Katherine Addison’s The Tomb of Dragons
Hooray for a new book about Thara Celehar and his investigations, large and small! And more importantly, his friendships. Not to mention the titular dragons. I was also very pleased to see some characters from The Goblin Emperor appear. Everything about this was great and I really hope Addison revisits this world/these characters. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in March.
Katherine Addison's The Grief of Stones
I forgot that the plot of this one has some fairly grim stuff going on, as our investigator tackles a murdered marquise and a fishy school for girls. I do really like the focus on his mental health/spirituality, and the friendships he's building. So not the most fun read, but still a good one.
Katherine Addison's The Witness for the Dead
Back on my Katherine Addison bullshit, since the third book in this trilogy comes out soon! This series focuses on a secondary character from The Goblin Emperor, whose calling is to basically solve mysteries and crimes involving the dead, since he can speak to them. Addison plots this first one really well—there’s an overarching mystery involving the death of an opera singer, but lots of other interesting things pop up along the way. Also just really humane characters, which I for one really need right now.
J. Winifred Butterworth's A Bloomy Head
Thank you to Olivia Waite for reviewing this in the NYT, bc I’m not sure I’d have ever found out about it otherwise, and it’s exactly the sort of book I love. It’s a historical romance between a young widow/cheese maker and the (trans) army doctor her brother brings home from war, as she nurses him back to health. But also, it’s a mystery—what’s with all these beheaded bodies? And also, the widow has a million siblings, who each have their own drama going on (and I sincerely hope for a book about each of them). Really great characters and a satisfying story. I loved the narrative voice here, I own another book by this author under a different pen name (it also involves cheese) and I will be bumping that up my list. A.
Katherine Addison's The Orb of Cairado
New novella set in the world of The Goblin Emperor! This one involves a scholar who was ousted from the university for a theft he did not commit. When his best friend—the pilot of the airship from TGE—dies, he ends up on an unexpected adventure, and may help solve a murder. Solid story and cool characters, I also enjoyed the academic politics at play. A-.
Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor
A new novella set in this world just came out, which was a perfect excuse to reread a book I always find satisfying. It’s the story of a half-elf/half-goblin prince, raised in isolation, who suddenly becomes emperor when his father and older brothers die in an airship crash. Lots of learning to lead, finding allies and friends and family, lots of hope.
