Here’s the short answer: There aren’t any. Muir’s award-winning book is a snarky, queer, glorious space mystery. It’s about Gideon, a surly swordswoman, and Harrow, a sadistic necromancer and Gideon’s lifelong nemesis. Gideon is looking to get off her dreary death planet and Harrow promises to free her if she accompanies her to the First House to compete in a challenge that could end with Harrow gaining eternal life by the Emperor’s side. That’s a very abbreviated summary, but the point is that this book is so fun and different, I don’t have anything close to it to recommend. That said, there are many, many books that have aspects of Gideon the Ninth that I could recommend that are well worth your time, because I’ve done my homework. So far, I have read Gideon the Ninth nine times! And I even had the privilege of breaking the book down in a series for Tor last year. So the following list is a wonderful selection of books you should definitely pick up if you want to read more books like Gideon the Ninth. There may be slight plot spoilers for Gideon in the descriptions, but I’m going to assume you’ve already read the book if you’re here. Like I said, there’s nothing like Gideon the Ninth, but there are a hell of a lot of other books with similar aspects to make your happy down to your bones. And here’s a few more quick recommendations! If one of the things you love about Gideon the Ninth is the locked room/remote mystery aspect, then I recommend picking up Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, in which clones on a spaceship must band together to figure out who is murdering their previous selves. If you want to read more WLW books about sword-wielding lesbian necromancers, get Huntress by Malinda Lo. If you love imaginative fantasy that will capture your heart and mind, get your hands on The Tensorate series by Neon Yang. And if you love your books to be full of WTF-ery, pick up The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, about a famous children’s book author and a secret society with lots of, well, secrets. And speaking of recommendations: If you’d love to get book recommendations tailored just to your tastes, you should definitely sign up for TBR, Book Riot’s subscription service offering tailored book recommendations for readers of all stripes!
