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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
Objectively, it's probably more of a 4-star book, but after my disappointment with The Three-Body Problem, I am just so so glad to have a Hugo book that I loved so much! The Goblin Emperor is a fantasy about a half-elven, half-goblin teenager, last and least-favoured exile son of the stern and severe emperor, who unexpectedly inherits the empire when the rest of his family perishes.
As a result of his unconventional upbringing outside of the scheming & manipulation of court, the new emperor is able to bring change and progression to a stagnant, old-fashioned empire; stirring things up politically; pushing back against forces of snobby aristocracy and classism, sexism, racism, and homophobia. Maia is a really likeable protagonist: a grumpy teenager thrust into an insanely difficult situation but doing his best, making mistakes along the way, muddling his way through under the guidance of his advisors, committing faux pas' and political missteps, but ultimately trying to nudge the empire into something better, something out of the shadow of his stern conservative father.
It's also a great depiction of abuse, the aftershocks and repercussions and lingering effects of it: the way Maia's self-esteem has suffered, the way he's internalised his guardian's words into a self-berating, self-loathing internal voice; yet the book also doesn't paint his abuser as an entirely black-or-white evil creature (Maia's understanding of his guardian's flaws was one of the most poignant scenes, IMO). There are other shades of grey in play, too: Maia's growing awareness that others did genuinely love his father very much although he didn't; that the man had friends; that part of the reason his father was so cruel because he'd been pressured into an imperial marriage he didn't want, and he was still grieving the loss of the actual love of his life.
The book is slowly-paced, with not a lot of action, mainly political maneuvering and the struggle in trying to run a complex empire -- but tbh that's exactly the sort of thing I love, because e.g. I know people were bored with ASOIAF!Daenerys struggling to maintain an economy, whereas I got a kick out of it and never tired of it. The Goblin Emperor focuses more on slow character growth and setting Maia's affairs in order, growing into the role he's been forced into. It's like the computer game Long Live the Queen, complete with just how freaking difficult it is to successfully run an empire and stay alive -- and can I just say, I also really appreciated the non-human fantasy setting. Addison's worldbuilding for the elvish and goblin empires were immensely rich and detailed, with language and terminology and nuances that she flings at you while trusting you to understand, which put me in mind of Sherwood Smith's Inda and it's my favourite method of exposition (i.e. sink-or-swim!).
The development of the treatment of women was pretty much my favourite thing to watch throughout the book, and I loved so many of the characters (and selfishly wish we'd had even more focus on them tbh). Csevet! Csethiro! Vedero! The Great Avar! Maia's bodyguards! Arbelan!
In short, highly recommended, for really in-depth worldbuilding and character development and seeing how a conservative government might be dragged into a new age. It's just an inherently warm, positive book. Maia is also just the best. I would gladly welcome a sequel with his continuing adventures, even though I know it would probably be pretty redundant and won't happen.
I'm also categorising this as a mixed-race & "non-white main character" book because, though these are fictional races, the prejudice Maia experiences due to his darker skin colour and mixed-race heritage can be applied to the real world as well, and his racial/cultural identity struggles struck a chord with me.
It's getting my 2015 Hugo vote for best novel.
As a result of his unconventional upbringing outside of the scheming & manipulation of court, the new emperor is able to bring change and progression to a stagnant, old-fashioned empire; stirring things up politically; pushing back against forces of snobby aristocracy and classism, sexism, racism, and homophobia. Maia is a really likeable protagonist: a grumpy teenager thrust into an insanely difficult situation but doing his best, making mistakes along the way, muddling his way through under the guidance of his advisors, committing faux pas' and political missteps, but ultimately trying to nudge the empire into something better, something out of the shadow of his stern conservative father.
It's also a great depiction of abuse, the aftershocks and repercussions and lingering effects of it: the way Maia's self-esteem has suffered, the way he's internalised his guardian's words into a self-berating, self-loathing internal voice; yet the book also doesn't paint his abuser as an entirely black-or-white evil creature (Maia's understanding of his guardian's flaws was one of the most poignant scenes, IMO). There are other shades of grey in play, too: Maia's growing awareness that others did genuinely love his father very much although he didn't; that the man had friends; that part of the reason his father was so cruel because he'd been pressured into an imperial marriage he didn't want, and he was still grieving the loss of the actual love of his life.
The book is slowly-paced, with not a lot of action, mainly political maneuvering and the struggle in trying to run a complex empire -- but tbh that's exactly the sort of thing I love, because e.g. I know people were bored with ASOIAF!Daenerys struggling to maintain an economy, whereas I got a kick out of it and never tired of it. The Goblin Emperor focuses more on slow character growth and setting Maia's affairs in order, growing into the role he's been forced into. It's like the computer game Long Live the Queen, complete with just how freaking difficult it is to successfully run an empire and stay alive -- and can I just say, I also really appreciated the non-human fantasy setting. Addison's worldbuilding for the elvish and goblin empires were immensely rich and detailed, with language and terminology and nuances that she flings at you while trusting you to understand, which put me in mind of Sherwood Smith's Inda and it's my favourite method of exposition (i.e. sink-or-swim!).
The development of the treatment of women was pretty much my favourite thing to watch throughout the book, and I loved so many of the characters (and selfishly wish we'd had even more focus on them tbh). Csevet! Csethiro! Vedero! The Great Avar! Maia's bodyguards! Arbelan!
In short, highly recommended, for really in-depth worldbuilding and character development and seeing how a conservative government might be dragged into a new age. It's just an inherently warm, positive book. Maia is also just the best. I would gladly welcome a sequel with his continuing adventures, even though I know it would probably be pretty redundant and won't happen.
I'm also categorising this as a mixed-race & "non-white main character" book because, though these are fictional races, the prejudice Maia experiences due to his darker skin colour and mixed-race heritage can be applied to the real world as well, and his racial/cultural identity struggles struck a chord with me.
It's getting my 2015 Hugo vote for best novel.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If being immersed in a dense fictional political intrigue is your idea of a good time, you will enjoy this book!
I wasn't sure how to rate this book. It's a nice book, and I really liked Maia's character, but, courtly intrigue is not my cup of tea.
The book follows Maia, a despised half-elf, half-goblin, fourth son of the Emporer of the Elflands. Maia was raised far from court, and had received no training or education of court life at all.
Due to a tragic accident that caused the deaths of Maia's father and older brothers, he, at age 18, finds himself emporer.
Maia is a very likeable character, and I truly felt sorry for his loneliness as he tries to make his way as emporer.
The book follows Maia, a despised half-elf, half-goblin, fourth son of the Emporer of the Elflands. Maia was raised far from court, and had received no training or education of court life at all.
Due to a tragic accident that caused the deaths of Maia's father and older brothers, he, at age 18, finds himself emporer.
Maia is a very likeable character, and I truly felt sorry for his loneliness as he tries to make his way as emporer.
Nice fantasy, politic-y and intrigue book, with good characters and a well built world. Really enjoyed it despite it taking me ages to finish just in one of those reading slumps lol
hopeful
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maia, a half goblin/half elf, unexpectedly becomes the emperor of the elves, and this upsets everyone - including Maia.The story is what I'd solidly classify a political fantasy, but with really great character growth. Maia struggles with feeling like an outsider, in more ways than one. He also struggles with his own ignorance, fear, and self-confidence. I loved watching him grow from the beginning of the book, to the end.
The plot was very evenly paced, and nothing was really left hanging unanswered by the end. My only issue was my own stupidity - even at 90% into the book, I was still having to look up who characters were and flip back through the book to remind myself what they meant to Maia. The author developed a sort of convoluted and confusing naming system for characters and places, I assume so we felt as Maia felt in an alien court - but that may just be me.
The plot was very evenly paced, and nothing was really left hanging unanswered by the end. My only issue was my own stupidity - even at 90% into the book, I was still having to look up who characters were and flip back through the book to remind myself what they meant to Maia. The author developed a sort of convoluted and confusing naming system for characters and places, I assume so we felt as Maia felt in an alien court - but that may just be me.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of this book was just not it. Im not the biggest fan of high fantasy, but I have read my fair share of it, but the names and places and titles in this book were just too much. I read Chinese fantasy stories where everyone has 2 to 3 names and it was far less confusing than this. I spent most of the book just trying to remember who was who (and the guide didn't help much as most descriptions of places or people had another term or name I had to look up, which made me spend like 1p minutes just trying to tie everything together enough to remember who was who)
And the story was just slow. It did build up at the end and get better in the last 5 chapters or so, but most of the book was just meetings and letters and walking around. Even when things did happen, it all felt so anticlimactic.
And the story was just slow. It did build up at the end and get better in the last 5 chapters or so, but most of the book was just meetings and letters and walking around. Even when things did happen, it all felt so anticlimactic.