Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir

🦴🦴🦴🦴 4/5 Bones – It’s very messy, I’m still confused but I’m also still having a great time!

Format: Audio (BorrowBox)
Read: April 2026

After becoming obsessed with Gideon the Ninth, I couldn’t wait to get into the second book, especially as it is titled after Harrowhark, my favourite character! I had hoped that since Harrow is so smart in the first book, being in her POV would be more coherent… Alas!

I now realise that it is Tamsyn Muir’s “thing” to write from the POV of the character who knows least what is happening! The start is very confusing, not least because it is a second-person perspective (addressing ‘You:)! I was quite sure we were in Harrow’s POV, because of the cover and title of the book, but it’s not clear for a few chapters, and also this isn’t the same Harrowhark of the first book – something is wrong with her memories.

She is now on the ship of the Emperor/God, and recovering from some sort of brain damage. Ianthe is also there, and they’re both new Lychtors undertaking training with Augustine (Saint of Patience) and Mercymorn (Saint of Joy), two of God’s ancient disciples (and Lychtors). However, Harrow is only half a Lychtor, having not completed the process properly, and the third disciple, Ortus (Saint of Duty), keeps trying to kill her.

I still found the multiple characters’ names confusing (still listening to the audio). I realised I had completely mixed up the Saint of Duty (Ortus) and the Saint of Patience for about half the book! They are very different characters! Who exactly “The Body” Harrow was hallucinating was also something I was never sure of. I kept wondering if it was Gideon, but it’s actually the frozen girl from The Locked Tomb!

The narrative is in two parts. The present timeline on the ship with God, and an alternative past of the events at Canaan House. This was kind of good to keep characters from the first book in my mind, but also added to my confusion for a good while!

We do get to learn (a bit) more about God and to pick up more clue crumbs as to what the hell is going on. God and his Lychtors talk even more in cringe 2019 internet speak than the characters in the first book. God is actually the worst offender, and this only makes me more suspicious of him. And eventually it does all devolve into something of a soap opera between ancient Lychtors, which at least Harrow and Ianthe seemed to find as cringeworthy and baffling as I did. I struggle with the idea that people thousands of years old act and speak like teenagers. I never felt like they carried the weight of their years or everything they had done. Maybe there will be a reason for that?

If you are coming into the second book looking for any clarity, you won’t get it – Tamsyn Muir is just stirring things up to muddy the waters as much as possible!

The failure of the first book to truly land the emotional resonance in Harrow and Gideon’s relationship is still causing friction for me, as at this point, some significant plot points hinge on it. A similar issue is present with Harrow and Ianthe’s friendship; coherently expressing these kinds of complex relationship dynamics seems to be a weakness for the author, but I applaud her willingness to attempt it! It’s a very difficult line to walk when she puts in the point of view of such guarded and naive characters (the Ninth House weren’t big on emotional intelligence).

By the end, I’m still confused about almost everything, but I’m also still having a good time! I am still racing through these books, desperate to get hold of all the pieces of the puzzle!

I wonder how many David Mitchell GIFs I can get onto this blog.

I am quite convinced that the Emperor is mad and the Nine Houses is definitely an evil cult… Like they’re The Empire, right?! They’re obsessed with bones and dead things! Blood of Eden, the very little we’ve heard of them, seems to be a lot more sympathetic… And like not killing planets and eating people’s souls for immortal life… But I’m still not clear what the ultimate goal of any of this is!

(I do hate to make the comparison, but at times I do think this is like Malazan-lite!)

For Law of Fives, this is the second book in a series, and it’s 512 pages in print format! I guess I can also count Revanent Beasts as a Fantastic Creature.