The Witness for the Dead

Book One of the Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy

By: Katherine Addison

Narrated by: Liam Gerrard

Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

"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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2021 Katherine Addison (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

A new, fascinating focus in the Goblin Emperor!

Why did I sit on this book so long? Just the crushing weight of my TBR, really....

Now, this book is a thematic departure from the "Goblin Emperor." But in quality, it remains as riveting as the first book in the series! If you loved book 1 and are wondering if you'll like a book that does not focus on Maia/Edrehasivar, do not worry; you'll fall in love with the narrative voice of Thara Celehar as fast as you did with Maia's.

This book is more about mystery, the human (or elf and goblin) psyche, and a world abound in necromantic magics. Celehar, as a Witness for the Dead, is sometimes aided by his ability to summon the spirits of the recently departed for inquiry, but more often, has to solve crimes through deduction and interviews with the still-living. Sadly, no Zone of Truth for this Witness, meaning recognizing that even the most helpful (and handsome) of interviewees might muddle his case with half-truths and outright lies.

The speech of the book is very formal, a lot of "thee" and "thou" and "we" instead of "I," but overall, it's not stultifying. I think that it works great in the audiobook version, where you just get into the groove and accept the narrator's cadence. Addison highlights any slips in grammar (especially slips into less-formal "you" and "I") in a way that adds to the mystery. It's not flavor. It's an actual important part of the story.

All of the book is fantastic, of course, but I particularly love any section where we learn more about the world's fantasy elements. The section on the Hill of Werewolves was such a contemplative and FASCINATING section.

I loved this book so much that I jumped right into the next book when I was done. Thank goodness for ARCs!

3 Cheers for Thara Celehar!

I could not put this story down! The Goblin Emperor was wonderful, and this was even better. This fantasy world is fresh as well as familiar, the characters are so real. I loved this narrator as he brought great depth & voicing to the different players, but mostly made Celehar sound perfectly… himself. I think his voicing was excellent for this character and was a wise change from the excellent narrator who voiced Maia in The Goblin Emperor— two very different people, very different characters, so the different voices were fitting, in my opinion. I hope the author explores this world more, it’s been a fun ride to see it from a different point of view. Celehar could have his own murder mystery series.

An incredible addition to the series!

Taking place in the same wonderful, magical and highly traditional world of "The Goblin Emperor" (TGE), "Witness for the Dead" (WFTD) show us the daily life of Thara Celehar, one of its most honourable and lawful characters, on his routine as a Witness for The Dead, a kind of state cleric/detective wich performs religious rituals and investigates murders using traditional techniques as well as... speaking with the dead (even if just briefly).

For fans of the Witcher 3, wich one can argue is the greatest detective game ever made, the book reads a lot like a Main Quest with a major murder-mystery and several sidequests wich get on the way of its progress but are nevertheless really interesting and flesh out the world established on the first book.*

A lot of the same themes touched upon on TGE appear again on this romance and we get a look on even more traditions and fantasy politics wich mirror real world problems of the 21st century. ai think my world view aligns a lot with the author and I really liked the way she masterfully handles topics such as homosexuality, feminism and other relevant topics.

Katherine Addison has a way of constructing characters that makes you really care about them (be it their personalities or actions) and it's simply joyful to spend time with them and see them achieving their goals.

Being totally honest, I liked the sidequests even more than the main story and since I love Celehar, I'd gladly follow his routine as a witness forever, wich makes me hopeful that we get another title on the future - especially one where he gets a much deserved happily ever after**.

The narrator is great, but sometimes there's a huge dissonance between his reading and Celehar actually speaking with his rough and at the same time kind voice, wich made the experience strike out in a good manner (it feels like you got out of Celehar's mind and into the world).

Reading TGE is obligatory to enjoy and understand everything about this one, but even though it's a different kind of story, I highly recommend it for fans.

*Seriously, there's even a sidequest with ghouls! If there was a lady with a missing pan I would have died laughing!
**He's an absolute treasure of a person that deserves to be happy.

A fantasy murder mystery

Love the continuing adventures of Thara Celehar, whose kindness and courage make him a powerful moral center for this action-packed and spooky sequel. I reread this often.

So good!!

This book is my comfort re-read. The voice acting and story are both fantastic! The world building is really rich and Thora is so relatable and kind. It reads a lot like a collection of short stories about Thora Celehar (who is kind of a detective for the dead), but everything gets tied together in the end!

very good

so happy to have a continuation of stories in this world. i will admit that i enjoyed the reader for the goblin emporer better, but this reader isn't at all bad. Mer Celehar has a busy and trying life! I always liked him as a character and was pleased to find that this story is about him and right after the events of the first book rather than a completely unrelated story.

Just Wonderful

I love Katherine Addison's world of the goblin emperor and this is a great addition.

Excellent book and inspired performance

The natural and fluent performance of Addison’s richly conceived, wonderfully “human” (well…) story — with remarkable character work for Addison and the performer alike — confidently elevates this tale to the weightiness and authenticity of a sort of slipstream historical narrative. Can this not be a portrait of real cultures of our own world’s past? This fabulous book gains even more in this telling!

New delight

It took me a while to get into this new story but it is just as rich , charming and immersive as the Goblin Emperor. You feel like you really know this amazing different world where fascinating things happen. After the great narration of the first book, I was a bit disappointed in this narration. Although his command of different people speaking was excellent, the main character seemed less connected to the narrator. Lots of things happened o the main character but the narrator never really seemed to care.

exploration of a different part of the world

If you loved The Goblin Emperor and want to explore the working class and tradesmen and religious structures of that industrializing world, then this is the story for you. As deep and rich as TGE , and with an almost completely different cast, It's an amazingly detailed- especially the geography of the city. It reminds me of Russian novels, The Name of the Rose, and histories of early industrialization. It is none of these things, but that's what it reminds me of.

The reader deserves an award for his smooth and unhesitating mixing of English and fantasy vocabulary. An exemplary performance!