Name: The Witness for the Dead
Author: Katherine Addison
Publisher: Solaris
Date published: July 2021
Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, mystery, steampunk
Pages: 313
Rating: 5/5
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 favour 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 honestly 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.
Now Celehar’s skills 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.
- From Goodreads.
This was a wonderfully intriguing story following one of the side characters from The Goblin Emperor, Thara Celehar. I was worried I would not enjoy this book as much because Maia, the main character of that previous book, was one of the main things that I loved so much about it, but I really fell in love with the main character of this one too. It was really interesting to follow him, see the world from his perspective and see what his life was like in more detail.
I was surprised by the change to first person since The Goblin Emperor was written in third, but it worked well and I enjoyed reading the narrative style.
It was fascinating to see more of the world and different places in this book, I found all the details of where Thara Celehar lived and worked and travelled interesting to learn about. The world in The Goblin Emperor felt real already, but this book allowed us to see more of what we could not in the previous one, with the same intricate detail of the previous book.
I found the mysteries of the story compelling and was excited to read to the end to find the resolutions to all of them. I think they were woven into the story well and I found the conclusions satisfying.
The side characters all felt well-rounded and interesting too, and I became really attached to a couple of them, as well as Thara Celehar. I especially like the interactions he had with Pel-Thenhior, who was a wonderfully lively character.
I am glad to know there is going to be another book after this one as I am always happy to read more from this world and this book has shown me I would love to see more of Thara Celehar and the people he knows. I would definitely like to see another book following Maia, but this book pleasantly surprised me by how excited it made me to see more from Thara Celehar's perspective.
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