Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir
Born 14 March 1985
New South Wales, Australia
Occupation Author
Nationality New Zealand
Genre Fantasy, science fiction, horror
Years active 2011–present
Notable works The Locked Tomb series
Website
tamsynmuir.com

Tamsyn Muir (born 14 March 1985) is a New Zealand fantasy, science fiction, and horror author. Muir won the 2020 Locus Award for her first novel, Gideon the Ninth, and has been nominated for several other awards as well.

Biography

Muir was born March 14, 1985 in New South Wales, Australia. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was nine months old, so Muir grew up in Howick, New Zealand. In 2010, she earned a degree in education. She is also a 2010 graduate of the Clarion Workshop. She currently lives and works in Oxford, United Kingdom. Muir is a lesbian.

Work

Muir's short story "The Deepwater Bride", published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 2015, was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette, the World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction, the Eugie Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award for best novelette.

Gideon the Ninth, Muir's first novel and the first book of The Locked Tomb series, was published in 2019. It was awarded the 2020 Locus Award for Best First Novel and the 2020 Crawford Award, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award for Best Novel. It finished third in the Goodreads Choice Awards for best science fiction in 2019.

Muir's fantasy novella Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower was published in July 2020. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

The second book in the Locked Tomb series, Harrow the Ninth, was published in August 2020, and was a finalist for the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novel. It was followed by Nona the Ninth in 2022, with Alecto the Ninth announced for release in 2023., but a cover and release date have not been revealed.

After the Locked Tomb books, Tor will be publishing Muir's cyberpunk western novella trilogy, beginning with Go Marching In.

Awards and honors

In 2019, Amazon editors selected Gideon the Ninth as the best science fiction and fantasy book of the year.

In 2020, Amazon named Harrow the Ninth one of the best science fiction and fantasy novels of the year.

In 2022, Kirkus Reviews named Nona the Ninth one of the best science fiction and fantasy novels of the year. Audible named the audio recording as one of the best science fiction audiobooks of the year.

Awards for Muir's writing
Year

(Awarded)

Nominee Award Result Ref
2013 "The Magician's Apprentice" Shirley Jackson Award for Short Fiction Nominated
2015 "The Deepwater Bride" Nebula Award for Best Novelette Nominated
Shirley Jackson Award for Novelette Nominated
2016 Eugie Award for Short Fiction Nominated
World Fantasy Award—Short Fiction Nominated
2019 Gideon the Ninth Audible Best of Fantasy Nominated
Nebula Award for Best Novel Nominated
2020 BooktubeSFF Award for Best Science Fiction Nominated
Brave New Words Award Nominated
Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration – Hardcover Nominated
Dragon Award for Sci-fi Novel Nominated
Hugo Award for Best Novel Nominated
IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award Won
Locus Award for Best First Novel Won (1st)
Reference and User Services Association Reading List: Science Fiction Nominated
Sydney J. Bounds Award (Best Newcomer) Nominated
World Fantasy Award—Novel Nominated
2021 Harrow the Ninth Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration – Hardcover Nominated
Hugo Award for Best Novel Nominated
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel Nominated (3rd)
The Locked Tomb Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Nominated
2022 Nona the Ninth Ignotus Award for Novela extranjera (Foreign Novel) Won
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower Audie Award for Fantasy Nominated
2023 Nona the Ninth Nebula Award for Best Novel Nominated

Publications

The Locked Tomb

  1. Gideon the Ninth. Tor Books. 2019. ISBN 978-1250313195.
  2. Harrow the Ninth. Tor Books. 2020. ISBN 978-1250313225.
  3. Nona the Ninth. Tor Books. 2022. ISBN 978-1250854117.
  4. Alecto the Ninth. Tor Books. TBA.


Additional Short Stories

  • 0.5 "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex". Tor. 29 July 2020. (a prequel)
  • 2.5 "As Yet Unsent". Harrow the Ninth. 8 June 2022. (Originally published in the trade paperback edition of Harrow the Ninth.)
  • 3.5 "The Unwanted Guest". Nona the Ninth. 2023. (Originally published in the paperback edition of Nona the Ninth.)

Novellas

Short stories

Year Title First published Reprints Ref
2011 "The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time" "The House That Made the Sixteen Loops of Time". Fantasy Magazine (47). February 2011.
2012 "The Magician's Apprentice" "The Magician's Apprentice". Weird Tales. 66.3 (359): 36–38. Winter 2012. "The Magician's Apprentice". Lightspeed Magazine (88). September 2017.
2013 "Chew" "Chew". Nightmare Magazine (4). January 2013.
2015 "The Woman in the Hill" "The Woman in the Hill". Dreams from the Witch House: Female Voices of Lovecraftian Horror. 2015. "The Woman in the Hill". Nightmare Magazine (63). December 2017.
"The Deepwater Bride" "The Deepwater Bride". F&SF. 129 (1&2): 8–31. July–August 2015.
"Union" "Union". Clarkesworld (111): 20–32. December 2015.
2020 "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex" "The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex". Tor. 29 July 2020.
2022 "As Yet Unsent" "As Yet Unsent". Tor. 8 June 2022.
2022 "Undercover" "Undercover". Amazon Original Stories. 15 November 2022.
2023 "The Unwanted Guest" "The Unwanted Guest". Nona the Ninth. 2023. (Reprint of Nona the Ninth)

Essays

  • A Little Explanation on Naming Systems (2020)

Webcomics and graphic novels

  • Apothecia (with Shelby Cragg) (2014)