Ratings34
Average rating4.2
"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 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 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. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Series
2 primary books4 released booksThe Cemeteries of Amalo is a 4-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by Katherine Addison.
Series
3 primary books5 released booksThe Goblin Emperor is a 5-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Katherine Addison.
Reviews with the most likes.
A beautiful companion novel to the goblin emperor. The same kindness and good government as that the first book . THARA , you are loved and deserve love. Dude
Stop being so hard on yourself
A side character from the first Goblin Emperor book solves a whodunnit in which an opera singer was murdered, with a number of side quests. It's nice to see more of this world getting filled in, and what is happening away from the royal intrigue. The short story at the end is very sweet, too.
Solid technically-a-sequel to The Goblin Emperor. Didn't hit me quite as right as that one, but I enjoyed it a lot. Same world, not completely separate cast, but total change of focus. Ending is a bit abrupt and I'd have liked some more of the politics.
This is definitely a book. It has pages, some characters, a plot, it even has some dialogue. So it passes the “is it a book” test. Otherwise...
This book is kinda like if Miles from Lost got a spin-off, but didn't have any snark. Like, Miles is cool, but you're not watching Lost for Miles, and without the snark, you're just kinda left with an undeveloped character who can talk to dead people.