At once intimate and literally operatic, it's everything I love about
Katherine Addison's writing, in ways I didn't know to expect. I loved
it. --John Scalzi
Katherine Addison returns to the glittering world she created for her
beloved novel, The Goblin Emperor, in this stand-alone sequel, The
Witness for the Dead
Locus Award Finalist! Mythopoeic Award Finalist!
When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the
bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure
resident of his father's Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the
Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to
discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former
Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for
power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.
Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not
exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position
gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is
his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental
honesty will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead,
he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they
saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they
felt. It is his duty to use that ability to resolve disputes, to
ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.
Celehar's skills now lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of
treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the
imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find
a light in the darkness.
Katherine Addison has created a fantastic world for these books--wide
and deep and true.
Within THE CHRONICLES OF OSRETH
The Goblin Emperor
The Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy
The Witness for the Dead
The Grief of Stones
The Tomb of Dragons
