The Goblin Emperor

My favorite book of all time, and I do not say that lightly. Maia is the fourth, forgotten son of the emperor and never expects to be on the throne. A tragedy changes that and throws Maia headfirst into a world of Court. My favorite aspect of this book is the kindness that Maia clings to despite the difficulty of his circumstances.

Also, yes, there are way too many names and they all look the same but there is a very thorough list of persons in the beginning and the rest of the book more than makes up for it.

My new favorite book. I've learned something important about myself and other people from reading it and various reviews. When someone says “Maia, yuck! He's just too nice. I hate him.” That person – don't trust them one inch. Maia is the person I want to be. Addison does an amazing job of revealing the personal struggles of a real person who intends to be good and do the right thing. It is not an easy attempt, not dull and static, but a fluid and difficult grind.

I listened to the audiobook read by Kyle McCarley, and I will never know if I love the book more for the writing or for his perfect voice. I do not normally listen to books, but I am so glad I did this time.

(really 4.5 stars; minus 1/2 star for the over-busy naming conventions) Add me to the list of those pining for a sequel, or at least more in this world. What a completely charming story. I did especially enjoy how the character of some of the more important secondary characters was slowly revealed. I will need to buy a copy of this book for sure.

Don't let the stereotypical long, complicated fantasy names deter you. This book is pretty special.

Re-read. It was 4 stars for me before but I enjoyed it quite a bit more this time, so 5 stars. The main character is a wholesome, good person – a truly good one, one of very few I've come across in fantasy.

The first 3 hours of the book were pretty much the same. I kept expecting for a plot, it didn't happen.

This is a very tame history. A teenager boy who is the last in line to the throne becomes the king as his father and his ~3 brothers die in an accident.

Everybody hates him because he is half goblin in an elven court. His father had married his mother for political reasons, and never expected her to get pregnant.

The book narrates in details the process of him becoming a king, in the same way I'd describe in many hours the process of tying my shoes.

read 3:05 / 16:25 19%

Deeply political maneuverings during a troubled dynastic succession. Don't be deceived by the somewhat dry elevator pitch, this is a gripping story. Part Machiavellian machinations, part murder mystery, part coming of age for a forgotten scion of a royal family. The world building is deeply impressive, with a complex hierarchy and political system which can be a bit overwhelming. Once you get your head around the terminology (which is vast and confusing) there is a rich tapestry of court life and the isolation of power. The confusing terminology in many ways serves to enhance the sense of confusion of the titular Goblin Emperor.

This is political fantasy at its best and highly recommended

I'm waffling between a 4 and 4.5 stars for this one. I enjoyed this book a lot but this isn't going to be for everyone. This book goes pretty ham with its world, its lore, and its court politics, so if you're not into that then probably give this one a miss. But if you enjoy that, then this one has it in spades, but also in a fairly digestible format.

The biggest hurdle for someone just getting into the story would be the crazy names: Untheileneise'meire and Dach'osmerrem Tethimada, for example. I'm not even sure if I've spelt that right. Even now, I probably wouldn't be able to remember, pronounce, or spell most of the names I encountered in this book, but you'll be fine as long as you've found a way to digest and tell apart the names.

Our protagonist Maia (who has the easiest name of the lot) is an 18 year old half-elf, half-goblin prince who unexpectedly ascends to the imperial throne of the Elflands after his father the Emperor and all his half-brothers die in an airship crash. Having been born to a goblin empress who was not favoured by his father, Maia has been pretty much shut out from the court for his entire life so he makes a pretty good lens through which us the readers can experience the Untheileian (Elflands) court. He is just ignorant enough to require the explanations on how things work, but also just smart enough that he doesn't make annoyingly daft decisions even though he's a complete newbie to court machinations.

There is a central mystery to this but the author is clearly more interested in establishing the world and the court of the story, so the mystery and action seemed more like a “by the way” thing. If you're looking for fast-paced plots, then this is not the place you'd find it. The resolution to the mystery also felt a little anticlimactic - it just clearly wasn't a focus of this book much, except as a vehicle through which Maia can gain a firmer footing in his new position as Emperor.

I also felt the story ended a little too neatly. The good people win, the bad people die or are exiled. Maia wins the love of his future empress and solves all the conflicts he had had. He is always a little queasy at the thought of people having to be executed even if it's for their crime of nearly having him killed. His niece and nephews, children of his traitorous sister-in-law, are immediately taken to him from the very first moment. Everything just seems a bit too peachy keen by the end.

Overall, a great book and a series I wouldn't mind continuing. I truly appreciated the effort the author put in to the world building. You know a book's got that when there's a whole section at the end of the book on how names are pronounced and how titles work.

I don't think I would have read this if it wasn't part of a book-club reading list. I found the title more than a little off-putting. The image it conjured up was of a grotty chieftain avoiding being stabbed in the back somewhere under the Misty Mountains. Not my cup of tea. I was wrong on this count.

The premise is not made clear in the blurb – but is actually very intriguing (this is all Chapter 1 stuff, no spoilers): Years ago the Elven Emperor was forced into a political marriage to secure peace with the neighbouring Goblin lands. Marriage was how such treaties were made, so a Goblin Princess married the Elven Emperor. She was his sixth wife and so could be safely swept under the carpet after the legally obligated nuptials. She was sent to live her life in an isolated forest to be forgotten. Everyone was rather surprised when an Elf-Goblin halfbreed prince was born, but as he had a gaggle of older half-brothers he could be safely ignored. That is until an airship crash wiped out the Royal Family, leaving our little halfblood prince as the heir to the throne.

I'd happily give 4.5 stars for the scenario. After Chapter 1 my head was spinning with the possibilities, how was this plot going to develop? Was our Prince going to be hunted down by rivals, desperate to stop him reaching the capital? Would he assume the throne and have to face down a popular uprising due to his Goblin blood? Would he in fact be the great peacemaker between these ancient rivals, bringing them together at last?

The answer is that he gets on an airship, flies to the capital in a few paragraphs, and then pretty much does nothing.

Possible Spoilers ahead (but not much).

OK, there's some letter writing, some key building projects he pushes through and some functions he attends. Yes there is some opposition and some courtiers scheme away, but really he just learns the ropes with a couple of stumbles along the way, but nothing really to write home about.

That's right. Nothing. Happens.

It's a well written, deeply thought out, intricate nothing. If you are interested in the bureaucracy of a fantasy world, or some very polite manoeuvring in the royal court, you might like it. If you want world-building and a likeable enough character then you might enjoy this book, but I've got to say I need Plot as well as Character and Setting. This has only two of the three. I think I found him selecting his outfits the most gripping scenes in the book.

I guess that's what made it so disappointing – I like the character, I love the setting, I just wanted something to happen.

The Goblin Emperor can perhaps be described as the most interesting book I've ever read in which nothing really happens. I mean, things happen, but not in the epic way that I think many fantasy readers have come to expect. The Goblin Emperor is the story of Maia, a half-elf, half-goblin who falls into the position of Emperor of Elfland when his father and half brothers are killed in an airship crash. Maia is whisked to the capital where he has to learn how to navigate tricky political waters and govern his kingdom. The entire novel resolves around the policies Maia must learn and the rules he must abide by, as he tries to fit in to the world of the Elven elite, while trying to maintain his own individual identity.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. Maia is the sort of character who will win over a reader with his utter goodness. He has a sort of wide-eyed innocence that isn't uncommon to people thrust into a new situation, but he somehow manages to maintain it even as he learns to deal with the less glamorous side of politics. Some people have complained that this makes him too good, or uninteresting, but I think the writing of Maia is so good I don't really care. I don't think this book would have worked any other way, really. It would have caused to book to completely loose its charm. And it's Maia - once you've read the story it is very difficult to imagine him any way other than how he is written.

Throughout his journey through the realm of Elven politics, Maia is lucky to have a (mostly) great team of advisors and staff to help him (Especially Csevet. Love me some Csevet.), but he must learn to deal with the history of his family (and the loss of them) on his own. The characters are fun and interesting, though it is not an uncommon complaint about the internets that the names did not have to be quite so difficult to pronounce. I don't know if I agree with this - the names really are quite beautiful once you grasp the sounds of them - and honestly many of the longer, more complex names have stuck with me over the shorter or more common ones precisely because of their interesting collection of sounds. In a book with so little action (we barely leave the palace), the naming conventions really did help me feel like I was in another world. I think the world building is really fantastic - you get a very real sense of what life (well, court life at least) is like in Elfland, and how the cultures are different elsewhere. Some of the themes of the book a bit obvious (he's building a bridge!), but none are out of place or bring the story to a stop.

All in all I have to say that this was a great book. It is a quiet story - not a typical epic hero's journey at all - but that is what I like about it. Maia is the sort of heartwarmingly good character you need in your life every once in a while. Especially if you've just read Game of Thrones. He's like chicken soup for the fantasy reader's soul. The writing is good, the world is interesting, and the story is full of interesting and subtle court driven politics. Definitely a fun read for anyone who likes historical fiction or fantasy, though I think any reader would fall in love with Maia and enjoy his story. Highly recommended.

This book should be boring. In all honesty, at first it kind of was. I am not one for political thrillers, and really that's who this book is geared towards. It has elves and goblins and airships and pneumatic tubes, but if you replaced those with feudal houses in Edo era Japan, ocean-going vessels, and printing presses, the story would not have to change much at all. The heart of this story is politics and all the rest is dressing.

That said, it is the kind of dressing a master baker spends hours crafting to look simple. Addison has created multiple, distinct cultures, religions, dialects, systems of government, and classes. She could have borrowed terminology from actual societies or just used more traditional terminology, but she doesn't. She worked hard to build this engaging panorama, and I think that's why I ended up feeling the story differently than I would if this were straight-up historical fiction.

The essential story is of a half-elf/half-goblin exiled child of an emperor suddenly and unexpectedly being thrust on the throne. He has no political acumen or alliances to speak of, but has no choice but to adjust, abdicate, or be assassinated. The first third of the book is really just following Maia to meetings, parties, and ceremonies. This really bored me at first, but then I started getting into it when things stopped playing out along the cliched lines. Admittedly, the bad characters get worse and the good characters get better, but it is still not a cliched rice to power by any means. By the end, I cared about the characters even if the pacing was a bit slow.

Addison has said she is not writing a sequel, but might return to the world for another novel. I hope she does because it would be wasteful not to keep exploring the multi-faceted cultures of which this book presents just the tip of the iceberg.

I tend to really dislike High Fantasy (LOTR) And prefer it with plenty of sarcasm or wit (Abercrombie, Buehlman on the more lugubrious side). or definitely light (Becky Chambers, Travis Baltree, somewhat Pratchett) and this one falls definitely in the latter category. Use the Kindle version the names are the most truly annoying aspect of the book.

For a 450 book in which pretty much nothing happens, The Goblin Emperor sure is a fast read. Nearly all plot is sacrificed for Addison to explore the character development of the new emperor, Maia, and even more than that to build her setting. The political intrigue is nuanced and intricate, without ever feeling too difficult to follow (although I will say that the naming conventions are hard to keep track of and it took me 250 pages to realize that there was a reference index at the back.)

Jon tells me that the book borrows wholesale from the Ottoman Empire, but my own world history is too weak to appreciate the parallels. Nonetheless, I found it perfectly enjoyable without understanding the allusions. Instead, I really enjoyed Addison's world, which felt totally self-sufficient and detailed, with a consistent language, multiple related religions and customs.

It is interesting, because the reason why I wanted to read this book, was because someone told me that it was a great stand-alone fantasy novel. Now I want to know what happens to “our Serenity.” in a sequel. A little difficult to start with because of the use of elvish names and locations, but I think that is more my lack of practice in the fantasy genre, recently. The other thing your brain has to figure out is that names that end in “a” are male not female. It took me a multiple chapters to convince my English language brain that the main character was indeed male. By the time you finish you find yourself a “friend” to the emperor.






Possible SPOILER:
I wish they would have done more with Setheris.

Een boek waar een appendix van tientallen bladzijden bij zit met de namen van de stapels en stapels personages en plaatsen, die gaat van Aäno, “maid at Edonomee; daughter of Kevo”, over Nazhmorhathveras, “the inhabitants of the Evressai Steppes, at war with the Ethuveraz”, en Thorchelezen, “a junior canon of the Untheileneise'meire”, tot Zhidelka, “a Barizheise silk merchant and former pirate”.

Een boek dat het heeft over niet veel meer dan de eerste dagen, weken en maanden van de nieuwe keizer van Elfland, in een wereld blijkbaar zonder mensen (maar met elfen en goblins), die aanvoelt als een soort kruising tussen het Byzantijnse Rijk op zijn hoogtepunt en de 19de eeuw, compleet luchtschepen, eindeloze hofrituelen, pneumatische post, enorm veel beleefdheidsregels en aanspreekwijzen, en een staatsbestel waar verschillende grote instellingen (Geloof incluis) elkaar in precair evenwicht houden.

Een boek vol hofintriges, dat eigenlijk beter in het Duits of het Frans was geschreven, omdat er een groot deel van de tijd gespeeld wordt met aanspreekwijzen, en dat er in het Engels geen onderscheid is tussen ‘you' enkelvoud en meervoud, en ‘you' met veel, weinig of geen respect, en dat het niet meteen duidelijk is of ‘we' betekent ‘wij, meervoud', ‘ik, pluralis maiestatis', of ‘wij, pluralis maiestatis'. Als het echt helemaal informeel is, dan moet de auteur terugvallen op vormen met ‘thou', en da's natuurlijk wel correct, maar het komt toch onvermijdelijk als min of meer gekunsteld over.

Als ik het goed heb, is iedereen zowat afgeschrikt nu?

Nergens voor nodig. Het was al lang geleden dat ik een boek zó in één ruk uitgelezen heb, tot zeer diep in de nacht.

Maia Drazhar is de vierde zoon van de keizer van Elfland, Varenechibel IV. Van zijn vierde vrouw, een goblin, die hem na het overlijden van zijn derde vrouw door de regering is opgedrongen, om een alliantie te bewerkstelligen tussen elfen en goblins.

(Tussendoor: elfen en goblins zijn allebei hoogstaande beschavingen, met een geschiedenis van duizenden jaren, de ene zien er wit uit en de andere zwart, de ene omschrijven de andere als ‘bruut uitziend' en de andere de ene als ‘wezelachtig', er is iets dat tussen racisme en nationalisme zit tussen beide, maar er zijn ook veel gemengde huwelijken in allerlei tinten van grijs.)

De vierde vrouw en de vierde zoon werden gehaat door de keizer, die niet over de dood van zijn vorige vrouw raakte, en als de vrouw sterft, wordt Maia verbannen naar ergens zeer ver op het platteland, samen met een oom die uit de gratie gevallen is en hem ook haat, en fysiek en psychisch mishandelt bovendien.

Op zijn achttiende verjaardag krijgt hij het nieuws dat een luchtschip waarin zijn vader en zijn drie oudere broers zaten, neergestort en uitgebrand is. Iedereen is dood, en dat wil zeggen dat Maia de nieuwe keizer is.

Hij wordt naar het keizerlijk paleis gebracht, waar hij gedropt wordt in een wereld waar hij niets van snapt. Met politiek en hofintriges die boven zijn hoofd gaan, waar hij niemand kent, en waar niemand hem (openlijk) mag of kan tegenspreken.

En dan wordt het een verhaal van een keizer die probeert goed te doen. Enorm meeslepend, en ik citeer uit een review van Foz Meadows op Strange Horizons (hier, maar lees het niet volledig wegens zware spoilers):

In traditional high fantasy, the archetypal Good King wins out in a moment of deep catharsis, triumphing over obvious evils to claim the birthright exemplified and proven by his chivalrous qualities. InThe Goblin Emperor, Maia becomes a Good King—or a good emperor, rather—in precisely the opposite fashion, and to much greater effect. Despite several dramatic events, there is no single dramatic catharsis: just the steady business of wounds healing, progress being made, and formerly lonely, alienated people being made whole by the trust they come to have in each other. Maia's chivalric virtues, if we can call them that, stem from the fact that he doesn't believe himself to be inherently worthy. He earns the throne, not because of who he is, but because of who he strives to be, while the evil he defeats isn't personified as a hoard of devils or a cackling overlord, but by the more insidious cruelties of abuse, entitlement, pride, and callousness.

The Goblin Emperor is a powerful, poignant book, and an excellent addition to the genre. I enjoyed every minute of it.

In all honesty, I'm not sure why I liked it so much. It did so many things that I have learned over the years indicate a painful reading experience, especially with authors I have never read before.

Before I dive into what I liked and didn't, a quick summary: The gist of the story is that a young half-elf prince in exile finds out he has inherited the rule of the whole elven kingdom. His father, the emperor, and brothers die in a mysterious airship accident (yes it has airships) leaving young Maia as emperor. As he clearly does not have the training or experience necessary to do the job, the book is primarily about Maia figuring out how to rule a kingdom and how to survive the process.

There are two red flags that I found in the first few pages of The Goblin Emperor that tend to make me want to put a book down before I waste too much time on it. The first one is elves for the sake of elves. Nothing about this story (that I can see) requires that Maia and company be elves. Usually this is indicative of either a) continued unoriginality or b) an inexperienced story-teller whose story will have more serious issues down the line. And the second red flag is the use of a bajillion names. So many names that it is impossible for those uninitiated in certain subgenres of fantasy to keep track of.

However, I think what kept me reading at first was the sheer quality of the prose. Usually, the red flags I mention also coincide with clunky prose and sketchy characterization. That was certainly not the case with this book. The prose was fluid and in some ways transparent like a majority of so-called “popular” sci-fi and fantasy, but in others ways Addison's prose tip-toes close to the border of “too lush” but it never quite crosses the line. I think this is a most difficult balance to achieve, and Addison did it very, very, well.

The other thing that kept me attached to the story is Maia himself. He is kind of a tragic character, but in the softest most upbeat sense. He struggles to be kind and compassionate where everyone in his life except for maybe his mother did the opposite to him. The best parts of the book were when we get to see Maia take the high road when it would be easy to be vindictive, or even violent to those that caused him pain before he became emperor.

The only small gripe I have about the book as that there really was no mystery. The guy you thought was behind the airship crash, was indeed behind the airship crash. There was not a whole lot of misdirection that happened, and I guess I had expected a deeper level of subterfuge coming from a book that was ostensibly about court intrigue. However I think all of this could be put on my expectations of the book and is not really a fault in the book itself.

So in summary, I loved it. The Goblin Emperor is a smooth read. Its an in depth exploration of a sympathetic character, but at the same time the pace never seems to lag. So if you are in the mood for something a little bit mellow, but still engaging. I highly recommend you pick up a copy.

Stunning book! Why not 5 stars then? Mostly because the words, titles and names are so difficult to understand and remember. There is a glossary at the back but this is not easy to use in an ebook.

I have found that I love character based books without complex (or even any) significant plot. This is slow but beautiful and the character development is lovely. Not quite cozy fiction but not far off it. I heard about this on a podcast and was sceptical but went for it. Others have claimed this as their best book of the year and it might well come close for me too.

I loved this book. I fell into this world immediately and didn't want to leave; how could I, anyway, abandon Maia to this unfamiliar nest of treachery? I've seen comments on the difficulty of keeping track of the similar names / use of honorifics, but completely disagree that there is any flaw in these things. I was no more confused than any reluctant heir who had been hidden away in a gloomy and isolated keep for eighteen years, so I found it to be a skillful technique in producing an empathetic reader with a strong affinity for the protagonist. Excellent!