Harrow The Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (2020)
The Locked Tomb series started with Gideon The Ninth, which was complex, subtle and a challenging read. Harrow picks up where Gideon leaves off, except when it branches back to explore the past. Saying that not all is well in the necromantic universe is like saying that rain is wet, and the story quickly spirals into a confusing and frequently violent mess.
I’m at a bit of a loss with this. I liked Muir’s writing, but the story started to lose me. The challenge is that as it went on, the characters and plot became increasingly opaque. This seemed at points to be complexity (or obliquity) for its own sake. The result is beautiful as writing, but an unsatisfying read.
Honestly, I finished this half under the spell of my own sunken costs and half out of morbid curiosity about whether anyone in the novel is a reliable narrator. (I tend to think not, particularly not Harrow.) Will ponder investing in the other (two?) books. At this point, At this point I’m not sure have the patience or attention span to finish the series.
Smirk factor: Acceptable-plus: 1.5 pts (2 smirks in 556 pages, but over-written.)
Immersion factor: Shallow water: 1 pt (Mostly morbid curiosity, to be honest.)
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Below-average: 0.5 pts (Very low plot/length ratio.)
Innovative/interesting: Average: 1 pt (Maybe too interesting for its own good?)
Total: 5.5/10