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thereadinghammock's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is heavy with world building. I struggled with the naming conventions and pronunciations of everything that reading the physical book was a chore. After switching to the audiobook, I found it was a bit easier to follow, especially since there were character voices to figure out who was who.
The book is super slow in the first half and only really picks up after chapter 18, but even then, that level of set up isn't for everyone. It's a slog and while Maia and the folks he's close with are good characters, it did still feel like a struggle to make it to the end of this one.
The book is super slow in the first half and only really picks up after chapter 18, but even then, that level of set up isn't for everyone. It's a slog and while Maia and the folks he's close with are good characters, it did still feel like a struggle to make it to the end of this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Grief and Car accident
Minor: Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I originally DNF'd this book around 30% and wasn't sure if I was going to pick it up again. But after some prodding from friends, I started over again, and I'm really glad I did. This book needs and deserves attention. It's slow going, and very character focused, but it's worth the effort. Once you come to care for Maya, you root for him and hope him nothing but success and happiness. And that's great, because without that attachment to Maya - and some of the other characters - this would have been in the "I just didn't care so it bored me" category. Luckily, he's super sympathetic and easy to cheer for, even when he's making mistakes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
seanml's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
3.75
The book’s one word premise is a royalty-focused fantasy set in a steampunk world populated by elves and goblins (Which are more like orcs here). Unfortunately, you don’t get to see too much of the steampunk part. The primary messages focus on the power of goodness, and sexism is a heavy undertone throughout the narrative. My two main detractions: While there is certainly a plot, the book is much more slice of life than I expected; which doesn’t detract from it, but it may not be what you’re thinking. Additionally, there’s a complex naming convention system at play here which leads to more confusion than A Clockwork Orange. 7.5/10.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, and Sexual harassment
starlit_pathways's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, War, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Torture
creadstoomuc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
thevampiremars's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I suppose I’ll start with a note on this book’s use of language: I found the grammar easy to understand, but the vocabulary not so much – unwieldy words like “Nazhmorhathvereise” and “Untheileneise’meire” disrupted my reading, and there are a lot of characters with confusingly similar names. The worldbuilding could have done with a little more depth, I think, though I do appreciate the steampunk flavour (clocks are a recurrent motif, and airships are prominent too). The story is largely confined to imperial palaces, so we don’t get to see the intricacies of everyday life in the Ethuveraz – rather, we learn about court etiquette and the inner workings of the government, which isn’t for everyone.
Maia, the protagonist, is by far the most fleshed-out character. He doesn’t have a lot of influence on the direction of the plot but, at the same time, his thoughts and feelings are the focus of the story. This book is something of a Maia character study.
I’ve seen other reviewers both fawningly and disparagingly call Maia a cinnamon roll who can do no wrong, but I don’t read him that way at all. In fact, Maia can be pretty awful at times. He crashes a funeral to make a point, with little to no regard for the mourners he’s intruding on. He bullies a messenger boy and then feels bad about it, not because he hurt the boy’s feelings but because doing so made him look bad. He has absolutely zero sympathy for a girl who, in his words, “let herself be bullied” and actually punishes her for it. Truly awful. But, in a way, these flaws make him a more compelling character. Maia is a young man struggling not only with unexpected responsibilities, but also with his past. For years he had been the victim of severe abuse, but now he has a great deal of power and doesn’t know what to do with it. The instincts he developed in order to survive and cope aren’t fit for this new situation he finds himself in, and so he ends up lashing out simply because he can, and fretting over others’ opinions of him because he fears their judgement. He straddles the line between being likeable and unlikeable, but I can’t say he isn’t sympathetic.
And while I’m discussing Maia’s moral failings, I would be remiss not to mention the fact that he’s an emperor with dozens of servants tending to his every need while, in the background, children die in workhouses. Which brings me to this book’s politics.
Here we see that common fantasy trope that all the world needs is a Good Monarch™ to set things straight, unlike those Bad Monarchs who do evil. The good are good and the bad are bad, and power in the hands of a good man can only be a good thing. Blah blah blah. I don’t buy it. And there are characters in the book who don’t buy it either. One of the major antagonistic forces is a group of radicals – terrorists – who assassinated the previous emperor and now have their sights set on Maia. They are motivated by an ideal called “Universal Ascendance” wherein “no man holds power over any other,” which is apparently “a cloud-fancy” at odds with human nature (or elf/goblin nature, I guess). The less radical adherents of this ideology believe in the perpetual accumulation of power which thereby facilitates ascension to godhood (a real-world analogue could be capitalism, perhaps?) but of course it’s the leftists who are wicked and insane. I’m not saying they’re right to plant bombs but they are right to oppose the emperor.
Towards the end of the book the threat is declared over simply because it’s time to wrap things up. It’s a pretty clumsy conclusion that doesn’t make any sense in-universe. But I suppose it’s not important. Like I said, this is an exploration of Maia’s character more than anything else. The plot (if you can call it that) is secondary.
Considering I’ve spent so long picking apart The Goblin Emperor’s flaws and shortcomings, you may be surprised to hear that I did enjoy the book. It’s well-written, it’s compelling, and though there are some aspects which irked me, it’s a good book overall. Though the story isn’t great and the political assertions are dubious, I appreciate Maia so much I can’t bear to give this book a low rating. I probably won’t read the rest of the trilogy, but I don’t regret reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War
zoeelizabethk's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I don't know how, but I've been on a binger of seemingly plotless books recently. And I've enjoyed them. Despite my misgivings initially with The Goblin Emperor, I ended up really enjoying it. This is not a terribly plot-driven book. Everything starts from the beginning conceit of a youngest, neglected son of an emperor who must suddenly become emperor when his father and brothers die. From there it's really a journey watching our MC learn to deal with court and grow a bit along the way. The worldbuilding is really intricate and well realized, however because I listened to it on audio I struggled a bit with the myriad of names, titles, and various political machinations. The character development is good and the ending was satisfying. As long as you enjoy scheming and don't mind there not being a central plot then you'll probably enjoy The Goblin Emperor. I liked it a lot actually, but I probably won't read the companion series.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kyle McCarley, who gave a fabulous performance. Caveat to the audiobook is that it is harder to sort out the many characters and titles.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kyle McCarley, who gave a fabulous performance. Caveat to the audiobook is that it is harder to sort out the many characters and titles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
mayaccountant's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Suicide
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racism
Minor: Xenophobia and Alcohol
pasanov's review against another edition
emotional
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'd give a higher rating if the magic system of the world was explored a bit more, and if the already diverse cast of characters was explored from different perspectives than just the protagonist's. Protagonist gets told a lot and instead of uncovering the mystery together with him we are shown every detail of his inner life, which just isn't my cup of tea beyond setting the audio book to 1.5 and running through to find out what happens in the end. That the characters are interesting and likeable to wish to do that is high praise enough.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Colonisation
rsmry's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Idk man. Very sweet main character and other characters I enjoyed as well. Really thorough world building, which was fun. But the plot and characters were still largely underwhelming. There were no surprising twists in the plot, no deeper character studies. :(
Oh and the writing at times was so uncreative. Like boring, repetitive structure and a lot of saying rather than showing, especially when wrapping up the plot.
Oh and the writing at times was so uncreative. Like boring, repetitive structure and a lot of saying rather than showing, especially when wrapping up the plot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse