Necromancy and Lesbians and Nuns OH MY!

Come on, you know I'm absolutely OBSESSED with The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. It's one of those series that when people say they didn't read it, I honestly think they should try again. Maybe try the audiobook read by Moira Quirk instead. Maybe read my annotations on my blog first so you know what's going on. Maybe LET ME READ IT TO YOU BECAUSE IT'S REALLY EPIC OK?!?!?!

And I know. It's a crazy complex plot with tons of easter eggs and the second book has an unreliable narrator and the third book is told by a previously lobotomized person with no recollection of who they are, but I just LIKE IT OK?

But there's one major problem. There's nothing else like it, so the book hangover you'll get from reading this (as of today) incomplete series is really gonna suck. And while they're nothing like it out there, there are a couple things that might give you the same vibes.

1. The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - Does it have lesbian necromancers in space? No, but it does have six disaster bisexuals with magical powers who are all mentally ill and in love with each other in a challenge that could give them ultimate power, and an author who is way smarter than me, so you see where I'm getting the similar vibes? I need to do a full review of this series because I just finished it and I am NOT WELL.

2. Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan - or really any other books narrated by Moira Quirk. This is definitely more fantasy than sci-fi, with a girl who has cancer falling into the book her sister is reading to her but not as the hero - as the villain. And the tone is the same, that smartass, Reddit baby author who doesn't take herself too seriously off color banter is everything I wanted it to be, and the ending surprised even me, whose pattern recognition means I rarely get to be surprised.

3. The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang - a queer retelling of Joan of Arc in space. Need I say more? Ok, the banter is perfection and Misery is basically Gideon Nonagesimus. Harrowhark Nav. And also the series isn't done so similar feelings of desperation at the end. You're welcome!

4. Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - if you read Martha Wells' fantasy works back in the day, you might think, "how can this have similar vibes?" Her fantasy is so serious. But Murderbot diaries is about an autistic security robot who hacks their own limitations...to watch more TV. And ends up gaining much more personhood in the process. Oh, and later in the series there's a very smartass AI ship. Is it love? We don't know yet, but we're having an absolute blast along the way.

5. Anything else by Tamsyn Muir. If you haven't picked up any of her short stories - Princess Floralinda or Undercover, you are seriously missing out.

Some honorable mentions that I haven't read but other people have recommended include:

The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood

Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots