The Tomb of Dragons After the events of the previous book in Katherine Addison's Cemeteries of Amalo series, The Grief of Stones, Thara Celehar finds himself starting over yet again. But while Celehar's life has changed, the city of Amalo carries on as ever, with greed, corrupt officials, and the possibility of political instability plaguing the populace. And so Celehar starts moving forward, because what else can he do? He is still a servant to the Archprelate, the Archprelate has a job for him to do, and Celehar is nothing if not bound to duty. He can’t escape his reputation, however, and thanks to a group of unscrupulous miners, Celehar finds himself in a dangerous situation– the origins of which could shake the foundations of the empire. Addison’s Chronicles of Osreth series has proven to be a very particular subgenre of fantasy– cozy on one hand with its slice-of-life narratives (Celehar feeds the neighborhood stray cats, goes out for tea, and is often preoccupied with finding just the right coat) that are bound up profound shifts at a nearly global level (Celehar’s investigations in The Goblin Emperor affected the leadership at the very top levels of the empire). Combine all that with certain steampunk elements, magic that is almost exclusively in the background, and a pantheon of gods that are taken for granted by everyday people, and it’s difficult to define these books as any one thing. They are all led by one particular thing, though: the main character is a good person who strives to do the right thing, no matter what. Does that make The Tomb of Dragons Hopepunk? I don’t know. I don’t know what to call these books aside from “some of my favorite books ever”. I freely admit that Thara Celehar was not among my favorite characters in The Goblin Emperor, but he has grown on me as his books have progressed so that by the time I reached the end of The Tomb of Dragons, he had become one of my favorite characters. Celehar is a well-developed character who is confident in his calling while being afraid of making personal connections. He has an unyielding set of personal ethics but is perfectly capable of accepting the foibles and flaws of the world around him. And, perhaps most endearingly, he is confused by the friendship and care offered by the people in his life. Celehar is a man who will go to the ends of the earth for others but can’t imagine why anyone would cross the street for him. It’s a little heartbreaking, but it also makes a reader want to bundle the poor thing up in a soft blanket and feed him tea and soup so he’ll be ready to face evil in the morning. Part of what makes The Goblin Emperor so compelling as a fantasy novel is the intricate but natural-seeming world-building Addison wove into the narrative. Readers are treated to an extensive history, multiple cultures, complex social customs, and an intricately constructed language that feels very strange until you see how the prefixes and suffixes fit together to form the words. By about the halfway point of The Goblin Emperor, the conlang starts to feel like a natural part of things. The Tomb of Dragons expands upon all of this- partly by necessity since it takes place in a different part of the empire and partly because it’s about ordinary people just living their lives and talking about the world as they see it. If there is a flaw in The Tomb of Dragons, it is in the pacing, as some events are a bit rushed and the scenes with a fan-favorite character from and earlier book in the series are altogether too short (I say that, knowing I would read an entire series of books about that fan-favorite). On the whole, however, The Tomb of Dragons is an excellent entry in The Chronicles of Osreth. Addison’s straightforward yet elegant prose, excellent character development, and expert world-building have come together to give us another fantastic book in a series that will, hopefully, have many more stories to come. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book. Traveling in Books is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Traveling in Books that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.
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Sunday, March 2, 2025
The Tomb of Dragons
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