Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (romance/horror prose, 2020)

[lb_lee]

Submitted by starfallhaven! Thanks!

"this was your shell, but it was all filled up with me. God, the double entendres were hard to resist."

Blurb: the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth follows Harrowhark Nonageismus, who has failed to become a true Lyctor--a necromancer who has absorbed the soul of her cavalier. She is being both haunted by both visions and ghosts as she attempts to survive her time aboard the Mithraeum as one of God's chosen saints.

Why is it worth your time?: this book is extraordinarily good if you know what's going on (that is, body and mind sharing). The entire premise of Lyctorhood, one of the novel's defining world building aspects, is based on the idea of a secondary soul residing in a single body. There's even possession.

Plural Tags: mindsharing, switching, visions, setting-specific, abuse not mentioned, fusion/integration, otherworld, enmity and romantic relationships, the dead

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: available in print, ebook, and audiobook.

Misc. Notes: This book is not going to make much sense if you haven't read Gideon the Ninth, and I can't recommend reading one without the other. Although I'm firmly of the opinion that knowing about the bodysharing aspect in advance will only make the reading experience more enjoyable, it is technically a spoiler to know about at least one of the bodysharing relationships in this book.

Comments

Content Warnings

[lb_lee]

-major emetophobia warning
-death
-corpses
-hallucinations
-so much violence. (This violence involves all manners of seemingly impossible gore due to the aforementioned necromancy.)
-just a gore warning in general?
-a lot of religious references. The main character has some religious compulsions.
-self-harm
-mentions of suicide

[starfallhaven]

Funnily enough, it was actually a fan art of a scene from this book that got me interested in the series in the first place, because I saw it and went "Oh that's a plural mood". -Artemis (they/xe)

[lb_lee]

Do share!

[starfallhaven]

Found it: https://at.tumblr.com/eerna/and-i-tried-to-get-you-back-through-sheer-force-of/tczz0nuxem4x

Sorry about the shitty mobile link.

-Nina (she/her)

[lb_lee]

Oh man, this is so cool! Thanks for sharing that, that is great.

"I think bones are mediocre." HA!

Love this series!

[grahamlore]

I second this recommendation - it's a dark, strange, and fantastic series. There's a lot in it about the nature of souls and identity, plus it's extremely queer (basically no homophobia in the world at all).

Re: Love this series!

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Mwahaha, if the sequels are also plural, you can submit them as well! *puppy eyes*