The Witness for the Dead

Hardcover, 208 pagine

Pubblicato il 06 Gennaio 2021 da Tor Books.

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4 stelle (3 recensioni)

A standalone novel in the fantastic world of Katherine Addison's award-winning The Goblin Emperor.

When young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had killed his father and half-brothers in The Goblin Emperor, he turned to an obscure resident of his court, a Witness for The Dead named Thara Celehar.

Now, far from the court, Thara Celehar lives in quasi-exile, neither courtier nor prelate, serving the common people of the city. He lives modestly, communicating with the dead as is his duty.

But his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. Celehar will follow the truth wherever it leads him no matter who may be implicated in murder, fraud, or ancient injustices.

5 edizioni

Buena lectura para noviembre

4 stelle

Ya habíamos conocido al personaje central en The Goblin Emperor. Algo triste y solitario, también va con su oficio de Testigo de los Muertos. Es que en ese mundo hay Testigos que hablan por los que no tienen voz. No es el énfasis que le dan, pero se parece a los derechos de la Pacha Mama, creo, y creo que se menciona que a veces hay un Testigo que toma la voz de un río o de un monte.

Para ser Testigo de los Muertos debes tener el llamado, y con suerte tendrás el Talento. El talento te permite "ver" un poquito, sentir las últimas impresiones de lo que queda de las almas en los cuerpos. Además te entrena la orden monacal de los testigos, y adquieres el superpoder de la escucha profunda.

Los Testigos de los Muertos buscan la Verdad, que no siempre es lo que más conviene.

Ciertamente …

An ok fantasy/mystery.

3 stelle

Addison does a wonderful job of world building. The slice of life moments in particular are great and Pel-Thenhior, the goblin director/composer is wonderful. Unfortunately the book has far too many subplots to give any of them the attention they deserve. There were also weird pacing issues and characters seem to do things so that reveals happen at the right time rather than for any organic or logical reason.

ha recensito The Witness for the Dead di Katherine Addison

a beautiful world to exist in

4 stelle

This was one of those books that when it ended, I missed getting to be in the world. It has a kind of understated, slice-of-life feel, with a lot of detail and reverence paid to the minutia of daily life and community relationships, that felt more prominent to me than the murder mysteries. Addison writes with an immense amout of compassion and tenderness, and for me that is what makes this book, and The Goblin Emperor, transcend what they would be on their face, in terms of plot.

The writing style drops you into the cultural nuances of the society largely without explanation, and you can infer, for example, what different honorifics mean through context. I really really like this and I think overall its very well done, but I think it would be more daunting if I hadn't already read The Goblin Emperor, and there were some …