Tamsyn Muir Books in Order: The Locked Tomb Reading Guide
Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series is one of the most genre-defying works in contemporary fantasy — part necromantic space opera, part locked-room mystery, part gothic horror with a sardonic voice that shouldn't work but does. Set in a dying universe ruled by an undying Emperor, the series follows necromancers and their cavalier swordswomen as they compete, scheme, and sacrifice their way toward godhood. Reading order is non-negotiable: each book builds directly and densely on everything that came before, with narration that is deliberately unreliable and deeply rewarding for patient readers.
Quick Stats
Author
Tamsyn Muir
Total Books
3 published (4 planned)
Status
Ongoing — Alecto forthcoming
Genre
Science Fantasy / Gothic Horror
Best Start
Gideon the Ninth
Where to Start
Start with Gideon the Ninth — no exceptions. The series is structured so that each book assumes total familiarity with everything that came before. Harrow the Ninthopens in the immediate aftermath of Gideon's ending and its entire narrative architecture depends on what you learned there. Nona the Ninth similarly builds on both preceding volumes.
Gideon the Ninth works as a standalone entry point — it is a complete story in itself and the most accessible of the three. The voice is immediately arresting, the mysteries are satisfying, and the ending earns every page that preceded it.
The Locked Tomb
3 books published — must be read in order. A fourth book, Alecto the Ninth, is the planned conclusion.
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Gideon the Ninth
Book 1 — Start here
Gideon Nav — foul-mouthed swordswoman and reluctant necromantic cavalier — is trapped in a haunted facility with seven other necromancer-cavalier pairs competing for godhood. Part locked-room mystery, part gothic horror, part enemies-to-lovers. One of the most original debut novels in fantasy.
No exceptions — start here.
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Harrow the Ninth
Book 2
Harrowhark Nonagesimus has become a Lyctor — a god-touched servant of the Emperor — but her memory is fractured and reality itself is unreliable. Harrow the Ninth is more experimental than its predecessor: the narrative structure is deliberately disorienting and rewards readers who trust the process.
Heavily spoils Gideon the Ninth. Do not read first.
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Nona the Ninth
Book 3
Originally intended as the second half of Harrow the Ninth, Nona the Ninth follows an amnesiac woman living a mundane life in a city under siege, surrounded by people who clearly know her — and fear what she is. The most grounded of the three, and the most emotionally direct.
Contains major spoilers for Harrow the Ninth.
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Why Is This Series So Hard to Describe?
The Locked Tomb resists easy genre labels because it operates in multiple registers at once. The worldbuilding is science fiction — a dying solar system, ancient satellites, interstellar politics — but the magic, the atmosphere, and the emotional stakes are fantasy. The humor is contemporary and irreverent; the horror is genuinely disturbing. The narration in Harrow the Ninth is structurally experimental in ways that require you to trust the author completely.
Readers who bounce off Harrow the Ninth should know it is widely considered the most difficult of the three — Nona the Ninth is more grounded and emotionally direct. Sticking through Harrow is worth it: the payoffs in Nona are enormous, and the series as a whole is one of the most original things published in fantasy in the last decade.