Title:

The Orb of Cairado

Author:

Katherine Addison

Category:

Fantasy / Science Fiction

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

March 15, 2026

atherine Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor (an excellent read) with this 115-page novella The Orb of Cairado. This is story is well plotted, presents well drawn new characters, and is an excellent example of world building. (There is a bit of an information dump in the beginning where the reader learns a bunch of history, which explains what the Orb of Cairado and the Star of Cstheieo are. Basically, they are rare and valuable treasures.) This story is a treasure hunt as well as a murder mystery.

The story features a former historian named Ulcetha Zhorvena. Five years ago, a valuable artifact called the Orish Veltavan went missing. The Orish Veltavan was found by Osmer Aidrina, who found it after years of hunting in the underground ruins of the Summer Palace. This intricate object consisted of gold wires in an interlacing pattern, with gemstones placed at different wire nodes. Aidrina believed that the wires represented passageways, and the gemstones signified rooms; he suspected that the relic was a three dimensional map through the many levels and chambers beneath the royal palace. But soon after Aidrina brought it to the surface, the Orish Veltavan vanished. Stolen. Ulcetha was blamed; accused of stealing the relic. There was only circumstantial evidence, but nevertheless, Ulcetha found himself out of a job as a historian. Aidrina himself vanished during an expedition into the buried ruins of the Summer Palace.

Struggling to survive, Ulcetha found employment working for a crook named Salathgarad. Salathgarad sells fake artifacts to collectors - it is Ulcetha's job to generate paperwork and backstories that validate the fake authenticity of the items Salathgarad is selling. Olcetha's background as a historian allows him to invent plausible sounding histories. Ulcetha hates his job, but he needs the money.

Word comes of a deadly crash of a floating aircraft (a zeppelin). One of the crewmembers was Mara. Mara was one of Ulcetha's few remaining friends. After being banished from the history department as a presumed thief, Ulcetha had lost almost all of his friends. Except for Mara, and now Mara was dead.

Mara's widow comes to Ulcetha with a strange item - it is a map that Mara wanted Ulcentha to have. But why this map? It is a puzzling clue; one thing Mara enjoyed was solving puzzles and it is clear that he left a tricky one as a last gift to Ulcetha. Ultimately, this leads to Ulcetha and a friend named Trenevar venturing below the Summer Palace, searching through the vast ruins to look for the missing Orb of Cairado. Along the way, they discover evidence of murder. The underground is a dangerous place to venture.

The plot is well thought out. The treasure hunt is exciting. The mystery of who stole the Orish Veltavan and why is a good puzzle. The dead body adds risk to the venture. And Ulcetha is always vulnerable to being exposed to the authorities by the treacherous Salathgarad if he doesn't keep writing the fake provenance.

Ulcetha is a likeable protagonist. He is honest (despite working for Salathgarad), clever and loyal. The story is a quick read. I enjoyed it and hope Addison continues to create stories in the Goblin Emperor universe.