Min Zemerin's Plan

The Cemeteries of Amalo #1.5

by Katherine Addison

The story of a governess in charge of a child whose father recently died and in need of help from Thara Celehar, the witness for the dead.

Published online in The Sunday Morning Transport.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Steampunk, Science Fiction Fantasy

14 pages, ebook

First published May 1, 2022

About the author

A pseudonym of Sarah Monette. Both Sarah and Katherine are on Twitter as @pennyvixen. Katherine reviews nonfiction. Sarah reviews fiction. Fair warning: I read very little fiction these days.

Sarah/Katherine was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, one of the three secret cities of the Manhattan Project.

She got her B.A. from Case Western Reserve University, her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Despite being summa cum laude, none of her degrees is of the slightest use to her in either her day job or her writing, which she feels is an object lesson for us all.

She currently lives near Madison, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Janine Ballard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

A little birdie (Barb in Maryland) directed me to this nice, FREE short story by Katherine Addison (aka Sarah Monette). Worth reading for fans of The Goblin Emperor and The Cemeteries of Amalo series. In fact I liked it more than The Grief of Stones.

You can find it here: https://www.sundaymorningtransport.co...

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story set in the same world as The Witness for the Dead, and it is free and I started out enjoying it a lot. And it feels mean to resent a free short story published shortly before a new book for being kind of pointless, but it felt kind of pointless, it is clearly just introducing backstory to two characters who probably will show up in subsequent books (and the backstory could be summed up in 2 or 3 sentences).

Nice PoV character, nice writing, believable dilemma, it is just felt kind of plotless.

Incidentally, one of my issues with this series (and The Goblin Emperor) was again a problem here, that incredible density of made up different titles, names, street names, all in the same paragraph, just making me wish the author had gone for more english words (mister, miss, mrs!), I fight a lot with some paragraphs to even understand what is what or if what is a who and if so, who...

[Meredith Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this. I was really surprised when I found myself teary at the end, but there's such a kindness in the Goblin Emperor & Cemeteries of Amalo stories, and it's here as well. It's very much a series about how even in hopeless death you can find hope in the people who look for answers, people who try to find answers for those who can't speak for themselves, and this story represents that perfectly.

[Cait]

I was hungry for more from this world and was able to track this shorty down here. lovely as is par for the course (imho!!!!!) with this series.

[Desdemona Dreadless · Rating 4 out of 5]

Format: ebook
Rating: 4

I really enjoyed this little snippet in the word of the Goblin Emperor. This is a prequel/side story to "Witness for the Dead" and just a nice little peek into the the process of speaking for the dead, but here seen from the other side of the equation. The family left behind.
Thara Celehar (Side character of Goblin Emperor ond protagonist of the cemeteries of Amalo series) warns them that people rarely get the answers they want when the dead speak, but people want the answers anyways.
This story however is told from the perspective of a normal working class woman in this world, and it was just this sweet little story, and interesting insight into the politics and lives of the people of this world. I'd be very happy if any of these characters showed up in future books but it seems unlikely.
I'd love to know what happens next with Min Zemerin, and what comes of her charge later.

[Claudia Marcela · Rating 5 out of 5]

En los 2 libros de The Cemeteries of Amalo somos testigos solo de lo que Thara Celehar alcanza a ver en los casos que requieren su ayuda. En esta historia corta, vemos el punto de vista de una de sus peticionarios.

Tristemente la verdad que pueden decir los muertos no trae la alegría que se esperaba, pero a su manera, tiene un final feliz.

[Alex Sarll]

An almost Victorian side story about a disinherited orphan. I've said before that some of the achievement of the Amalo books is how thoroughly real they feel, but this one does remind me a little that verisimilitude alone is not enough; I believe in the Witness for the Dead, but apparently I don't need to know about every case he takes on.

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely short story; another little vignette of Othala Cehelar's interactions with people. It shows people who are not kind at all, and people who are habitually kind, and people who are defiantly kind. In a very little amount of text it expands the world of the Cemetaries of Amalo and gives a taste of the social structure that i hope will be explored further in future books.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Thara Celehar, this story is restrained, yet impactful in its emotional assuredness.

The strict language continues to provide an intriguing wrinkle in this world. I am ready for book three! Where is it?

[Marybeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm at the point where if Katherine Addison published a grocery list, I'd be interested in reading it. I recently discovered that she writes under another name as well, so I'm going to begin reading the books published under that name. Hopefully I enjoy them just as much.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice little bite of a short story. It’s really just for anyone who is already a big fan of this world because it’s just like dipping your foot back into it while we wait for the next novel to come out. I would read a whole book of these, I just love this world so much

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I might need more context for some of what this book writes about, but I'm not sure if I should already have it or not. The naming conventions are absolutely atrocious, but other than that these are easy reads.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a teaser than an actual short story, but I like the world and the characters enough that I’m glad to have this nibble. This series seems to really lean in to the pessimism that getting the truth from the dead is usually disappointing to the people who seek it.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic short fantasy story set in the world of THE GOBLIN EMPEROR.

[Jim Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this is a lovely companion piece to the Cemetaries of Amalo series, and my only complaint is that there's not more of it. Maybe we will bump into these characters in a future novel.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet story of a witness for the dead and its aftermath

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read 01/12/2022

This was nice but really really short.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, love the setting and the culture.

[Lorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story, set before The Grief Of Stones.

[Kathryn Baron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little story

[krow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. Open ending, thou shalt be the death of me.

[Kat]

Very nice, and about 1/10th as long as I would have liked it to be. Even this short glimpse into the characters' lives made me want to know more about them.

[Klid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much of a short story at all. Feels more like a snippet or a preview (assuming this is relevant to the next book). "The Grief of Stones" here we come.

[Apriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series and wish the books would come out faster!

This short story is free to read. I found the link in another review.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent short story of Othala Celehar serving as Witness for the Dead. I never get tired of these and wish there were more.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.sundaymorningtransport.co...

Very short but nice

[Lacee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing and descriptions, but not a one-shot - you have to have read at least The Goblin Emperor to follow along, and the story doesn't really go anywhere.

[Conni Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sweet. Made me cry.