Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

In the myriadic year of our Lord–the ten thousandth year of the King Undying, the kindly Prince of Death!–Gideon Nav packed her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and she escaped from the House of the Ninth.

Gideon the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir

by Leave a Comment

While it took me awhile to sort my way through the early morass of the world-building and language of the first chapter, I ended up enjoying this novel a lot, while still feeling annoyed at some of the too cleverness that often inhabits playful sci fi and fantasy (Brandon Sanderson is deeply enamored with overly cutesy and playful “repartee” at times, and so is this novel as well too often). So the world we’re looking at involves a series of nine aristocratic houses inhabiting nine […]

The best #Pandemic read I could ask for

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

by 12 Comments

Bingo Square: Pandemic This pandemic period, I did a great thing for my happiness: I read Gideon the Ninth. I’m going to eschew a plot description/blurb here and just say what everyone else has been saying: lesbian necromancers in space. Need a little more? Fine. Gideon is not a necromancer (but she is into girls). She hits things with swords so she’s recruited (unwillingly) to go to a big possibly haunted space castle/research facility with her worst enemy, her planet’s only surviving necromancer (who is into bones). […]

A bunch of gay as hell space books

The Disasters by M.K. England

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

by 1 Comment

These are some of the sci-fi books I read in 2019. I’m not going to specify how for each one but they are all gay as hell in various ways, which is honestly just how I think space is going to be for us when we finally get there. Or at least, I sure hope. The Disasters by M.K. England takes one of my favorite tropes, a ragtag bunch of outcasts who circumstances force together must fight for their survival and learn to trust and […]

A Closed Circle Mystery Meets Puzzle Box Meets Necromancy

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

by 2 Comments

I originally heard about this novel during a sci-fi book club discussion, and while the fact that it starts with someone packing up their dirty magazines sounded a bit odd to me, the number of best of lists and the positive chatter about it made me decide to check out the sci-fi novel about “lesbian necromancers.” The first part of the novel is a bit slow since it sets up the premise but it still leaves a lot of details to be discovered later on.  […]

Even Very Good Things are Better IN SPAAACE!

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb Trilogy) by Tamsyn Muir

by Leave a Comment

Of course, I was going to read this book. The hype machine for its release was put into overdrive around August or so, and since then, it’s been relentless. The surrounding Twitter storm, in particular, was something to behold. While virtually all the talk was positive, this level of hype, as always, made me a bit wary, because such high expectations can be very hard to live up to – especially for an author’s debut novel. However, it was easy to see why people were […]

Nine for the Tomb, and for all that was lost

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

by Leave a Comment

Official book description: 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 […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo