The Martyrs

“In my role as omissioner, I receive summonses from all over the settlements. My function is to offer an ear, a valve for the bleeding of grief or worry or simply unspent chat, and to do this well I must adapt myself to those who live in different settlements. Anyone can call me. It costs nothing, and I offer no advice: all an omissioner does is listen, finding worth in words that would otherwise remain unspoken or forgotten.”

The Martyrs is a return to the “eerie mental eavesdropping” of The Settlements and The Revenants, and although not in any way a sequel, the book listens to the voices of the peninsula, following meandering tales according to a dream logic—