I read Katherine Addison's The Witness for the Dead. I really enjoyed The Goblin Emperor when I read it a few years ago so I was looking forward to its semi-sequel. It is only loosely a sequel since it follows Celehar who was a minor character from the first book and is set away from the capital. The protagonist is now employed a 'Witness for the Dead' in a provincial city, his responsibilities involve dealing with the affairs of the dead, whether it be investigating their cause of death, supporting their heirs or occasionally dealing with those who won't stay dead. Celehar has a special aptitude for this since he can communicate with the dead in a very limited way. Throughout the novel he takes on various cases, with the main focuses being on a couple of murders (particularly the violent death of an opera singer) and a disputed inheritance.
The plot may be quite different from the court intrigue of the first novel but they do have some things in common, both featuring protagonists who might be quiet outsiders by nature but who have a great deal of determination to try do what they think is the right thing. One thing that is slightly weaker in this novel is that the stakes aren't as high, while Celehar does sometimes face some serious consequences after some of his investigations annoy some powerful people it isn't as compelling as the battle for control of the imperial throne in the first book. It is however interesting to see more of the world beyond the Imperial Court and how the ordinary people of that world live, it's a fairly short book but seems to pack a lot of world-building into those pages and manages to make it feel like this is a place with a long history even if most of that isn't being shown. Occasionally it can be slightly hard to keep track of all the names and titles and unfamiliar terms but for the most part I didn't find it too confusing. The various cases Celehar takes on are varied and interesting, and the conclusions are mostly satisfying even if the conclusion to one of the murder mysteries does feel a bit abrupt.
I then read Neil Gaiman's Stardust. I've seen the film adaptation multiple times but never read the book before. I think in recent years there has been a bit of a trend of modernised fairy tales, this was perhaps one of the first of those. It is an entertaining story although I found the supporting cast more interesting than Tristan himself who is a bit dull, particularly early in the story. The premise of a more adult take on traditional fairy tales does work well, although I think some other novels have perhaps done better at capturing the skewed logic and mixture of wonders and horrors of Faerie. I liked the book, but perhaps not one of Gaiman's greatest works.
