The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison is a limited edition hardcover set in the world of The Goblin Emperor. This story begins at the same time, with the destruction of the airship Wisdom of Choharo. A disgraced scholar, Ulcetha, was falsely accused of stealing a rare artifact. He receives an odd message from his deceased friend, a pilot on the airship. This initial clue leads to more clues and eventually discovering a murder. The story had a somewhat noir feel, and ends with Ulcetha leaving for a new city. I can easily see this story becoming a series.

This is a novella set in the world of the Goblin Emperor. It was quite a pleasant read.

We follow along with Ulcetha in his daily life in his world and he follows one clue after another as a a mystery solved. As we follow along we learn more about the world and the various interests and self interests play out.

I gave this story three stars because there isn't any character immersion or development. Ulcetha seems quite a nice honest sort of a fellow. That's all we are left with, even though the story is told from his point of view. There are very brief references to his family and other connections. The mystery is about the Orb of Cairado...and we care why? It just seems to be some boring jewel. All in all, this is a muted linear story which was an okay way to pass the time. Perhaps it will gain more significance and resonance as the author writes more stories in this universe.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an advanced review copy.

What more can I say? It’s a Goblin Emperor story. A lovely human story about unraveling a mystery. I really like that Katherine Addison has been exploring the universe she created rather than sticking too close to Maia; it makes the world feel more lived-in.

Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC for this. It showed up just in time as I was finishing a reread of the Goblin Emperor, before diving into the sequels. The events in this happen in parallel with those in Goblin Emperor and it gives another good look at the deep and vivid worldbuilding. The story itself isn't long or complex, although it could've been a bit longer with more intrigue. But it paints a very effective picture of power structures and who and how they fail. I don't know if the protagonist features in the future novels, but much like Maia, he's someone humble origins who got screwed over by the powers that be, in this case, in academia. There's also similar, gentler themes of loss and grief and trying to do the best one can in treacherous situations.

The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison


Wohoo! Unexpected novella in a universe I cannot get enough of!

Like many people, I first encountered Katherine Addison when I found the Goblin Emperor on a bunch of awards ballots and was immediately enchanted. Within six months of reading it, I doubled back and listened to the audiobook - that novel was charming and delightful and wonderful. (I also adored her unrelated book, the Angel of the Crows, and I think more people need to read that.) I was thrilled beyond belief when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Witness For the Dead, a related book in the same universe as The Goblin Emperor. That book was a book of my heart - It was the most enjoyable reading experience I had in months when I read it the first time. I was even more exited two years ago when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Grief of Stones, the direct sequel to the Witness for the Dead which I described at the time as “perfection itself” - a description I still stand by.

In anticipation of the long awaited, third book in the Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy, I recently re-listened to audiobooks of the other books in this universe, so I have been soaking in it for weeks now. Which is why I was so surprised when Subterranean Press announced a standalone novella in the same universe! I was ecstatic when Subterranean Press and NetGalley gave me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.


This book was absolutely fantastic. It introduced a whole new set of characters in a whole new place in another tale set into motion by the destruction of the emperor’s airship - the same explosion that began the story in the Goblin Emperor. The protagonist was a scholar accused of stealing an artifact believed to be the key to an even greater treasure, but he knows he is innocent. The story eventually solves the mystery of who is the real thief and, in the process, tells us about scholarship, love, duty, and betrayal. It is hard to describe without spoiling the story. I heartily recommend this to anyone who likes Katherine Addison and to anyone who hasn’t read anything by her yet. This book is wonderful.

Katherine Addison does a good job with her prose and the world building itself, however, where The Emperor Goblin shined was in its rare touching moments of finding trust in the sea of piranhas, The Orb of Cairado, I feel, wasn't able to accomplish the same thing as deftly, largely because this novella is too short. It's a short and sweet mystery novella, about a missing historical relic, The Orb of Cairado, and, while it was nice to recover the artifact in this Emperor Goblin-adjacent world, it just came about too quickly--to linearly. Follow one clue, which successfully leads to the next, which leads to a puzzle, which we can solve right then and there, then go to the next...it was just all too tidy, therefore the suspense never had a chance build up.
I think if you're into Addison's writing, however, you're likely in the mood for a mellower fantasy setting rather than something more high-octane, action-packed. If you're in the mood to explore the world of The Emperor Goblin a bit further, then perhaps you'll like this story too.

Thank you NetGalley and SubPress for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I get a new book in this series I just want to lie in bed and marinate in it.

This is such a short book, but as always, is so engrossing. They usually feature a mystery of some sort, which is not solved through fast paced action, but through introspection and reasoning. The characters are surprising in their depth and the reader comes away with empathy for their inner struggles.

This novella (or is it a short story?) is the same as the full length books in the series. I don’t want to go into too much detail because with a short story you run the very real risk of spoiling something and that would be truly egregious. If you couldn’t tell yet, I absolutely adore all of the books by this author and she is coming out with a new full length novel early next year. This will just keep me going until then. Maybe.

Addison's prose and worldbuilding are top-notch as usual, but the plot wends its way to the solution of several mysteries a little too linearly, with one coincidence too many. Add to that, one particular revelation about the murderer not only ties up plot threads a little too neatly, but walks <i>right</i> on the tightrope of 'I honestly can't tell if this is in good taste.' Use your own best judgment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions within are my own.

2025

Fantasy

Review: This was very well written within a short temporal existence. The characters have great depth and there is constant movement to satisfy the questing heart.

Too bad this is not a full-length novel. As it is, I can only give it a max of three stars. Rules are rules....

3.0/5

Another wonderful fantasy-mystery from the realm of The Goblin Emperor! This one has got libraries and archaeology in it, which made me exceedingly happy.

Nice story. While getting a hint about an orb from a pilot killed. This starts an involved search with unexpected results. Easy to follow. Short read.

Enjoyed this novella by Katherine Addison. I enjoyed the characters, and the plot/story. Will definitely read more by Katherine Addison. #TheOrbofCairado #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this overall and thought it worked as a fantasy element to the book. The characters had that overall feel that I was looking for and worked in this world. Katherine Addison wrote this well and was glad I got to read this.

Thank you so much for the ARC for this, as I adore this series.

This was another excellent addition to a wonderful series! Another adventure in a fascinating universe I thought Monette was taking a break from in order to focus on other projects for a bit after "The Tomb of Dragons" was completed (though it's not out yet), and the surprise of it was absolutely wonderful! I read the ebook, not the illustrated limited edition sold by Subterranean Press, so I have no review for the illustrations. But the novella itself was wonderful as so much of Monette's writing is. Given yesterday was one of the worst elections of my life, reading a story about how someone was ostracized and able to claw his way back, in a complicated way, was cathartic, and a good distraction from the world being terrible and about to get worse.

The new characters are fascinating, and Ulcetha in some ways feels like a mix of Thara and Maia as protagonists, with his own flavor that's very enjoyable. The way he navigates Cairado and the new life he made after his fall from grace is enjoyable, and the way Monette demonstrates how much he is a scholar interested in studying and talking about different scholarship really breathes life into him. The story explores different aspects of things teased in other series entries, such as the doings of mazei, the university systems, the long complex history of emperors, other royalty, and uprisings, Witnesses, and even to a degree just how food culture and travel works. Monette built such an intricate world and it's fun to see more of it explored. The story also brings up intersectionality - how even marginalized persons from different social climes face different issues - in a really good way.

The detective aspect of the story reminds me of a mix of Monette's Kyle Murchison Booth stories, "Angel of The Crows", and, again, Thara, as Monette excels at mysteries and investigation writing. It was fun to get another one. The tragedy and drama of the whole situation is also really wonderfully written, and enjoyable to explore. My only criticism is that she does have a quirk of her writing that's on display in the conclusion, and I kind of wish she stopped writing that, but I can see why she did it for narrative drama, and it ties things up well enough. Mostly I'm just glad "The Cobbler's Boy" exists, and Felix ends "Corambis" leaving open the door to something with Murtagh, because it shows she doesn't do the quirk ALL that time. Booth and Thara also have open futures.

Generally, though, it was an excellent novella, definitely a good read for anyone who loves the series. It's also a nice lead-up to "The Tomb of Dragons", which I hope to read soon!

An engaging little story to add to The Chronicles of Osreth world. I recommend this for fans.

In this novella, Addison shows both the depth and scope of her worldbuilding. Readers learn not just about the titular Orb, but about ages and cities beyond it. It is even presented in textbook-ey way as expected with a historical scholar as a main character.

Several themes such as doing the right thing versus doing the easy or safe thing and how easily morals can slip to the wayside in the face of adversary are introduced. While I would not classify this as a grim story, it isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

The main cast of characters are all realistically flawed. Ulcetha strikes me as having elements of both Maia and Thara in him. I do have a complaint in that I believe there should have been more tangible on page grief over the death of Mara. It is firmly established that Mara is the only person Ulcetha has in this world and he hardly thinks of him as the story progresses. Ultimately, he's a character that I would read more about and who I want to see lead a better, more fulfilling life.

This arc did not have the artworks included so I cannot comment on them.