Books Like Gideon the Ninth — 8 Reads for Locked Tomb Fans
Tamsyn Muir invented something genuinely new with Gideon the Ninth: necromancers in space, narrated by a sword lesbian with a chip on her shoulder, in a haunted house mystery that becomes something far stranger and more devastating. Finding books that replicate that exact alchemy is nearly impossible — the combination of literary prose, bone-dry wit, queer found family, and genuine emotional devastation is Muir's alone. But the eight books below share at least one crucial element: the literary ambition, or the queer sensibility, or the willingness to make you care about characters before making you grieve for them.
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Harrow the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
The direct sequel is stranger, harder, and more devastating than Gideon the Ninth — narrated in second person by Harrowhark across fractured timelines, dismantling everything the first book built and rebuilding it into something more ambitious. Required reading for anyone who loved Gideon, though it demands patience the first book didn't.
NecromancyUnreliable NarratorQueer RomanceSpace Fantasy🔥 Heat: Warm - 2
A Memory Called Empire
by Arkady Martine
An ambassador carries the neural backup of her dead predecessor into a vast galactic empire — and must navigate court politics while solving a murder that may unravel everything. Martine's Hugo Award winner shares Gideon's literary intelligence, queer representation, and interest in consciousness and identity as plot engines. One of the best SF novels of the last decade.
Space OperaPolitical IntrigueIdentityQueer Romance🔥 Heat: Warm - 3
She Who Became the Sun
by Shelley Parker-Chan
A peasant girl takes her dead brother's identity and destiny to survive — then becomes something monstrous and magnificent in the process. Parker-Chan writes gender, ambition, and power with the same rigorous moral ambiguity Muir brings to the Locked Tomb, and the historical Chinese setting is rendered with genuine depth.
Gender IdentityHistorical FantasyMorally GreyAmbition🔥 Heat: Warm - 4
All Systems Red
by Martha Wells
A part-human, part-robot security unit who has hacked its governor module just wants to watch TV dramas — and must protect a team of scientists it has grown unexpectedly fond of. Wells' Murderbot shares Gideon's dry wit, genuine emotional depth, and a narrator whose self-deprecating voice masks how much they actually care. Perfect if you loved Gideon's voice.
Found FamilyDry HumorSci-FiReluctant Hero🌸 Heat: Sweet - 5
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
by Becky Chambers
A crew of tunnel-builders travels across the galaxy in a ship full of found family — and the journey is the point. Chambers' warmth-first science fiction prioritizes character interiority, queer representation, and the daily texture of life aboard a ship in the same way Muir prioritizes the relationships in the Ninth House. The warmest possible companion to Gideon's dark intensity.
Found FamilySpace OperaQueer CharactersSlice of Life🌸 Heat: Sweet - 6
The Traitor Baru Cormorant
by Seth Dickinson
An imperial accountant uses economics as a weapon to destroy the empire that colonized her homeland from within. Dickinson writes with the same controlled devastation Muir brings to the Locked Tomb: a protagonist whose competence is terrifying, whose relationships carry political weight, and whose choices consistently cost more than expected.
Political IntrigueEmpireQueer RomanceSacrifice🔥 Heat: Warm - 7
The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon
A sweeping epic fantasy with dragons, courts, and a world-ending threat told from three perspectives — including a queer woman's love story that anchors the entire narrative. Shannon's scope is enormous, her female characters are exceptional, and the world-building has the same ambitious depth as Muir's.
DragonsQueer RomanceEpic FantasyMultiple POV🔥 Heat: Warm - 8
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
by Becky Chambers
A tea monk walks off their scheduled route in search of something they can't name — and finds a robot who is curious about humans after centuries of solitude. Chambers asks: what do people need to feel whole? The answer is warm rather than epic, but the emotional intelligence and queer sensibility share DNA with Gideon's most human moments.
Cozy FantasyQueer CharactersPhilosophicalFound Purpose🌸 Heat: Sweet