing that truly belongs to him is his charm. An accident of birth has turned him into plain Mr. de Silva. Now, Sebastian is flummoxed as to what to do with his life—until he stumbles into a gambling den owned by Miss Ivy, a most fascinating young lady, who hires him on the spot. Working with a boss has never seemed so enticing.
Everything tells her he’s a risk she has to take
Two years ago, Ivy gambled everything that was precious to her—and won. Now the owner of London’s most intriguing gambling house, Ivy is competent, assured, and measured. Until she meets Mr. de Silva, who stirs feelings she didn’t realize she had. Can she keep her composure around her newest employee?
They vow to keep their partnership strictly business, but just one kiss makes them realize that with each passing day—and night—it becomes clear to them both that there’s nothing as tempting as what is forbidden…
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The Night Tiger
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo is $2.99! This was a previous Hide Your Wallet pick for me, as I loved Choo’s The Ghost Bride. It’s a mix of historical fiction, mythology, romance, and magical realism. Have you read this one?
A sweeping historical novel about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers.
When 11-year-old Ren’s master dies, he makes one last request of his Chinese houseboy: that Ren find his severed finger, lost years ago in an accident, and reunite it with his body. Ren has 49 days, or else his master’s soul will roam the earth, unable to rest in peace.
Ji Lin always wanted to be a doctor, but as a girl in 1930s Malaysia, apprentice dressmaker is a more suitable occupation. Secretly, though, Ji Lin also moonlights as a dancehall girl to help pay off her beloved mother’s Mahjong debts. One night, Ji Lin’s dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir: a severed finger. Convinced the finger is bad luck, Ji Lin enlists the help of her erstwhile stepbrother to return it to its rightful owner.
As the 49 days tick down, and a prowling tiger wreaks havoc on the town, Ji Lin and Ren’s lives intertwine in ways they could never have imagined. Propulsive and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores colonialism and independence, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and first love. Braided through with Chinese folklore and a tantalizing mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order.
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Tess of the Road
RECOMMENDED: Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it an A-. I definitely agree with her assessment and warn that it’s way more harrowing and somewhat depressing that I had expected.
Readers should know that this book is a feminist, sex-positive, affirming exploration of grief and the need for physical and emotional freedom. However, readers should also know that it’s 544 pages of exploration of grief and trauma.
Meet Tess, a brave new heroine from beloved epic fantasy author Rachel Hartman.
In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons get to be whomever they want. Tess, stubbornly, is a troublemaker. You can’t make a scene at your sister’s wedding and break a relative’s nose with one punch (no matter how pompous he is) and not suffer the consequences. As her family plans to send her to a nunnery, Tess yanks on her boots and sets out on a journey across the Southlands, alone and pretending to be a boy.
Where Tess is headed is a mystery, even to her. So when she runs into an old friend, it’s a stroke of luck. This friend is a quigutl–a subspecies of dragon–who gives her both a purpose and protection on the road. But Tess is guarding a troubling secret. Her tumultuous past is a heavy burden to carry, and the memories she’s tried to forget threaten to expose her to the world in more ways than one.
Returning to the fascinating world she created in the award-winning and New York Times bestselling Seraphina, Rachel Hartman introduces readers to a new character and a new quest, pushing the boundaries of genre once again in this wholly original fantasy.
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I wonder how much attention high school students paid to their teachers when discussing Hamlet. In Tess of the Road, the description reads that she is sent to a “nunnery.” This means she was sent to a whorehouse, not a convent. Hamlet tells Ophelia to be off to a “nunnery” and he means a brothel. Presumably, because she had sex with him outside of marriage.
I really liked Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth, but I’d definitely recommend checking out the sample for Gideon first, since I’ve seen a not insignificant number of people bounce off the writing style and Amazon’s return policy is apparently way worse for writers than most people realize.
I also had some major, wtf moments when I went to read Harrow. (Also had one when Nona the Ninth was announced, since that wasn’t supposed to be the next book.)
Warning for Tess of the Road that the titular character’s “tumultuous past” includes having a baby at 14 from an “affair” begun when she was 12 or 13 and the “scandal” wasn’t that her supportive family festooned the town square with her groomer/rapist’s innards.
I’ve been screeding and deleting for 45 minutes. The “feisty and mischievous YA protagonist embarks on a fun adventure!!” tone of the description is misleading, and I’ll leave it at that.
I tried Gideon the Ninth and I just couldn’t get into it. Everyone I know loves it, and I feel left out. It’s no fun being the one who can’t get on the love train for a book.
I liked Gideon the Ninth, though not enough that I was eager to read Harrow the Ninth (which I bought on a previous sale). It’s still sitting in my tbr folder on the kindle.
But I completely understand what Laurel means about being the one who can’t get on the love train for a book. I’ve had that happen more than once– sometimes to the point where I just stare in wonder at reviews and think, “How can this be the same book I read?”
There are a bunch of Harlequins for sale.
Also these are each $1.99:
Cold-Hearted Rake – Lisa Kleypas
Scoundrel of My Heart – Lorraine Heath
The Heiress Hunt – Joanna Shupe
I haven’t read the Heath or Shupe. I treated myself to the Heath because my library doesn’t have that series. Yay!
Lord Holt takes a Bride by Vivenne Lorret is $1.99
@Laurel and WS: It’s not just you! I bounced off the style of “Gideon the Ninth” too, though dark Sapphic fantasy should be right up my alley.
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold is $1.99 at Amazon US. I love this book so much. Middle-aged heroine for the win!
The subscribe without commenting option isn’t working for me anymore.
TESS OF THE ROAD was a DNF for me—I too was taken in by the “stubborn and scrappy heroine goes on an adventure!” premise, but as @ Lena Brassard/Ren Benton points out, that’s not at all what the book is/it’s much darker.
@Laurel and @Vasha, I am happy to join you on the Gideon the Ninth Didn’t Work for Me train.
Alisha Rai’s HATE TO WANT YOU is a $1.99 daily deal today at Amazon. I checked this out from the library a couple of months ago and really liked it. Even though I mentally cataloged it as “probably wouldn’t read again” because I felt the hero owed significantly more recompense for the choices he made (it felt like the heroine and her family absorbed 93% of he suffering in their tumultuous relationship), I clicked through on the book to buy it…and discovered I had purchased it on sale 4 years ago.
*sigh* I love digital books. I don’t have to worry about shelf space. I can carry hundreds of books with me everywhere I go. I never have to wait for delivery or a restock. But I also never lose mental track of the books I own physically.
Chase Me, the first in Tessa Bailey’s Broke and Beautiful trilogy, is $1.99.
It Takes Heart by Tif Marcelo is $0.99
Knowing the Score by Kat Latham is $0.99 (London Legends series, book 1)
Last Dragon Standing (Dragon Kin series Book 4)
by G.A. Aiken is $1.99
Running Away with the Bride: An opposites attract romance with a twist (Nights at the Mahal Book 2)
by Sophia Singh Sasson is $0.99
Opened Up (Exposed Dreams Book 1)
by Eva Moore is free
Count me in with the crowd for ‘Gideon the Ninth didn’t work for me’. I liked some parts of it, just not the book as a whole.
One more for “didn’t go for Gideon the Ninth”; I almost always try the sample on books I’m considering even getting from the library and that ‘hyper-modern, edgy/cynical’ style does nothing for me. My friend is super in love with it, because of the macabre and sapphic elements, but it’s an easy pass for me on the writing alone.
Raising my hand to be counted among those for whom Gideon The Ninth was a no-go. It is, like Laurel said, both disappointing and lonely when most people seem to have falling in love with a book or series that just never clicks with you.
I was lucky enough to have borrowed it from the library so, other than spending an hour waiting (and failing) to like the story, I didn’t waste much.
Joining the club on Gideon the Ninth – I really wanted to like it and just couldn’t get into it. The description had lots of catnip but sadly it didn’t work for me.