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Fantasy. Fiction. Tamsyn Muir's New York Times and USA Today bestselling Locked Tomb series continues with Nona ... the Ninth? In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but she also knows that nothing lasts forever. And each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull-painted face. ...… (more)
User reviews
A few things. There's a lot of stuff happening, and it starts immediately there is no summarizing of the previous book and while it is an immediate sequel to the last one, the setting and events are so different, it feels almost like a stand alone. There are references to the first two books, but because Nona is so... innocent and doesn't remember, the reader is mostly bewildered about what's happening.
I'm very curious what will happen in the next book, with this author, it could go so many ways.
I had no expectations for it when I heard that a there will be another book before Alecto finally comes out, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
It is a crazy ride to figure out together with Nona who she is and in the end nothing is like it seems and yet everything is exactly how it
Nona is sweet, Nona is loved, or it least liked, but then "what's like except a love that hasn't been invited indoors?"
Be prepared to toss out everything you think you knew and get ready for the strange and delightful ride that is Nona the Ninth, book three in Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series. As a fan of the series I really should be used to this by now and yet it still
This is a slow burn story yet it never seemed to drag for me. The first half of the book deals with the day to day life of Nona and her family (eating breakfast, going to school, etc.) as the mystery of Nona and what's really going on begins to unfold. Plus the mystery of Camilla and Palamedes. Oh and the mystery of Pyrrah. Did I mention there's a lot of mysteries? I probably left some out of the list. This set up lets us see what's going on in the universe outside of the Nine Houses. It is disturbing. The idyllic moments don't last as the second half of the book explodes, almost literally, and the action starts. Then it becomes a frantic race to answer the question of Nona before it's too late. I had a hard time putting the book down I was so engaged.
It's also a book of reveals. We are given John's origin story, which includes the background of the original Lyctors, told brilliantly using biblical imagery and references. Apparently those bible verse codes are an alphanumeric cypher which gives you a cool teaser for Alecto by the end in addition to the actual bible verses having relevance to that which is revealed. Thanks so much to my buddy read pal Iain for pointing this out! We also learn more about the Blood of Eden organization and what they're fighting for.
The cast of Nona is brilliant. Nona is such a joy to read with her sweet innocence and quirks. I just wanted to hug her and be her friend. Camilla and Palamedes have cemented their position as my favorite necro/cav pair with their devotion to each other and Nona. The kids at the school and the dog Noodle are fun. Pyrrah is a tough nut to crack but even she won a small piece of my heart. I loved spending time getting to know everyone.
In the end, this is all one big set up for events to come in Alecto. I hope we get to see some flashes of Nona in the final book. Her sweet innocence was so refreshing in this dark and strange universe.
I wasn’t in love with the previous book, but I really liked the first one so much that I grabbed the third book to listen to. The narration was great, and I think that kept me in more than anything else. Nona comes across as a young amnesia victim living with older people that care
I am full of admiration for what she has achieved with the character of Nona. There are so many ways this character could have gone wrong, falling into a number of stereotypical portrayals of a child in an adult's body, or even worse stereotypes that portrayed her as disabled in some way. But Muir manages to avoid all of these and instead creates a person that is utterly her own thing. She is as mystified by herself as those around her, some things are hard for her but she has a wide range of skills, wonderful observation skills even if she doesn't always understand what she is seeing, and a basic kindness toward those around her that is a breath of fresh air after the two previous novels centered on a bunch of self-centered jerks. The other characters are also, for the most part, fully developed, and Muir is interested in their growth and change. Rarely are they simply played for laughs. Even some of the minor characters, We Suffer comes to mind, are engaging. And while the novel may center on Nona, Muir also demonstrates that she has always understood that the emotional core of this entire series is not any of the titular characters, or their relationships, but the bond, the love, between Camilla and Palamedes. So rich and human are these character interactions that when Ianthe and Gideon show up later on and resume their eight-year old bickering, it is so obviously juvenile and shallow that it should make the smart reader wonder why Muir chose to center two entire novels around such annoying superficiality.
I'm mightily impressed with Muir's ability to dislocate her readers into completely new worlds in each of these novels, and then allowing them to gradually build the necessary connections themselves. There's a lot to try to figure out in this one (where the characters are, how they got there, what they are doing, whose side they are on, if the question of "sides" is even relevant any more) not to mention that we, along with everyone else, is trying to figure out who and what Nona is.
The world-building and intricate plotting is as effective and engaging as it was in the previous two book, but the cumulative effect is so much more effective because Muir is exercising more restraint here, and resisting the urge to tell us all how witty and clever she is. Instead, she just shows us how clever she is. The interpolated "dream" sequences that fill in the blanks about the earth's destruction are effective and frequently moving. They are nicely tied in with the biblical references to the book of John, and that reference then makes perfect sense of the hilarious (and commendably brief) faux King James Bible epilogue at the end.
After the second book I was just about done with this series, and only stuck with this one because it is a book club read. But I'm glad I did, and I am eagerly looking forward to Alecto.
The shift in style between each book is jarring and tough to understand.
Can't wait for the next book.
It is, however, very pretty writing, and that alone was enough to keep me going. I don't need to understand if the writing and characters are interesting.
It took a bit but Nona did grow on me, and I have to applaud Muir for what feels like a very adept portrayal of kids.