I’m thrilled to announce the acquisition of a debut novel trilogy from Tamsyn Muir. The Ninth House trilogy—Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Alecto the Ninth—is an epic science fantasy that blends necromantic theory and thrilling swordplay with a wicked, sacrilegious sense of humor; a modern mix of Dune, Riddick, and Gormenghast.
Brought up in the Ninth House by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse servant. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has other plans for her childhood nemesis. The Emperor has come calling, inviting the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrow succeeds she will be elevated to Lyctorhood, becoming an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrowhark will fail, and the Ninth House will die.
Of course, some things are better left dead.
It is my overwhelming privilege to debut Tamsyn Muir. After reading her beautiful, dark, haunting short story “The Magician’s Apprentice,” I was sure she’d fit in at Tor.com Publishing. I never expected her to deliver a funny, thrilling, epic science fantasy in which queer necromantic nuns team up to defeat the trial of the Necrolord. I can’t overstate my love for this series, or my excitement to share it with the world. Gideon the Ninth captured my heart with its action, mystery, and charming dirtbag characters scrabbling for an immortal prize.
Tamsyn Muir is a horror, fantasy and sci-fi author whose works have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, F&SF, Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales, and Clarkesworld. Her fiction has received nominations for the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and teaches in Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Tamsyn can be found online at her website or on Twitter at @tazmuir. She had this to say about the sale:
I could not be more pleased by my sale to Tor.com; I’m humbled by the incredible line-up of published authors I’m about to join, and delighted to be working with Carl Engle-Laird. This sale is the culmination of a lot of hard work that began in earnest eight years ago when I first started writing for publication. The Ninth House books are stories about the things I hold most dear—bones, swords, swords that are also bones, and bones that are also swords—and I couldn’t ask for a better home for them than Tor.com Publishing.
The Ninth House trilogy was acquired in a three-book deal, negotiated by Tamsyn Muir’s agent Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. The first book, Gideon the Ninth, is expected to publish in late 2019.
