If you are confused or were like me and became easily frustrated by reading the beginning of the books but once you got to the end things made a little more sense .
RE READ THE BOOKS trust me it helps so much .
If you are like me however and you NEED that next book NOW . I highly recommend watching book specific recap video essays on YouTube ! A lot of them do such a great job at explaining the books in an easy to process manner . DO IT AFTER YOU READ THE BOOKS trust.
Even if you have read all the books there’s some recommendations for you too.
Spoiler FREE Recommendations for each book down below !!
I recommend these for if you have just read Gideon the ninth
This one technically can be watched beforehand and I would recommended it before if your curious and after to get a better understanding of the house system.
This recap did me wonders it goes over the entire first book with no spoilers to the other books and I found it to be really entertaining.
If you have read Gideon and harrow the ninth
I HIGHLY recommend listening to the locked tomb podcast on YouTube and Spotify.
I listened to them before reading harrow and they did warn me of spoilers and I did get out of context spoiled . Whoops .
They do a chapter by chapter in depth deep breakdown of the events and character building moments of each book .
I recommend listening to the Gideon chapters as well because this podcast goes into how the Gideon chapters relate to harrow and the story building
The harrow and Gideon chapters were posted before Nona was released so up until they warn it is a Nona spoiler free zone .
This podcast REALLY helped me understand and get really deep into the story without having to reread the books 70 times on my own
Also for any fellow audiobook fans they did a super fun interview with Moira Quirk and it goes into the audiobook process and how Moira developed the voices .
ALSO it goes into the interlude chapters and a short story I haven’t found many that really get into the interlude chapters because I know especially on my first read I was extremely confused and flat out ignored them not realizing the untapped potential and power they hold
HIGHLY RECOMMEND LISTENING BEFORE READING NONA IT WILL HELP SO SO SO MUCH
If you don’t have like 20 hours to binge a podcast during work like I do
Check out this video
https://youtu.be/fhUdzTcTMcE?si=fEpxxQWStMDuzAR1
dark circles mandatory CHAPTERS:00:00:00 preface (sane despite the eyeliner facepaint) 00:01:29 intro (maybe too sane) 00:04:18 act 1 (stil
It does an amazing job at helping understand and maintain a sense of what is going on in the timeline of events and story building.
After reading Nona the ninth !
THE IMPLICATIONSalso happy 1000th day of the alectopause (do you think it's cosmically coincidental that that happens to fall on 06/09?)CHAP
Once again the events of the books are explained really well and did a great job at helping me understand better some of the more difficult aspects
Once again recommend the locked tomb podcast Nona episodes it does an incredible job going over each chapter. And the interlude chapter
Are you now in alectopause with the rest of us ?
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND rereading the books for yourself.
Post Nona I started rereading GTN and it was insanely good. The frustration that I developed when first reading it was gone and I picked up on so many little details.
I also highly recommend
Reading tumblr posts under the book tags ! Truly a ton of posts have made me understand and interpret things in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
This truly is a FOUNT of knowledge
However I recommend finishing the books before doing so to avoid accidental spoilers . It’s really easy to come across a post that spoils a huge scene but is technically tagged properly .
I love reading about peoples experiences reading the books and engaging with the fandom has given me such a joy .
Read some fanfiction
If you loved Htn and some of the bits that made that book really interesting
There are a ton of awesome fanfics out there that explore fun what if senarios and much more
A lot of fanfics I have read have included some really interesting Māori inspirations and one even included research links and materials about it .
Watch animatics
There are some amazing ones out there that have truly changed the way I think about a certain scene or character.
Last but certainly not least
In alectopause we’re all in this together. Engage with the community and share your thoughts.
Recommend the series to an irl friend snd infodump about cool lore together .
Make fanart or fancomics
Engage with fanzines
There is an INCREDIBLE Locked tomb fanzine that directly links to palistine relief and donations to Gaza
( if I can find it I will link it here )
Make some theory’s about what Alecto the ninth might be like
If you like cosplay I have seen some incredible cosplays for locked tomb and it’s inspired me to make one as well
There are definitely a LOT more videos about this series and if the ones I recommended here aren’t for you there are more where that came from .
I chose the videos that helped me the most personally but these videos might not be what’s right for you .
If you like podcasts there’s at least two other Spotify based podcasts about the series so if your not vibing with the one I recommended then there’s more where that came from
If you are confused or were like me and became easily frustrated by reading the beginning of the books but once you got to the end things made a little more sense .
RE READ THE BOOKS trust me it helps so much .
If you are like me however and you NEED that next book NOW . I highly recommend watching book specific recap video essays on YouTube ! A lot of them do such a great job at explaining the books in an easy to process manner . DO IT AFTER YOU READ THE BOOKS trust.
Even if you have read all the books there’s some recommendations for you too.
Spoiler FREE Recommendations for each book down below !!
I recommend these for if you have just read Gideon the ninth
This one technically can be watched beforehand and I would recommended it before if your curious and after to get a better understanding of the house system.
This recap did me wonders it goes over the entire first book with no spoilers to the other books and I found it to be really entertaining.
If you have read Gideon and harrow the ninth
I HIGHLY recommend listening to the locked tomb podcast on YouTube and Spotify.
I listened to them before reading harrow and they did warn me of spoilers and I did get out of context spoiled . Whoops .
They do a chapter by chapter in depth deep breakdown of the events and character building moments of each book .
I recommend listening to the Gideon chapters as well because this podcast goes into how the Gideon chapters relate to harrow and the story building
The harrow and Gideon chapters were posted before Nona was released so up until they warn it is a Nona spoiler free zone .
This podcast REALLY helped me understand and get really deep into the story without having to reread the books 70 times on my own
Also for any fellow audiobook fans they did a super fun interview with Moira Quirk and it goes into the audiobook process and how Moira developed the voices .
ALSO it goes into the interlude chapters and a short story I haven’t found many that really get into the interlude chapters because I know especially on my first read I was extremely confused and flat out ignored them not realizing the untapped potential and power they hold
HIGHLY RECOMMEND LISTENING BEFORE READING NONA IT WILL HELP SO SO SO MUCH
If you don’t have like 20 hours to binge a podcast during work like I do
Check out this video
https://youtu.be/fhUdzTcTMcE?si=fEpxxQWStMDuzAR1
dark circles mandatory CHAPTERS:00:00:00 preface (sane despite the eyeliner facepaint) 00:01:29 intro (maybe too sane) 00:04:18 act 1 (stil
It does an amazing job at helping understand and maintain a sense of what is going on in the timeline of events and story building.
After reading Nona the ninth !
THE IMPLICATIONSalso happy 1000th day of the alectopause (do you think it's cosmically coincidental that that happens to fall on 06/09?)CHAP
Once again the events of the books are explained really well and did a great job at helping me understand better some of the more difficult aspects
Once again recommend the locked tomb podcast Nona episodes it does an incredible job going over each chapter. And the interlude chapter
Are you now in alectopause with the rest of us ?
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND rereading the books for yourself.
Post Nona I started rereading GTN and it was insanely good. The frustration that I developed when first reading it was gone and I picked up on so many little details.
I also highly recommend
Reading tumblr posts under the book tags ! Truly a ton of posts have made me understand and interpret things in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
This truly is a FOUNT of knowledge
However I recommend finishing the books before doing so to avoid accidental spoilers . It’s really easy to come across a post that spoils a huge scene but is technically tagged properly .
I love reading about peoples experiences reading the books and engaging with the fandom has given me such a joy .
Read some fanfiction
If you loved Htn and some of the bits that made that book really interesting
There are a ton of awesome fanfics out there that explore fun what if senarios and much more
A lot of fanfics I have read have included some really interesting Māori inspirations and one even included research links and materials about it .
Watch animatics
There are some amazing ones out there that have truly changed the way I think about a certain scene or character.
Last but certainly not least
In alectopause we’re all in this together. Engage with the community and share your thoughts.
Recommend the series to an irl friend snd infodump about cool lore together .
Make fanart or fancomics
Engage with fanzines
There is an INCREDIBLE Locked tomb fanzine that directly links to palistine relief and donations to Gaza
( if I can find it I will link it here )
Make some theory’s about what Alecto the ninth might be like
If you like cosplay I have seen some incredible cosplays for locked tomb and it’s inspired me to make one as well
There are definitely a LOT more videos about this series and if the ones I recommended here aren’t for you there are more where that came from .
I chose the videos that helped me the most personally but these videos might not be what’s right for you .
If you like podcasts there’s at least two other Spotify based podcasts about the series so if your not vibing with the one I recommended then there’s more where that came from
[ID: first is a close up drawing of gideon’s eye with a flower stalk connecting to the pupil. the text at the top says “gideon the ninth” and at the bottom “first flower of my house”.
second is a close up drawing of harrow, with her face paint, chomping on gideon’s cheek. the text at the top says “step six” and at the bottom “consume the flesh”.]
recent alecto news might bring some new people who are interested in finally getting into the locked tomb series - so if you’re a little lost on where to start, here’s what i recommend as the reading order!
1. gideon the ninth
2. two week break. must wait the full two weeks to allow for proper marination. DO NOT wait longer than two weeks
3. first two chapters of harrow the ninth
4. quick skim of gideon the ninth to provide reassurance that you didn’t accidentally forget the whole plot
5. the rest of harrow the ninth
6. as yet unsent
7. two week break
8. gideon the ninth
9. the extras at the end of the gideon the ninth paperback, which you technically skimmed the first time but deemed unimportant and extraneous
10. as yet unsent
11. harrow the ninth
12. the mysterious study of doctor sex, which you just learned exists
13. two week break
14. nona the ninth
15. the unwanted guest
16. the chapter of nona the ninth relevant to the unwanted guest
My sleepy brain got an excellent idea to make a series of post about tlt x dnd classes. And then I realized. They are basically bunch of wizards and fighters. Pack it up girl, there is no wonder and whimsy for you here.
I went—not overseas, but by public transport—to Corpus to hear Tamsyn Muir speak.
The bad news: Alecto is not finished. It will hopefully come out "soon" and will likely be fast tracked with few ARCs when it's finished.
The news you may take differently depending on your preferences: It is not being split.
The good news: It is not all written in Ye Olde Alecto speak (it sounds like Harrow's POV will be fairly major, but there will apparently be several narrators).
A slightly random selection of things I frantically scribbled down:
The protagonists of TLT would make an "absolutely shit" D&D party ("Palamedes and Camilla would be fine")
We could have had horse plinko and begone thot, but for the anti-meme ministrations of her editor. She would love an edition that puts all of the memes back in.
On Catholic imagery and lesbianism: "you ain't seen nothing yet"
"Harrow is now a believer without a church"
She said that while John and Alecto's relationship is not meant to be a 1:1 analogue to Humbert Humbert and Lolita, there is the idea of a man fashioning (something he thinks is) a girl into a perfect partner (the question of whether that is a sexual partner apparently may be relevant to ATN)
She does not have a favourite House and would just be a regular person in the world of TLT (though she would last about 0.5 seconds)
The tension between the Houses' ostensible gender equality and the misogyny that still persists is apparently also relevant to ATN. "John has set out to make a society on values he holds dear and cherishes and in some ways he has done really well... And in some way he has fucked it up beyond comprehension" (Maybe not an exact quote. My auditory processing is questionable.)
The backstory in NTN was planned right from the beginning
Lyctors "are not truly human any more. They've crystallised themselves" and "They have lost themselves and the only thing they've been able to hold on to is what other people make of them". She said she would have liked to make the Lyctors more alien but had to balance that with them being relatable narratively.
She is dying to read TLT fanfiction once she finishes the series.
