History Literature / TheLockedTomb

* RoyalInbreeding: It's obliquely mentioned that most houses practice "Resurrection purity" of cavalier and necromancer lines, and have over the past 10,000 years, though genetic abnormalities are still avoided. Subverted for the Sixth and Ninth, who are so small that they have never been able to afford the practice.

* YourMagicsNoGoodHere: Thalergy (LifeEnergy) is a universal phenomenon, but thanergy (death energy) was first created in the Dominicus star system with the birth of {{Necromanc|er}}y. Necromancers can't use their powers at all in space due to the lack of both, and are severely hampered by the lack of ambient thanergy on other worlds. [[NextTierPowerUp Lyctors]] are the only exception, thanks to their inexhaustible reserve of SoulPower.

* ''[[https://www.tor.com/2022/06/08/as-yet-unsent-tamsyn-muir/ As Yet Unsent]]'' (short story) (September 25th, 2021)
%%* ''As Yet Unsent'' (short story) (September 25th, 2021)
%% Add As Yet Unsent if/when it is published online and add a link to it.

** The [[spoiler:liminal space Harrow creates in the River]] is also, very literally [[spoiler:[[DreamLand a dream bubble]]]].

# ''Nona the Ninth'' (September 2022)
# ''Alecto the Ninth'' (2023)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lockedtomb.jpg]]

# ''Nona the Ninth'' (Autumn 2022)

# ''Literature/GideonTheNinth'' (September 10, 2019)
# ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'' (August 4, 2020)

%%* ''As Yet Unsent'' (short story) (September 25, 2021)

''The Locked Tomb'' series by Tamsyn Muir is a ScienceFantasy GenreBusting series which takes place in the far-future Empire of the Nine Houses, a galaxy-spanning empire of necromancy. The Nine Houses revolve around their Emperor and God, who brought his Houses back from death in the Resurrection 10,000 years ago. The Nine Houses of God's domain are varied and rich in history, filled with dark necromancies and powerful lineages, and constantly jockey for political favor.

* PowerAtAPrice: Harrow is the most potent necromancer that the Ninth House has produced in centuries. This is no accident; her parents [[spoiler: killed off all 200 of the Ninth's children on the night she was conceived]] specifically to create a child like her. This has left the Ninth with an aging population and no one to replace them, with only two people on the planet under twenty years old.

''The Locked Tomb'' series by Tamsyn Muir is a NewWeird GenreBusting series of books centered on the Galactic Empire of the Necromancer Divine, the King of the Nine Renewals, our Resurrector, the Necrolord Prime, and the Nine Houses of his domain, filled with dark necromancies and powerful lineages.

Or, to paraphrase a particularly quotable review, it's also about lesbian necromancers in space.

The series centers on two young women from the Ninth House, located in a dark shaft cracked into the core of a dead planet, which safeguards and worships the eponymous Locked Tomb. The Locked Tomb contains the greatest enemy of the Empire, a foe so dangerous that God Himself could defeat it only once, but not a second time.

Gideon Nav is a [[DoorstopBaby foundling]] who was taken in by the Ninth House, and has tried to escape the decrepit and abusive Ninth since she was four years old. Holding her back is the Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus, an exceptionally powerful {{necromancer}} and Gideon's lifelong tormentor. When a summons comes from their Emperor and God, they get bound up in the greater conflicts of the Empire and are forced to confront the tangled and broken relationship between the two of them.

* "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" (short story) (June 2nd, 2020)

* GenreShift: Each story so far has had a markedly different tone from the others in the series. ''Gideon the Ninth'' is a [[GenreBusting genre buster that mixes comedy, thrillers, and science fantasy]], ''Harrow the Ninth'' is PsychologicalHorror, and ''The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex'' is a LockedRoomMystery. Muir has stated that the genre changes are a deliberate choice and that they will be present in ''Alecto the Ninth'' as well.

* GunsAreWorthless: The soldiers of the Empire use swords, as do the various cavaliers. There's a gun in a ten thousand year old workshop, and Gideon notes that it's the first time she's ever actually seen one that wasn't just an illustration. A tangential reference to guns as "barbaric" notes that necromancers are able to render them ineffective easily, but how this happens goes unexplained. [[spoiler:Subverted in the dream bubble Harrow accidentally creates on the River; as Commander Wake easily mows down what she terms "wizard shits" with a shotgun while she's in control of the bubble's reality.]]

* MartyrdomCulture: The Empire as a whole, with particularly revered heroes taken to the Emperor's Mithraeum to be hallowed for eternity. Usually, it's reserved for the heroes of their endless of wars of conquest, but notable academics and politicians sometimes get honors from the Emperor as well. [[spoiler:Which is another element where the Empire is distinctly fascist.]]

* EarthAllAlong: The Nine Houses are a very far future version of the Solar System, with the First House being Earth, but there are gaps in what is shown about the system (such as the First lacking a moon) to obscure this fact. [[spoiler:The fact that the Emperor extensively quotes from Earth culture and Commander Wake refers to Dominicus as "MY LONG-LOST NATAL SUN" make it more explicit.]]

* TheEmpire: The Nine Houses compose a galactic Necromantic empire, waging an eternal war of conquest on the systems outside the light of Domincus as well as the [[PlanetEater planet-destroying Resurrection Beasts]] that arise from the deaths of planets. [[spoiler:It's also distinctly fascist, bound entirely to the edicts of God and his military, waging war on the non-necromantic humans in what Augustine describes as a campaign of symbolic revenge. The people of the Nine Houses do not consider the worlds they 'sheperd' to be extensions of home, and claiming such worlds involves 'flipping' them so that they slowly die and the people eventually have to be evacuated.]]

!!! Additional works in ''The Locked Tomb''

''The Locked Tomb'' trilogy by Tamsyn Muir is a NewWeird GenreBusting series of books centered on the Galactic Empire of the Necromancer Divine, the King of the Nine Renewals, our Resurrector, the Necrolord Prime, and the Nine Houses of his domain, filled with dark necromancies and powerful lineages.

The trilogy centers on two young women from the Ninth House, located in a dark shaft cracked into the core of a dead planet, which safeguards and worships the eponymous Locked Tomb. The Locked Tomb contains the greatest enemy of the Empire, a foe so dangerous that God Himself could defeat it only once, but not a second time.

!! Books in ''The Locked Tomb'' trilogy

# ''Literature/GideonTheNinth'' (September 10, 2019 [[note]] Several additional chapters of supplemental content and preview material for ''Harrow the Ninth'' were added for the paperback release and updated digital versions[[/note]])
# ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'' (August 4, 2020 [[note]]Originally set for June 2nd but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A digital-only release of the prologue and Act One was released on April 14, 2020[[/note]])
# ''Nona the Ninth'' (Autumn 2022 [[note]] Originally, ''Alecto'' was announced as the third and final book, but leaked pages from the paperback edition of ''Harrow'' listed four planned books, including ''Nona''. On 30th June 2021 ''Nona'' was announced officially, having developed during the writing process of ''Alecto'' into a separate book.[[/note]])

!! Additional works

# ''Nona the Ninth'' (Autumn 2022 [[note]] Originally, ''Alecto'' was announced as the third and final book, but leaked pages from the paperback edition of ''Harrow'' listed four planned books, including ''Nona''. On 30th June ''Nona'' was announced officially, having developed during the writing process of ''Alecto'' into a separate book.[[/note]])

# ''Nona the Ninth'' (Autumn 2022 [[note]] Originally, ''Alecto'' was announced as the third and final book, but leaked pages from the paperback edition of ''Harrow'' listed four planned books, including ''Nona''. On 30th June ''Nona'' was announced officially, having developed during the writing process of ''Alecto'' into a separate book.

# ''Nona the Ninth'' (Autumn 2022 [[note]] Originally, ''Alecto'' was announced as the third and final book, but leaked pages from the paperback edition of ''Harrow'' listed four planned books, including ''Nona''. On 30th June ''Nona'' was announced officially, having developed during the writing process of ''Alecto'' into a separate book.]]

# ''Alecto the Ninth'' (2022)

* TechnicolorEyes: To go with the ColorCodedEyes, naturally. There's violet, gold, and black eyes are common in the Ninth. Lyctors have even more pronounced colors, especially Mercymorn's sandy hazel mixed with red. And the Emperor has completely black eyes.

* ColorCodedEyes: Character eye colors are specifically noticed and mentioned for major characters, and often reflect their personality or background in some way. It even extends to entire houses; the most common eye color on the Ninth is black. [[spoiler: Upon achieving Lyctorhood, either Perfect or Imperfect, will cause the eye colors of the necromancer and champion involved to switch.]]

* ColorCodedEyes: Character eye colors are specifically noticed and mentioned for major characters, and often reflect their personality or background in some way. It even extends to entire houses; the most common eye color on the Ninth is black.

* BrainsAndBrawn: Pretty much all necromancer and cavalier pairs, though cavaliers are often more DownToEarth and practical than unintelligent; it's basically part of the job description to be part bodyguard and part minder.

* NumericalThemeNaming: House names are almost exclusively themed on puns based on the number they belong to, though they range from the obvious (''Dyas'', ''Pent'', ''Sextus'') to the obscure (''Ebdoma'' [[note]] An outdated Latin term for a week [[/note]]) to the tenuous (''Nav'').