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The Witness for the Dead
by Katherine Addison
It breaks my heart that I did not love this book. [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1)|Katherine Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373039517l/17910048._SX50_.jpg|24241248] remains one of my favorite books and I've been waiting for a sequel for over half a decade.
This book, however, was too slow and too confusing for me to love. Maybe it's my fault that I haven't read [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1)|Katherine Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373039517l/17910048._SX50_.jpg|24241248] in so long and have forgotten the people and places and titles. But since this is technically a new series (The Cemeteries of Amalo) set in the same world, it should be accessible to folks who never read The Goblin Emperor in the first place.
Thara, with his ability to speak with the dead, is called to settle disputes and also investigates mysterious deaths. Despite the fact that this is mostly a murder mystery, it has little sense of urgency. It feels more like a slow, meandering contemplation. I found myself easily distracted while reading it, quick to put it down and hesitant to pick it back up. And I hated that because I love Addison as a writer and I loved The Goblin Emperor so much. There were still aspects I liked - I appreciate Thara as a character (I'm always a fan of stoic but determined types) and there were individual scenes that showcased Addison's ability to build sympathetic but complex characters. But overall I felt to often lost and confused about what was happening (unable to keep track of who was who and what the various titles meant) and I wanted a little more dynamism in the plot.
This book, however, was too slow and too confusing for me to love. Maybe it's my fault that I haven't read [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor (The Goblin Emperor, #1)|Katherine Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373039517l/17910048._SX50_.jpg|24241248] in so long and have forgotten the people and places and titles. But since this is technically a new series (The Cemeteries of Amalo) set in the same world, it should be accessible to folks who never read The Goblin Emperor in the first place.
Thara, with his ability to speak with the dead, is called to settle disputes and also investigates mysterious deaths. Despite the fact that this is mostly a murder mystery, it has little sense of urgency. It feels more like a slow, meandering contemplation. I found myself easily distracted while reading it, quick to put it down and hesitant to pick it back up. And I hated that because I love Addison as a writer and I loved The Goblin Emperor so much. There were still aspects I liked - I appreciate Thara as a character (I'm always a fan of stoic but determined types) and there were individual scenes that showcased Addison's ability to build sympathetic but complex characters. But overall I felt to often lost and confused about what was happening (unable to keep track of who was who and what the various titles meant) and I wanted a little more dynamism in the plot.