Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (4/5)

Gideon the ninth takes place in a sci-fi world in which there are nine planets and nine houses. The houses are made up of necromancers with different skill sets and are all ruled by the supreme necromancer they consider god. The story follows Gideon who is a servant of the ninth house, the poorest and most forgotten one. After her house leader is summoned by the king for a trial to become a lyctor, an assistant to the emperor. Gideon is chosen by the leader of the ninth to be her cavalier and they set out to the abandoned first planet to complete its trials. Gideon however, has no want to compete in the trials or work for the ninth and has tried to escape from the ninth planet multiple times beforehand. Due to this, she is a unique character in an atmosphere of very serious people. As she takes none of it seriously and is basically just messing around (for the beginning at least). The book will start with a relatively light-hearted and fun adventurous outlook. But as it progresses the story only becomes more enticing. Through a complete story shift that will leave the reader turning a page for page until all of the new tangents tie together in a great ending. Overall the book is a unique take on sci-fi with some mystery notes mixed into its brilliantly written fight scenes. The book will not take too long to read assuming one is reading relatively frequently and I truly recommend it for someone wanting a sci-fi fix. Although it has deep meaning or lesson it will most definitely leave a reader satisfied. Also, the book is a part of a trilogy along with a fourth book on the way.