The Locked Tomb Is Back in This Exclusive First Look at Nona the Ninth

If you’re one of many cursed few who has not heard of the Locked Tomb sequence, now’s the proper time to be launched. Tamsyn Muir’s science-fantasy debut, Gideon the Ninth, rocked the lit-o-sphere, operating amok amongst queer followers, science-fiction nerds, and promoting out a dozen instances over. The sequel, Harrow the Ninth, continued the gory, bizarro legacy, and the story continues with Nona the Ninth, making ready to crash land onto cabinets later this yr. io9 is thrilled to share an unique excerpt as we speak.

Muir’s prose is bizarre, shifting, baroque, dense, difficult, and thrilling. As fast as views shift, so do the reader’s understandings of the narrator, the magic, and the world. And Nona, which picks up half a yr after the tip of Harrow the Ninth, appears to be like to ship a lot of the identical.

Her metropolis is beneath siege.

The zombies are coming again.

And all Nona needs is a celebration.

In some ways, Nona is like different folks. She lives together with her household, has a job at her native faculty, and loves walks on the seashore and assembly new canine. But Nona’s not like different folks. Six months in the past she wakened in a stranger’s physique, and she or he’s afraid she may need to present it again.

The complete metropolis is falling to items. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, able to tear the planet aside. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the final Cohort facility and look ahead to the Emperor Undying to return calling. Their leaders need Nona to be the weapon that can save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would like to dwell an atypical life with the folks she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, however she additionally is aware of that nothing lasts ceaselessly.

And every evening, Nona desires of a lady with a skull-painted face…

Here’s a take a look at the complete cowl, adopted by an unique excerpt from the e book’s second chapter.

Pyrrha labored for Nona, Camilla taken care of Nona, and Palamedes taught Nona, all on the understanding that she was not merely an individual, however in all probability one in all two folks. Nona didn’t know both of her actual attainable names. Palamedes mentioned to not lead her unnecessarily. One of the explanations that they had referred to as her Nona was that the very first thing she had mentioned, after they saved her and introduced her right here, was No, no. Nono turned Nona, and Nona meant Nine, and 9 was an vital quantity.

What she undoubtedly knew was that her physique belonged to one in all two folks, and she or he was curious about her physique. When she regarded within the mirror she had pores and skin the color of the egg carton, and eyes the color of the egg combination, and hair the color of the burnt-out backside of the pan. More to the purpose, Nona thought she was attractive. She had a skinny, difficult face, and a mouth too simply sad and too simply discontented; however she had good white enamel in a smile that regarded unhappy regardless of how completely satisfied she was, and arched black brows like she at all times needed to ask somebody a query. Nona talked to herself within the mirror even now. When she had been earlier born, and fewer self-conscious, generally she would relaxation her face in opposition to the mirror’s face, and attempt to attain her reflection. Camilla had caught her kissing it as soon as, and had written about six pages of notes on that, which was humiliating. It was exhausting sufficient to not be allowed a single solitary secret, with no e book being written about no matter you probably did. If Camilla had six pages of notes on her kissing herself she had about twenty concerning eyes. Nona’s egg-yellow eyes belonged to the opposite particular person—the opposite woman; that was how all of their our bodies labored, not solely hers. All 4 pairs of their eyes belonged to different folks. Pyrrha’s deep brown eyes actually got here from her useless finest pal, and Camilla’s clear gray eyes ought to have actually been Palamedes’s, and vice-versa along with his wintertime irises. Nona’s eyes have been a deep, heat gold, the color of the sky at noon—or a minimum of the color the sky had was once at noon.

“You see,” Palamedes had mentioned to her, “the eyes are a dead give- away. When you give yourself to someone else, their soul shows in yours by the eye colour; that’s why you’ll never see me looking out of Camilla’s face with my own eyes again.”

“So someone’s inside me, then? I mean—I’m that somebody?” She at all times stumbled over this.

“Maybe yes, Nona, maybe no. Eyes can also show that a soul is in someone else’s body temporarily. Your amber eyes could mean that you’re like Camilla and me, or it could mean something else. But you seem to have had . . . a big shock.”

“Maybe I’ve just lost my memory,” mentioned Nona dubiously. “It happens,” agreed Palamedes—not satisfied.

She didn’t care whose eyes have been whose; however she was slightly useless, and cared about being nice-looking. Nona knew early that different folks thought she was fairly too. Once a very long time in the past when she was ready in line to select up some detergent and Camilla was getting one thing else they’d forgotten, the particular person within the line behind her had mentioned, “Hey, pretty thing, where have you been all my life,” and laughed rather a lot when Nona mentioned in truth that she didn’t know. Then that they had stood fairly near her and touched her on the hip, the place her shirt was tucked in. The store was very crowded and there have been lots of people ready to get issues, and the aisles have been packed excessive with stuff, and there have been folks the store paid to verify no person stole issues, they usually added to the group. Nobody was paying them any consideration.

When Camilla got here again the particular person was nonetheless attempting to speak to her, and Nona needed to translate what they mentioned to Camilla, and Camilla regarded the particular person deep of their eyes and casually touched the hilt of the knife she saved down the waistband of her trousers, after which the particular person moved to the again of the queue.

“If someone touches you again, and it’s not me, and it’s not Palamedes, and it’s not Pyrrha,” Camilla had instructed her later, “move away. Get one of us. You don’t know what they want.”

“They wanted to see me naked,” mentioned Nona. “It was a sex thing.” Camilla had made a sound, after which pretended it was a cough, and drank a complete glass of water. After the glass of water, she mentioned, “How did you know?”

“That’s just the way people look when they want to see you naked and it’s a sex thing,” mentioned Nona. “I don’t really mind.”

After a second, Camilla had instructed her it wasn’t an incredible thought for Nona to let folks she didn’t know see her bare, and to not encourage intercourse issues. She mentioned intercourse issues have been proper out. She mentioned there have been sufficient issues on the earth. Camilla mentioned it was dangerous sufficient that she had used to assist Nona within the bathtub. Camilla had additionally written down much more notes.

That was after Nona may discuss, however earlier than she began making herself a helpful member of society. It was troublesome residing with Pyrrha and Palamedes and Camilla in these early days and feeling as if she couldn’t contribute a lot. They labored so exhausting for her. Pyrrha was a wonderful planner and good together with her arms, and if you happen to gave her 5 seconds to speak she may make anyone imagine anyfactor, so that they ate rather a lot off the cash she gained at playing cards. She ran all of them with what Cam mentioned was army effectivity. Pyrrha was the one who made them study code phrases for all clear and hazard, which modified each week. Nona bought to be the one who picked them on weekends as a result of that helped her to recollect. Pyrrha additionally gave them particular emergency code phrases for “someone following” (crimson ribbon) and “someone listening” (fritters). They even had a code phrase for “important resource, come help me get it” (fishhook), however Palamedes mentioned Pyrrha wanted to cease treating cigarettes and scotch as import- ant sources, so that they hadn’t used that one in ages.

Pyrrha may cook dinner, and she or he was robust, and if you happen to went as much as the roof of the residence constructing and put a marble on high of a sure column, she may shut her eyes and lift a rifle and shoot the marble from the opposite aspect of the rooftop. She wouldn’t do that these days even when Nona requested, as a result of bullets have been costly proper now (however rather a lot cheaper than meat). So Pyrrha may earn cash and combat with a gun. She was additionally very great with a sword, however she by no means lifted a sword except all of the curtains have been drawn and the door was locked. They hid the swords behind a false board within the cabinet.

Camilla may combat with just about something, and particularly knives—she wouldn’t do the marble trick together with her knife as a result of she would simply say, “What did it do to me?” after which smile her tiny stunning smile. Palamedes mentioned that was typical. It appeared like there was nothing Camilla couldn’t do after a couple of tries—the laundry, or beginning up a truck, or opening a door when she didn’t have the keys, or telling the drunk man on the backside of their corridor that none of them favored it when he hit his companion, in a mystical approach that brought on the person to maneuver out of the residence ceaselessly.

Palamedes may assume. He mentioned it was his social gathering trick.

But Nona couldn’t shoot or combat or assume. All she had was a very good nature—that wasn’t true all the time, however Nona didn’t need it bruited about that she had a dangerous mood when she had solely ever thrown two tantrums in her life and couldn’t bear in mind both of them. Even if she’d been pleased with these, you couldn’t brag about two tantrums. Every day she held a sword till she critically didn’t care about swords anymore, however she nonetheless couldn’t combat with one, regardless of how large or skinny it was. Camilla had needed to show her correctly, however Pyrrha mentioned to not, that they wouldn’t be capable of inform if something immediately got here again.

Nona couldn’t do the forbidden bone methods both, though Palamedes did practically the very same factor with large gray lumps of bone as Camilla did with the sword. She needed to maintain them, and hear when he instructed her to do nonsensical issues—“Pretend you can stretch it; stretch it now,” or “Pretend you can touch the insides; split it open.” He by no means made Nona really feel dangerous for not having the ability to do any of these items, solely acted prefer it was attention-grabbing that she couldn’t.

In the start she hadn’t been capable of do a lot for herself in any respect, however over time she had remembered how one can button her shirts, and tie up her laces, and cleaning soap herself within the bathtub, and pour water right into a glass in order that her hand didn’t tremble and the water didn’t slop out. It shamed her, remembering how little she may do at first. She had been so pissed off, in these gradual early days. But now she may do practically every part. She knew vital details like what was anticipated and what was surprising at completely different elements of the day, and that folks’s ears weren’t so attention-grabbing that she needed to put her fingers inside them. In these early days Palamedes and Camilla and Pyrrha had typically checked out her in a kind of stupefied shock; now they have been nonetheless stupefied however they weren’t so shocked, and sometimes she made them giggle.

And now they touched her, generally not even by express re- quest. Pyrrha would roughly hug her in a single large suddenness, or sweep Nona up in her exhausting, wiry arms earlier than setting her down on the couch; Palamedes would pull the blankets up over her if she was preparing for mattress and tuck them in softly on the corners. If she slipped her hand into Camilla’s, after they have been strolling down the road, Camilla would maintain it. Nona didn’t perceive how the others may stroll round and undergo their lives solely touching one another as a lot as was obligatory. When Nona requested, Camilla mentioned that this was as a result of they wanted to get the washing-up accomplished.

Nona may do all the essential issues now, however there was nonetheless distressingly little that she was good at. Nona was good at:

1. touching,
2. wiping dishes,
3. operating her hand over the flat cork carpet in a approach that bought all of the hair out of it,
4. sleeping in plenty of other ways and positions, and
5. talking any language that was spoken to her, in particular person, so she may see the particular person’s face and eyes and lips.

It turned out that Palamedes and Camilla may solely communicate one language, and Pyrrha may communicate all of that one and a few of one other two and slightly little bit of about 5 extra. The one language all three have been fluent in was a form folks used for enterprise transactions, so it wasn’t unusual that they used it—however it was falling out of favour, as a result of it was a language utilized by terrible folks. Even then, the dialect spoken within the metropolis didn’t at all times make sense to them, or the pronunciation was unusual. Nona understood all people, and will communicate again to them in order that they understood her, and no person ever mentioned she had an accent. This confounded Palamedes. When she first mentioned that she may communicate again by watching them discuss and making her lips appear like theirs, it confounded him a lot extra that it gave Camilla a headache.

There have been plenty of completely different languages and dialects round be- explanation for all of the refugees from different planets, and due to all of the resettlements—Nona knew about resettlements as a result of it was all anybody talked about in a queue—and if you happen to spoke another person’s language they have been nicer to you, and assumed you had come from the identical place that they had come from and lived via what they’d lived via, which was useful. Many folks have been suspicious of different folks as a result of they needed a very good resettlement and have been afraid that different folks would in some way get them a foul resettlement. Many folks had lived via a minimum of one dangerous resettlement already. Everyone was crammed on one in all three planets now, they usually all agreed that this planet was simply the worst, although this al- methods made Nona really feel slightly bit offended on the planet’s half.

And so Nona lived with Camilla, Palamedes, and Pyrrha, on the thirtieth flooring of a constructing the place practically everybody was sad, in a metropolis the place practically everybody was sad, on a world the place everybody mentioned that you could possibly outrun the zombies, however not ceaselessly.

You weren’t allowed to say the phrases zombies, necromancers, or necromancy exterior her home, or actually inside it both. Nona mentioned they talked about every part else, so why not these phrases, however Palamedes mentioned superstition for the latter and indignation for the previous, which Nona didn’t perceive. This had been the case for Nona’s complete life, which might be six months subsequent week, and Pyrrha had mentioned as a deal with she would take everybody for a birthday journey to the seashore (if no person was establishing a mortar on it).

Nona was so grateful to have had a complete six months of this. It was grasping to anticipate for much longer.

Except from Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir reprinted by permission from Tordotcom.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir hits cabinets September 13. You can preorder the e book here.

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