Starred review from February 24, 2020
The masterful second genre-bending tale in Muir’s Locked Tomb trilogy (after Gideon the Ninth) ratchets up the horror, hijinks, and gallows humor of the series to a fever pitch. Queer necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus, heir to the Ninth House, has gotten everything she’s ever wanted: as a newly minted Lyctor, she’s earned a place by the side of the Necrolord Prime and a chance to revive her dying House. But something went wrong during her transformation, leaving her Lyctorhood incomplete and her health failing, wracked by hallucinations and altered memories. When King Undying summons her to his ancient palace in the far reaches of space, she’s trapped both by its strange corridors and by her faltering mind, with only her detestable rival Ianthe, three ancient and unfriendly fellow Lyctors, and the eccentric Emperor himself for company, as she begins to suspect that someone wants her dead. Muir’s labyrinthine plot raises the stakes of the series as it pushes the characters to their limits, exploring their trauma and anguish while keeping intact the irreverent comedy, grisly necromantic science, and gothic sensibilities that fans expect. Ending on a heart-stopping cliffhanger sure to have readers clamoring for the next installment, this dark, bloody puzzle box of a sequel is a knockout. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, Donald Maass Literary.
