Harrow The Ninth - REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- My review of the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir!
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Harrow The Ninth: amzn.to/3hKjMw6
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![Kodak Black - Sharp Vibes [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/oEV0OoLJeIs/mqdefault.jpg)
i cannot believe how outrageously ambitious this book was, and the fact that it actually manages to pull off The Thing That It Does it UNBELIEVABLE
Daniel: snaps
Me: "snap back to reality, ope there goes gravity"
Underappreciated pun and reference in the comment section, tbh.
"Commander Wake"
"Call me by my full name!"
Joke was hilarious, but it *really* did not belong in this character or moment.
"Merymorn the First, Augustine the First, meet Commander Wake Me Up Inside, apologies if I got that wrong."
That joke was a much better and subtler one, and actually made me dislike the 'real' name gag even less.
"Humour turned down to a one"-- did we read the same book? I cackled out loud the whole way through *that* distraction at dinner. I thought it had by a long way some of the funniest moments of the series so far.
Yeah it took me some time to adjust to the humour in this book because it's less in your face than the first one, but its definitely present and I definitely laughed aloud several times.
I was literally screaming and laughing because I couldn't believe what has happening but also just yes.
no book including the comedic genius, ianthe, could ever be a 1
It was a much different humor from Gideon, which might make it seem less comedic but I liked it quite a bit.
What might have been missed through being with Harrow instead of Gideon, I felt the other characters made up for it. If not with outright jokes, at least their delivery.
Tamsyn Muir has been open in interviews about her fanfic-writing background. And the second I cracked open Harrow the Ninth and read "you", I felt my teenage memories scrolling through A03 hit me like a bus.
Any idea where I can watch any interviews with Tasmyn Muir?
Audiobook version for this series is an absolute masterpiece. The narrator (Moira Quirk) is 100% perfect for these characters and could not be any better.
Mo from Nickelodeon GUTS???
@@spekkio101 Yes! It's the same person!
Is it by any chance full cast? If not is it worth and easy to follow thru with a single narrator?
@@anantimatter One narrator for the whole book but she gave each character a unique voice and personality that was very easy to follow along with. I've got about 200 books in my Audible library and 'Gideon the Ninth' was the first one that the narrator impressed me so much to want to look up what else she's worked on
@@alexis162103 The voice she does for Ianthe makes the character even better.
i think handholding or explaining things more would have ruined the mindfuck that harrow was my supposed to be. imo it's supposed to reflect harrow's (literally) fractured mind and perception of time/space/self, and it would lose its effectiveness if it was more "easy" to follow and understand
when taking writing classes we were rather strongly told Never to even try write in second person perspective because it Could Not Work. As with most things in that class, im glad to see that the wisdom lies in not taking the teachers statements as facts but rather challanges.
The audiobook really helps with the second person perspective of the book. SPOILERS
You can tell immediately it's Gideon narrating to Harrow, and her voice is certainly a reassuring presence throughout
Oh I NEED to get the audiobook now - I was already sobbing while reading the hardcover
"it's called a pommel"
god i need to get my hand on that audiobook someday
@@cezar3169 if you've never used audible, I'm pretty sure I can send it to you as a free book
Oh my God that sounds amazing I've gotta look into that now.
This is the best advice I had been given for entering these stories and it has paid off really well.
"Gideon reads like a lengthy tumblr post describing the events to a social media audience. Harrow reads like self-assurance during a traumatic brain injury."
i finished rereading harrow last week, and it's so much better upon reread (this coming from someone who already loved it the first time). you can just see so many little things and intentional hints the author put there, and even though the puzzle fits very well on its own, after reread it's just another experience. it's like you're seeing the puzzle be made and remade before your eyes. honestly one of the best books i've ever read
While listening to the audiobook I was listening for any hint given, but had no idea what I was looking for which made me hold on to anything that seemed metaphoric. As I plan on buying a physical copy for a second go through, I can't wait to see how much I missed, because I know I only picked up on maybe a couple of hints looking back.
These books definitely get better and better the more you reread them. Picking up all the little details that you missed before if like doing some detective work. Frustrating and exhilarating. Lol
Literally didn’t know what was going on half the time. Still loved it. The ending was chills
I love love love interesting new ways to tell a story, even if they won't be for everyone. Harrow isn't a fun read by any stretch but it got the emotions and atmosphere across so well and was immensely satisfying at the end. Even if a lot of people don't like it, the author knew what they wanted for the book and executed it perfectly.
intro was 10/10
Never stop the sound effects 😂
When you actually realize that it's not written from the second perspective the book goes from great to insane
"Words I get demonitized for" *Wears a shirt that literally only says Damn.
Their auto detection system can’t read a shirt *taps head*
Daniel Greene You right, you right.
lesbian necromancer space empire probably did it on this video haha
As long as the words aren't in the first 30 seconds or the video title, and you don't go swearing like a fucking sailor, RUclips is now OK with language up to 'fuck', they made some changes a while back. You just declare that it's 'light profanity'.
It's the heavy profanity (c-bomb), or light profanity right after an ad or in the title, that fits into the 'unsuitable for most advertisers' category.
Also a fantastic Kendrick Lamar album, that he won a Pulitzer Prize for I believe... so would be difficult culturally for them to demonetize for
This is definitely a difficult read. I spent most of the first 3rd thinking, "WTF?!?!" It comes together so well though. It's one of the bravest books I've read in a long time. I am really looking forward to the next one, but I will certainly need to read a recap before I do.
anyone who's read homestuck will be completely prepared for the second person narration
After reading Harrow, I had to go and find every article/interview with Tamsyn Muir, and everything written about the Easter eggs and continuations. And really understanding some of the writing is meaningful. In some ways, it's a book that contains it's own fanfiction. Also, the Genre shift was fascinating.. and i have no idea what's going to happen in the third, as Muir has stated it will be another change... Also without getting into spoilers, i noticted pretty earlier that the 'You' voice had certain turn of phrase that made me smile, and kept me listening.
I noticed that as well and was waiting for the confirmation. Also, it took so long to get there, I started doubting it and that just added to the mystery for me.
What do you mean by genre shift?
@@leaalajbeg6349 the first book is something like a murder mystery. The second- while continuing the plot, is.. very different Its definitely not a murder myster. And in an interview it was revealed the third is yet another different genre.
"Lesbian necromancy empire in space." Stop. I'm sold already.
Just turned off the fuckn video right there and bought it on Kindle right away!😜😂seriously I did buy it on Kindle.
Yeah, that setting is funny :))
I'm plowing through Gideon right now, it is one of the most refreshing reads for the year for me. I am so excited to see where this goes and to grab up Harrow.
I finished this yesterday and DAMN. Got me some Malazan feelings there... those of not understanding anything at all for 3/4 of the book. But when I did ... mindfucks all around.
Julio Vallecillo I love this series, even though I was so confused most of this book. Do you have any favorite characters or scenes
@@anatoldenevers237 Oh, I love Gideon. I think I prefer her a little above Harrow. Any scene where we get to see a little about the "behind the scenes" conspiracy, I liked. Where you see those characters from before that suddenly show up and you go wtf? Yeah, those were my favs.
What about you? :)
Julio Vallecillo My favorite character has to be Gideon. I love her, one of my favorite protagonists ever. Next is probably Palamedes. My favorite scene in the series is easily the scene with Harrow telling Gideon about the tomb and how she was born, amazingly done. I agree about the conspiracy stuff. Also the scene where Matthias Nonius shows up and kicks Wake’s ass. I would normally consider it kinda cheap for the main characters to just call an ancient hero to just win the fight for them, but that scene was so cool and he literally was the most badass character in the series with like ten pages.
@@khamul29 do you have any predictions/theories for the next book
It's weird it's the opposite for me, it took me a bit to vibe with Gideon, though not that long but Harrow vibed with me like all the way...
I agree that the tone change from Gideon to Harrow seemed so drastic! I Loved Harrow, and I plan to reread it, but it just has very different vibes. I was actually perfectly ok with second person... probably bc I read Homestuck in its prime (which is honestly why I was fine with the book also being confusing af)
I loved the Broken Earth trilogy and Gideon the Ninth surprised me with how much I liked it. You are convincing me this sequel is going to be 100% my vibe.
I really enjoyed it. As someone who experienced an extremely painful loss not long after starting it, I loved the way grief was treated and the way Harrow handled things. At this point I think Tamsyn Muir could write reviews of individual trees and I'd read them.
I struggled with Gideon the Ninth, mostly because I read it when I first became catastrophically sick and wasn't able to concentrate. I'm able to concentrate a lot more these days though and recently began a reread, where I was enjoying it a lot more. EVERYTHING I hear about Harrow the Ninth--including the fact it feels like a completely different story--makes me want to read it even more. I have my suspicions as to why it might be in second person and ahhhhhhh I can't wait. Even though I'm a bit anxious about it XD Also this is a great review, thank you x
He has so many daniels laying around, that finding a creepy daniel did not shock him, but second person scared him 😂
Perfect into! ❤️
Also thanks for letting me know harrow is out
I entered Harrow with a spoiler that REALLY improved my enjoyment of the book. I didn't know everything but I did know this one spoiler (below the cut) and with that in mind I could see a lot of the things that happened differently.
I knew from the start that Harrow had given herself basically a lobotomy to keep herself from absorbing Gideon and that's why her brain and abilities were all fucked up
Honestly, this story is amazing. But because it reads so well on the audio portion, you end up understanding why it’s in second person because it’s through Gideon’s eyes while in Harrow. Literally Gideon narrararing. The Audio books bring this to life so well in a way that simply reading it does not. Which is both a good thing and hard. I would say the first 20% I had to get past that difficult reading… but once you do… omg so good. Once that comes together, I couldn’t put it down. But I would say that the first part of the book is the hardest part to get through because you’re not rewarded with the character we love at first! I agree that if we had a little bit of hand holding I don’t think the reveals would have been as impactful. Not what was expected but definitely interesting
Funnily enough I had less trouble with Harrow than with Gideon. Gideon having NO world building was so tough, so not having to learn as much of the universe in harrow helped a lot. When starting harrow I knew I’d be confused for a lot of the book much like with Gideon, so I was able to be patient for the big inevitable switch in the end.
8:32 "We are experiencing the world through Gideon's eyes, and now we're not even being given eyes to look through"
I mean
In a very real way
We are given Gideon's eyes. We are looking through Gideon's eyes so much.
Also as someone with mental health issues the memory-gap reality-doubting aspects of Harrow's narrative was a bit easier to follow, I didn't have to pick up details as much, I just let it wash over me like "ah yes, she's having a bad time, hopefully she'll work out what's happening" and then she does and I'm like "good for her!" but I'm also sobbing because, well, the story is emotional teehee
I loved the second person viewpoint. You don't see it very often, and it's really interesting. Not to mention the recontextualization later on about it
I definitely get why the book won't work for everyone, but I am just always happy to see an author making bold choices and taking risks to really do something new. Even if it wouldn't work for me- which, fyi, it very much does- I would have to praise it. In a world where art seems to hen more and more to the middle of the road, risky decisions that not everyone will like, but will be extra special for those it DOES work for, will always be a net good in my eyes.
Am I really one of the few people that isn't bothered at all by second person narration? I don't get the hate. I enjoyed this book. It wasn't as fun as the first one but I still found quite a few things to laugh at (I like dark humor}. I appreciate the authors efforts to tell a unique story.
The beginning gave me strong "Potion Seller" flashbacks
My wife bought the first book for me for Christmas from my favorite bookstore. I typically don’t like getting books I’ve never heard anything about, as she just got recommendations from the owner based on what I like to read, but I fell in love with Gideon. I have Harrow the Ninth, and I was gonna wait a while before reading, but I think now once I’m caught up on Dresden, I’m definitely going to read it.
Also, Daniel!! I got a cat thanks to you and Pips. He’s a tripod named Isosceles.
What a perfect name for your cat! 😻
Bethany Greenwood we call him Izzy. My wife was so proud when she came up with it 😁
That's such a cool name! Enjoy your little purring buddy, cats are awesome.
Also, enjoy the book!
I have a tripod named Hobbes. She scares other cats because she moves like a gremlin, and a housesitter once thought a monster was charging at him when she shuffle scooted from the darkness at him. Tripods are awesome.
I picked up Gideon the Ninth from your recommendation and loved it, currently reading Harrow and TBH i get the criticisms but Im loving it too. The tertiary characters are fantastic this time around
As someone who even in the first book related more to Harrow than to Gideon, I felt this book more intimately and the confusion, paranoia and struggle was so real! The only problem with suggesting this series to other people is how to give it the praise it deservers, but also how to warn people without spoilers. Thankfully most of my friends are also into the dark humour and emotional damage a good book and inflict on you, so I know who to safely offer this series to. But yeah, even though I love this series to bits, I can appreciate that it's not for everyone no matter how well written and thought out it is.
The second person parts were the more interesting parts. For the first half of the book I was really struggling to keep interest up during the "flashbacks". The twists: interesting, bold, sometimes predictable, but still fun. As for the confusing thing: I mean, yeah, a bit, but after reading the first 5 books of Malazan, I am not easily distraught by book anymore. ^^
I definitely was a bit confused, but a friend of mine helped me through it to understand. I also found a very detailed timeline of The Locked Tomb that was very helpful to kinda understand everything? I had a wicked amazing time with Gideon and Harrow, even if I was screaming about how I was confused half the time. I adored it, and I can't stop thinking about this series.
Great to hear your review. I agree with nearly everything you said.
I didn't ENJOY this one as much as Gideon, but wow, the payoff was there at the end. I need to reread both once i've given them some time to sit in my brain, cause these books are so dense with easter eggs and subtext its crazy. I'm sure there was a ton of story that I missed (which was not helped by me finishing this one in two sittings. Not going to lie, I was hooked by the constant "thats not what happened!" going though my head with the flash backs).
Also, I am sad we didn't get more Ortus Nigenad in Gideon the Ninth. Love the dude and his poetry.
Talking about easter eggs, when I went back to my book to check the spelling of Ortus Nigenad, I noticed in the dramatis personae at the start of Harrow that "ORTIS the first" is the only listed saint who's name is in capitals. Not sure how I missed that the first time around.
I don't know that i get the problem with stories in second person, but there's also very, very few of them i've ever run across.. And every time I have, it's been with a pretty clear purpose from a narrative/story perspective. There's a reason that this is a story being told *to* someone, rather than just someone experiencing the world and their thoughts themselves. I think it's underused even then, because I always feel it could have even more flair. There's bits of this in Harrow, where because the Second person narrator is describing things, they add in detail that Harrow herself wouldn't.
I think that done right, the second person story would give you the chance to fully flesh out two characters- the character of the protagonist, 'you', told via actions, words, etc, but also the character of the narrator in what they think of the protagonist. In color commentary, in reactions. It's something that i feel Harrow came closest to fully living up to, but i think it was still toned down because of potential spoilers.
Harrow the Ninth is the best thing I’ve read in years. It’s also the only book ever that I think I wanted to reread the instance I finished.
I was confused, but I delighted in the confusion. I also guessed a part of what was going on pretty early on and that made a lot of the book land HARD. It was so good.
When narrator talks about how badly Harrow wants/needs to be touched while also dreading being touched and you think about the pool scene from the last book and understand what Harrow did and why... I was SOBBING
I finished the book and immediately downloaded the audiobook, then listened to it twice
0:00 Is this what daniel thinks of tim from hello future me? XD
I really liked Gideon the Ninth, but I thought Harrow the Ninth was even better. I had a little bit of an issue with the pacing in the first book, and with the world building. Gideon the Ninth presented a fascinating world, but I had some trouble getting a feel for it. There were a lot of new bits of information presented with not a lot of context. I actually enjoy stories that are confusing in that way, stories in which you're just kind of thrown unceremoniously into discovering this strange world. But I found Gideon the Ninth a little too confusing in that aspect. I don't know if it's just that I knew more this time, but I think I got a better feel for the setting in Harrow the Ninth.
Good review. Good book.
I love being lost in books, especially in this book. Plus loved the second person story telling when you reach the end and know why. :D
I love this series so damn much! Great review 😎
God I loved this book. The second person actually drew me in faster than a 3rd or 1st person style book would as it let me play around with theories as to why this was chosen. In terms of the pace of the story, I managed to follow along pretty well... after maybe the first 25% of the book. I started to understand more or less what was happening, but still not sure why or exactly how it was happening if that makes sense. I was way off on everything I guessed when it was revealed, but I was much more happy with how Muir wrote it than I had imagined it. It is just a style that I absolutely love, but I know is not always received well and makes it hard for me to share with friends sadly.
Oh, also? Calling it now: third book will be in the third person. Limited or omniscient is the only question.
"turned down from a ten to a one" NONE HOUSE WITH LEFT GREIF?? HI NOT FKING DEAD I'M DAD????did we read the same book lmao💀
I feel like so much of GtN narration is dry explanations of action and set dressing, while HtN is so freaking bold with its humor and has a stretch where it basically turns into Everything Everywhere All At Once.
I hated the reading experience but am ultimately happy that I stuck with it. I don't know if the payoff was worth slugging through the beginning but I do think it's a brilliant book. I am really looking forward to the third one.
haven't read any book in this series but the pips cameo is 10/10
Do not skip out on the audiobooks! The audiobooks for Gideon and Harrow the Ninth are pure perfection. If you have yet to listen to them (even after reading) I highly recommend them both. The performance is outstanding across the board. The voice actress just completely nails it for every character. I feel like it also helps with book 2 when you can recognize certain things as well.
I will also add that having to stop listening and walk into my shift at work in the middle of BOTH dinner sequences BOTH times was infuriating but fantastic. I was riding a high all day on wtf just happened, oh my god, WHAT HAPPENED.
I even bought both books hardcover afterwards and I can't wait to read them through that way but please do not skip the audiobook!
Hi daniel! I would just like to say thank you so much, I'm going through a very tough time in my life at the moment and I'm pretty depressed as a result but your videos never fail to cheer me up and make me laugh :) also you have gotten me into reading a lot of the books you have talked about and I love them all so thsnks for that too!
I just started this book and it's SOOOOOO hard following her insanity. It's like there's 4 different stories popping up and trying to weave it together has been challenging. This is by far the most challenging and difficult book I have ever listened to/read. Like Gideon, the author has a way of moving so quick that if you tuned out for 5 seconds your in another realm, lost without a paddle except the rewind button. Tamsyn is an extremely gifted author. I can't wait to finish this book. I'm sure I'm going to have to watch a video essay from someone who was able to take time to analyze.
I need to get to this. You made it sound like Malazan which makes me want to read it all the faster
Ah yes, i love me some "lesbian necromancy empire in space" sci-fi. very refreshing indeed.
I had one small part of HtN spoiled for me which propelled me through the series.
which is that she sneaks in like four different AUs toward the end, basically baiting fanfic writers. This plus how she finds ways to cut through serious scenes with the most ridiculous and jarring memes and references that you may not even notice the first time through if you don't know to look for them. Gideon the Ninth actually has a few really stealthy ones that fly way under the radar, including of all things One Piece.
I started calling these crimes. Documenting her writing crimes became my mission.
Just got gideon the ninth from the library and got excited!!
I just got into The Locked Tomb after a Stormlight kick and it was easy to figure out the find/replace name thing because the Evi thing with Dalinar was fresh in my head, but it was really weird when they talked about heralds attacking the ship lol
It's so good!!! Such a weird book but it was totally worth the read.
My god! Searched my whole house trying to find the banging, only to realise it was Daniel hitting his desk !
Reading Harrow was so hard but I couldn't stop, it's so addictive. I didn't understand anything until chapter 40 and it did a number on my brain but it was SO GOOD
And then Nona was worse. It was great. But it scared me
The creativity was outstanding. Even if I hadn't liked the story i would still give it 7/10 for the storytelling.
Ooh! And the names drive me nuts. They're hard to remember which helps me get lost
Second person is weird? Clearly you need to read more interactive fiction.
I loved the book, way more honestly cuz I was sooooo invested
once i got over the 2nd person perspective i really enjoyed it a lot. and the mostly obvious nature of her head-fuckery made it sort of like an interesting puzzle to watch her confront
Having finished the trilogy, I think the only "handholding" this book needed, was a slightly more subtle into to The Body. I believe the first instance of it being referenced in the book is the sentence "she was wearing the face of the body" in a scene that was already questionable because it very clearly contradicted scenes from the first book.
And as an listener to the audiobook, I am going *assume* that there was capitalization for *T*he *B*ody, because the audio does not come across that way. And I rewound and rewound and rewound that section so many times, thinking there was a glitch in the audio or script. and I think establishing The Body as a character before that line or even better, rephrasing that line would have been better. because that sentence does not make sense. and maybe, that's the point. But I spent probably the next hour of listening, half distracted by what sentence was actually supposed to say. Trying to imagine what it meant to have a body for a face. Or what hte possible misspoken word might have been, or what the typo in the text might have been.
Until The Body is established as a character, and the meaning of it became clear to mean she was wearing the face of the character known as The Body.
other than that, i think the story was delivered pretty well and any other confusion or disconnection was intentional. I think this book had a very specific goal in mind, and executed it rather well.
that being said, it was a slog. I hate 2nd person. I hate feeling like I am being narrated/dictated at/to. You do this. You do that. As if the reader is the character.
But Harrow maintained enough sense of self to stay separate from the reader.
And the audio made it very clear from the get go who the narrator was, and it set in my mind a very specific scenario. As if the narrator is retelling the story back to her after the fact.
But I still took long breaks to read whole other books between this one because the You narration is just such a turn off.
And I didn't like harrow as a character in the first book. And I liked her even less here. So that didn't help. It felt like for a large chunk of hte book, no plot was happening. Just a weird fever dream.
honestly... this whole series is a fever dream within a fever dream within a hallucination. It's all so weird. And I'm only 70% sure of what is going on 50% of the time.
I think this is series as a whole is one that I need to reread to feel like I've really grasped what happened.
Tasmyn Muir is absolutely fucking brilliant.
The changes to the treadmill always panned out with big pay offs. I recall several times being engrossed in a section and then the chapter ended. Initially I would be disappointed that I would have to wait a chapter or two to get back to the section I was engrossed by. But it always ended up that the interstitial chapter would be 3 pages long and seem calm but then drop a bomb and I would find myself wanting more of that chapter. But then it would pick up the pace again and I would go right along with it. To me, that is mastercraft pacing.
And as you mentioned, the top notch character work keeps you engaged throughout the chaotic plotline. I loved Gideon, the book and character but it was much simpler. Plus it gave us enough of Harrow the character that we wanted to walk in her shoes. And so we did with Harrow the book.
Seriously though, is there any character we wouldn't want to know more about or read their story? Abigail and Magnus shined so much more in Harrow. Palamedes and Camilla were standouts in Gideon. I love Ianthe, perhaps because I pegged her for a power hungry puppeteer from the get go. Dulcinea/Cynthrea was fantastic too!
GOD DAMN THAT IS AN ATTRACTIVE BOOKCOVER
Lesbian necromancy empire in space, the PEAK of sci-fi fantasy
Lesbians, necromancy in space? Yep I'm sold 😂 need to check Gideon out
I'm at 60%. Still confused but getting a clearer picture.
When I first started was totally wondering what the hell happened. Did I miss a section???? 🤯
I'm with you there, I started reading and my first thought was "Wait, I don't remember that, or am I just THAT bad with names and stuff?" But it does end up getting a LOT clearer as you go and once you get to that last 1/3 or so it finally clicks and made sense for me.
Oh just wait, I can already tell there’s gunna be first person POV in Alecto The Ninth, but not all of it. She’s already said that there’s going to be 3 different POVs in Alecto, and I believe one of those POV’s is going to be first person. Just because of the epilogue
Ha....I read Gideon because of you Daniel. Just as I did the jade wars(wars?). And yeah, I've read magazines alot but this book was very hard to follow. I got what she was doing by 1/3 thru, but wasn't certain. And yes she pulled it off!
HOWEVER....I finished the 2nd book a few weeks ago and I'm halfway thru Nona at the moment......and I'm almost ready to throw in the towel. Been reading fantasy/sci-fi 34ish? Years, the only time I have stopped reading a series by book 3 was Song of Ice and Fire after the red wedding.(love most the show and the books I read years later but I hope George Martin comes back in the next life as a phonebook)
So I'm watching these reviews to give me motivation....please give me hope
I finished Harrow a few days ago. 5/5.
- it is confusing AF, having you wondering what is real and what isn't all the time - entirely intentional
- it was tedious, with a lot of dead ends that do not push the story forward and could have been entirely avoided
- the humor was back with a vengeance towards the end, and was far more inappropriate and ill-fitting than in the first book
- characters that have God-like power sounded too much like humans (no "dr. Manhattan" vibe where at least some would be nice)
- ending explained a lot but was not as strong as the rest
- story was again limited in location and cast and did not really show what the empire does or how its people live to flesh it out a bit
- I can nitpick all day but the book was mind-blowing from start to finish and 11/10. I'm getting it on paper, something I don't usually do.
A very good sci-fi book written in second person is Halting State by Charles Stross.
I actually enjoyed Harrow even more than Gideon despite the total insanity of it and I think it fixed some of the issues I had with the first book thay kept me from fully loving it, and made me retroactively love it even more. I think the two really need to be read as a set back to back to fully appreciate the genius of it. The second person, at first, was jarring and hard to read but after a few chapters i got used to it and it felt just as easy as reading a regular third or first person story. One of the things I appreciate most in a book or any art for that matter is an artist with a strong voice who knows exactly what they want and doesnt care if you like it or not or make concessions to approachability because they have a specific vision and dont mind trying new things or taking risks to realize it. Even if i don't end up vibing with the finished product i respect it, but when i do vibe with it it immediately becomes a favorite because theres nothing else quite like it.
I absolutely adore these kind of puzzle box books where you just have to follow along and pick up hints and think for yourself what it all means but only when you can fully trust that the author will deliver in the end, and Muir always delivers better than you could ever hope for, as opposed to someone like Vandermeer who never seems to follow through with anything satisfying. Combined with the incredible characterization and world building its just a masterpiece to me. I can't wait to read Nona despite knowing that its another complete 180 because I trust her to make it worth it.
NK Jemisin is the only fantasy author I've read who pulled off second-person. But I'm intrigued by this book so I'm willing /drags feet/ to give it a shot
When the narrator says “me” for the first time I audibly said ooOOOooo
I Know Anne Rice has done it very well with the second person in her vampire books. ☺For example, The Vampire Lestat is a sequel to Interview with The Vampire but it's a second person narrator with Lestat's character and it shows a different take on vampires through Lestat's eyes. Oh mind, vampires makes me thinks of mutants from X-men by suggesting to survive and trying to keep their humanity,but they was avoiding humans to not discover by humans. Lestat is only who stood out of all of other vampire and he's like Deadpool,because he don't care to expose himself or not he slay humansand he always want to play music if he isn't a bloodthirsty monster or not. Oh man, I am glad Rice made his character is very likable and very entertaining. I have thanks her for that and I love that series. ☺
The intro was hilarious
I loved Gideon the 9th and was utterly confused with Harrow the 9th. Even listening to the audiobook, it was such a cluster of chaos. I feel the "reveal" was buried in a thousand other reveals. I didn't get that "aha" feeling until I was watching a recap video. I do enjoy looking back on it and picking it apart and analyzing it, which shows a lot of depth. While listening to the book, I just felt lost. This isn't a condemnation and I'm looking forward to the third book to see where it goes.
WOW your faced changed so much in the last 2 years. You look much more mature, and handsome now. This feels like watching a baby face :)
I'm like 60 pages into this, and having trouble. I will stick with it. Thank you!
Damn Daniel's back.
I’m okay with people not liking these books, or just this book in particular. I will love it enough for all of us 🥰
Yeah, Harrow was not as good as Gideon for me. I respect Muir doing her thing, but the payoff at the end did not justify the lead-up. It still retains a lot of the other qualities of her writing, though, so I don't dislike the book. It's just, I already have a hard time following plots, and this shit almost gave me a panic attack before I checked out and stopped caring until the reveal gave me the context I needed.
diso elysium has already totally sold me on second person. I'm here and prepared for grimy bar fight second person protags having a shit time.
I read the book to the end, attentively, and in the end enjoyed the experience, but I liked Gideon much more. The lack of a story to follow in the first part of the book (the first 60% as Dan mentioned, seems about right), stoped me from really geting into the story and the characters (and caring for what happens to them), until the story started to connect and draged me in. Overall it was nice and a collection of very good scenes, moments, pictures, but not as great as a whole, for me.
Daniel would you do an updated ranking of all fantasy series video? I'm talking about your tier list because I'd love to see overall how your opinions have changed.
Hmm. This sounds really cool but I already found Gideon a bit confusing even with the cast list and glossary to refer to in the paperback. I heard the narrator on the audiobook is great but maybe this is too much
I loved the first book. I'm currently really struggling with this book and I might give up. Still trying though.
Just an update. I gave up for awhile and gave it a second chance last week. Today I just finished Harrow the Ninth
Daniel your reviews are great!!!
"It's hard to read in second person"
Jokes on you I already do that 90% of the time because of Dungeons and Dragons
This book sounds like hell to read but you some how convinced be to add it to my TBR lol.
For me, the problem wasn't the confusion. It was the plot. I really enjoyed Harrow, but the first half for me was a slog because the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere. For me, the plot picked up and got interesting at a certain attack scene and the decision Harrow makes after, because it's the first time Harrow actually takes action. I think if we'd seen more plot and agency from Harrow in the first half, even with the confusion, I think people would have liked it more