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In the isolated thickets of a faraway planet, a linguist lies dead. Inscrutinator Shameesh Kulkarni must find out why. But no one wants to talk: not the prospectors searching for mineral wealth, not the archaeologists trying to piece together a ruined city, not the local schoolteacher, and certainly not the indigenous people whose language the dead woman was researching.
Only two beings are interested in helping Shameesh solve the murder: a digital replica of the victim herself, and the inquisitive octopod who befriended her. Three brains are better than one, even if one is a bot and another is an invertebrate, because there is more than one mystery here to solve.
Here, the landscape itself hides layers of centuries-old secrets—secrets that the inhabitants must protect at all costs. Shameesh’s job is to reveal the truth—on a planet where the truth cannot be spoken.
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Reviews for Testament of Leaves:
“I absolutely loved this. The mystery was gripping and the setting was both deeply alien and so vivid I could feel the weight of the air. I particularly adored the alien octopus.”
— Naomi Kritzer, author of Cat Pictures Please and Liberty’s Daughter
“With this short novel—compact, jam-packed, thought-provoking and fun—Gilman delivers a state-of-the-art tale that inspires hope for our genre’s achieving escape velocity from any and all traps of depletion, exhaustion and cliché.” — Paul di Filippo, Locus
“With an earnest sleuth and a darling tentacled sidekick leading the way, there’s much to enjoy here.” — Publisher’s Weekly