I can't believe none of you reminded me that Nona the Ninth came out this week.

I bought it for a random teenager the other day!

I was at Borderland Books, which has now relocated to Haight Street after being in Mission.

I was talking to book clerk, Eleanor, when two teenage girls came. They were buying the first two books in the trilogy for their book club. One girl asked wistfully if Nona the Ninth was out in paperback. Eleanor said, "Girl! It just dropped in hardback. It's going to be a while before the trade paperback comes out."

The teen sighed wistfully in disappointment. Hardbacks were out of her buying range.

So I bought it for her, which made both of them giddy with glee.

I just realized it yesterday, Jess, and I almost came here to say so but I haven't started reading it yet because I am currently mired in Wodehouse and that transition, I suspect, will be disorienting so talking about the Locked Tomb at all kind of seemed beyond me. I read the cast of characters or whatever it is called at the very beginning and felt like I needed more brain to devote to going any further.

Aw, way to book fairy, Hec! Well done

talking about the Locked Tomb

At a family party last weekend, our nephew talked up this series to me, and maybe I was looking dubious or something (I wasn't feeling dubious), because he said "Okay, 4 words: lesbian necromancers IN SPACE." I said "Those were the only 4 words I needed."

I believe that is the primary blurb on the cover of the first book.

Yeah I read the first book but it was v much Not my jam somehow. Does the second book change much? Because to me it was more “lesbian necromancers in INSCRUTABLE MYSTERY AND HORRIFICALLY STRUCTURED BUREAUCRACY”?

I definitely have to re-listen to the first two to remind myself who everyone is by the time this book starts.

lesbian necromancers in INSCRUTABLE MYSTERY AND HORRIFICALLY STRUCTURED BUREAUCRACY

HAHAHAHAHA

I mean, no, the second book is more of the same and then some. The mystery does, eventually, become scrutable, but it's mostly Harrow's POV and she is unreliable as a narrator at the best of times, and during this book is NOT the best of times for her. So since she doesn't know what's going on, neither do we, until we do.

In some ways the second book is very different and in some very much the same. I imagine if you didn't like the first you wouldn't like the second. For some reason I find the persistent WTF IS EVEN GOING ON of it all very pleasing, but if you do not you should probably avoid

For some reason I find the persistent WTF IS EVEN GOING ON of it all very pleasing, but if you do not you should probably avoid

I think what I like about it is there are good reasons why the characters don't understand what's going on, so there's never the sense of "If you would just TALK to each other!!" that you sometimes get in books with this kind of mystery? (Not that there aren't situations that would be vastly improved if certain people WOULD just talk to each other, but you as a reader don't ever expect them to actually do so.)

That's true, there's a definite sense that it all does make sense I just don't know how yet which is not always there in this kind of thing. The WTF-ery kind of reminds me of Riverdale which I don't think did secretly make sense but I enjoyed the WTF-ery of it very much for a while anyway. Probably not a useful bit of data but I offer it up anyway.