History Literature / GideonTheNinth

* HatedHometown: Gideon feels nothing but resentment for the Ninth House, is beyond delighted to leave it behind, and loves the idea of the whole place just dying and disappearing. [[spoiler:CharacterDevelopment eventually has her letting her hatred go, and it's a major sign of growth that her last words are "For the Ninth!"]]

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and [[TheNecromancer bone witch extraordinaire]], has been summoned into action. [[{{God}} 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 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.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Broadly speaking, of the principle cast that ends up working together, Gideon is sanguine, Harrow is choleric, Palamedes is melancholic, and Camilla is phlegmatic.

''Gideon the Ninth'' is the first book in ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' trilogy by Tamsyn Muir. It was released on September 10th, 2019.

* FurnaceBodyDisposal: Soon after two participants in the Lyctor trials [[DwindlingParty are murdered]], the survivors find more human cremains in an incinerator. Being {{Necromancer}}s, they can easily tell that the ashes are of two people who died before the trials began -- apparently impossibly, since the participants are [[ClosedCircle completely isolated]].

* ExactWords: The first step in achieving Lyctorhood is to understand precisely what Teacher means by "You must never enter a locked room without permission." [[spoiler:Ask his permission, and he'll give you a key to the door.]]

* ChildlessDystopia: Childless because of a vent flu 18 years ago wiped out almost every child of the Ninth, making Gideon and Harrow literally the only members of their entire generation. Dystopia because of the monastery's general state of decay and disrepair, then underlined with the fact that everyone on the planet is getting old and gray with no one to replace them, [[spoiler:and that the "flu" was actually nerve gas that Harrow's family used to kill 200 children to ensure Harrow's conception as a necromancer]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: There are 18 named characters at Canaan House (a cavalier and necromancer from houses 2-9, (except the third house which has two necromancers) and Teacher) where the bulk of the novel takes place. Plus references to others like the original Lyctors and the residents of the Ninth. Everyone but Gideon and Harrowhark are introduced all at once, and just to make things harder everyone has multiple names and titles which are used interchangeably. The Cavaliers are referred as their name or their House's number (which is also used to refer to the pair of necromancer and cavalier), while Necromancers are called their first or last name, or a third title in some cases (Like Harrow being the Reverend Daughter). Plus, of course,few characters also use nicknames for one another, just to make it even harder.

* MeaningfulName: In fact, the book even features an appendix where the author discusses how she chose the characters' names, in many cases based on their personalities or roles in the story; a memorable example is [[spoiler:Dulcinea, who, as a reference to ''Literature/DonQuixote'', is someone who "you really want to exist, but who really doesn't]]. Meanwhile, everyone's last name is a reference to the number of their House in some language. For instance, ''Nav'' is Breton for 'nine', ''Ebdoma'' is Greek for 'seventh', ''Sextus'' is Latin for 'sixth', and ''Chatur'' is Sanskrit for 'four'.

* ManOfKryptonite: When the bone golem shows up and starts killing people, Gideon repeatedly says she wishes Harrow was around, since she'd see it as little more than a fun puzzle to be dismantled. When it does appear before Harrow, bigger and more terrible than ever before, she acts exactly like Gideon thought, and just orders Gideon to distract it for a moment.

* FantasyGunControl: Aside for an unclear reference by Aiglamene about using "powder" as an offhand weapon, there are no guns in this book. Interestingly, this trope is rather aggressively averted in the sequel.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The sheer number of characters isn't as high as some other series, but it can easily be pretty overwhelming. There are 19 named characters at Canaan House, plus sporadic references to others like the original Lyctors and the residents of the Ninth. Everyone but Gideon and Harrowhark are introduced all at once, and they all have several different names and titles which are used interchangeably. The Cavaliers are referred as their name or their House's number (which is also used to refer to the pair of necromancer and cavalier). Necromancers might called their first or last name, and most have a third title (Like Harrow being the Reverend Daughter) that is used occasionally as well. On top of that a few characters also use nicknames for one another, just to make it even harder.

* TreasureChestCavity: How do you hide something from [[{{Psychometry}} post-cognitives]], {{necromancer}}s and [[ISeeDeadPeople mediums]]? [[spoiler: You hide it inside the body of a murder victim, after she's been examined. Dulcinea / Cytheria hid one of the challenge keys needed to unlock a door within Abigails torso, waiting until after everyone had examined her to actually hide it. It was ''almost'' a foolproof strategy, but Ianthe, who had been keeping track of the number of keys in secret, deduced it must have been hidden there. That hiding it inside of Abigail also erased the Psychometry finger print that would have pinned her as the killer was a bonus.]]

* FantasyGunControl: Aside for an unclear reference by Aiglamene about using "powder" as an offhand weapon, there are guns in this book. Interestingly, this trope is rather aggressively averted in the sequel.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Inexplicably, [[spoiler:Gideon, or at least Harrow's hallucination/memory of Gideon,]] quotes Ruth 1:17 to Harrow in the penultimate chapter of ''Gideon the Ninth''. At the very least, it implies the Bible exists in-universe and this galaxy is not so far removed from our own after all.

* DeadPersonConversation: The penultimate chapter before the Epilogue [[spoiler:has Gideon comforting, guiding, and teasing Harrow after the former's HeroicSuicide. It's left unclear whether Harrow is hallucinating her as a coping mechanism or if it's the last remnant of Gideon's soul saying goodbye to her somehow, though Gideon herself leans towards hallucination.]]

* BonusContent: The paperback edition includes some bonus content at the end, comprised of a glossary, an in-universe article about the nature of the bond between a necromancer and a cavalier, Cohort intelligence files on the heirs and cavaliers primary of the Houses, and an explanation of naming systems.

* ChekhovsGun: When recounting her backstory, Gideon's narration briefly mentions a catastrophe that killed most of the children of the Ninth, but doesn't go into any detail. The true details of this event are discussed much much later, [[spoiler: the darkest secret of the Ninth that explains Gideon's upbringing and the twisted relationship between her and Harrow.]]

* ChildlessDystopia: Childless because of a vent flu 18 years ago wiped out almost every child of the Ninth, making Gideon and Harrow literally the only members of their entire generation. Dystopia because of the monastery's general state of decay and disrepair, then underlined with the fact that everyone on the planet is getting old and gray with no one to replace them, [[spoiler: and that the "flu" was actually nerve gas that Harrow's family used to kill 200 children to ensure Harrow's conception as a necromancer]].

* KilledOffScreen: Many of the dead are found just after they've been killed. [[spoiler: Starting with the Fifth, and extending to Marta and Naberius, but the most dramatic being Jeannemary, who is killed while Gideon is in the same room as her while they're both sleeping.]]

* MusclesAreMeaningful: Cavaliers are all very fit and muscular--Jeannemary is jealous of Gideon's biceps. In fact, it turns out that the tradition of cavaliers using rapiers is because [[spoiler: they need to use a blade that the generally [[SquishyWizard less-fit necros]] can handle. When Ianthe absorbs Naberius, despite getting his fighting skill, she quickly has to switch back to necromancy while fighting Colum, who's twice her size (though Naberius actively struggling against her certainly isn't helping). It even extends to Lyctors, as despite a myriad of experience, Cytherea too has to rely on necromancy to avoid being physically overpowered by Camilla and Gideon. And although Gideon is able to help Harrow use her two-hander immediately after they merge, she says that Harrow's going to need to do a lot of push-ups.]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: [[spoiler: All but one of the Ninth House's children died when Gideon was an infant. It was blamed on a flu in the monastery's ventilation system, but it was actually nerve gas deliberately deployed by Harrow's parents as part of a ritual to ensure they would conceive a powerful necromancer]].

* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler: The largely comedic Fifth are killed off at the end of Act 2, which is the first time the story truly begins to become serious; when the Fourth are also killed at the end of Act 3, the comedy becomes far more downplayed with their deaths and Gideon's ensuing SurvivorsGuilt.]]
* SpottingTheThread: A rare subversion. [[spoiler: Cytherea makes several slip ups in her DeadPersonImpersonation of Dulcinea, including knowing how Gideon fights (which "Dulcinea" had never seen) and calling Protesilaus's death an accident, when Harrow knows he was stabbed through the heart.]] However, these moments go unremarked on by the protagonists, [[spoiler: and Cytherea is not revealed until the final chapters, after her plan has largely succeeded]].

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The sheer number of characters isn't all that high compared to some other series. There are 19 named characters at Canaan House, plus sporadic references to others like the original Lyctors and the residents of the Ninth. However, many of them are given only cursory introdutions and readers are more or less expected to recall them from there, and they all have several different names and titles, all of which are used interchangeably. The Cavaliers are referred as their name or their House's number (which is also used to refer to the pair of necromancer and cavalier). The Necromancer's have a name, a title associated with their number, and a third title (Like Harrow being the Reverend Daughter). On top of that several characters also use nicknames for one another, just to make it even harder.
* ManOfKryptonite: When thebone golem shows up and starts killing people, Gideon repeatedly says she wishes Harrow was around, since she'd see it as little more than a fun puzzle to be dismantled in seconds. When it does appear before Harrow, bigger and more terrible than ever before, she acts exactly like Gideon thought, and just orders Gideon to distract it for a moment.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Aside from the characters on the Ninth who only appear in Act 1 (but who get referred to periodically), there are 19 named characters at Canaan House, plus sporadic references to the original Lyctors and their cavaliers, [[spoiler: and the Emperor in the Epilogue]].
** It's worth saying that part of the trouble isn't just sheer number of characters, but how hard it can be to track who is who early on. Many of them are given only cursory introdutions and readers are more or less expected to recall them. Each character in Canaan House barring teacher is also interchangably referred to by name, house number (referring either to just the cavalier or the pair), and the necromancer's title. Plus a few characters prefer to use one another's nicknames, just to make it even harder.
* ManOfKryptonite: When the bone golem shows up and starts killing people, Gideon repeatedly says she wishes Harrow was around, since she'd see it as little more than a fun puzzle to be dismantled in seconds. When it does appear before Harrow, bigger and more terrible than ever before, she acts exactly like Gideon thought, and just orders Gideon to distract it for a moment.

** It's worth saying that part of the trouble isn't just sheer number of characters, but how hard it can be to track who is who, especially early on. Many of them are given only cursory introductions early on and readers are more or less expected to recall them from then on. Each character in Canaan House barring teacher is also interchangably referred to by name, house number (referring either to just the cavalier or the pair), and the necromancer's title. Plus a few characters prefer to use one another's nicknames, just to make it even harder.