Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

25 reviews

ethuiliel's review

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Colonisation, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Misogyny and Racism

amandaterasu's review

emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is my favorite book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Bullying, and Misogyny

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and War

A lot of the Content Warnings (but not all!) here are about recovering from the trauma inflicted by the content listed. This is a book about healing and moving forward after trauma.

localcryptid's review against another edition

mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I think there is a specific audience for this book, but unfortunately it wasn't me. 

The writing itself was a big drawback. The shift between plain English and more archaic English (thee, thou, willst, etc) felt forced and a bit jarring. I think the intent was to demonstrate a level of formality and ritual, but it didn't feel particularly well executed. It maybe would have worked a bit better if we had had more time with Maia before he was taken to the main court.

The characters also feel immensely underdeveloped. Maia is the narrative focus, and unfortunately this means that none of the other characters get much time to develop. The antagonist  stay antagonistic for exactly the reasons you expect them to. They feel very one-dimensional and boring.

The singular betrayal of the mage is a bit of a suprise, but because it is also a suprise to Maia it doesn't really feel like a useful plot point. It would've been nice to see some of his dissatisfaction foreshadowed. But his betrayal just kind of comes out of left field, is unsuccessful, he kills himself, and we get a lot of filler discussion of people being unhappy with the betrayal but that doesn't do much to really develop the character relationships.

. The supporting characters continue to like Maia for the same reasons they start off liking Maia. Some of them get a small vignette to explain why they like Maia, but there are very few characters that switch from disliking Maia to liking him. At best you will see a shift from ambivalent to care. It feels like a failure of political intrigue.

There are several plot points that feel, at best, dissappointing in the way they are treated. Spoilers for discussion of the plot, discussion of suicide, and discussion of homophobia.

Firstly, I particularly I hated the way that ritual suicide came into play in the plot. It's not a topic I care for under any circumstance, but when the mage who betrays Maia is forced to commit suicide they way he is disucssed after death is upsetting. Prior to killing himself he asks Maia to witness the event because he has no one else. The scene itself was graphic, but worse is the cleric who says he was exaggerating when he said he had no one left. It feels like an unnecessary jab at people who commit suicide. That may feel like an unkind assumption and a bit of a reach, but considering the way the singular gay relationship is handled I stand by that reading of it. Which brings me to my second big nit-pick: homophobia. It feels as though we are supposed to see Maia as benevolent for continuing to work with a gay man despite viewing his sexuality as "unnatural love" because the gay man acknowledged the relationship was wrong and chose to leave the church. Distasteful as it is, I could perhaps excuse that description in something written in 2004. In 2014? What was the point, unless it was something the author genuinely believes?

Neither of these things felt necessary for larger story. It's dissappointing so say the least that the author felt it necessary to include them.

The big "twist" of the novel is also dissappointing in that the first time it happens it's shocking. Unexpected! Exciting! And then it happens again. And then it happens *a third time*. And it doesn't feel shocking or unexpected or exciting anymore. It just feels like a waiting game to see if we get to make it to the end of the book before the another antagonist tries for another round of the same plot point. 

In all, I had friends who were excited about the book, loved the characters, and loved the plot, but for me there were just too many small issues that piled up and never let me enjoy it. I was dissappoined in the book and I was dissappointed in not being able to join my peers in enjoying it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual harassment

Ritual suicide

one of the characters is forced to commit ritual suicide and the scene is rather descriptive.

sexual harassment

It is implied that one character narrowly escaped being the victim of a sexual assault at the hands of several other characters. There are no repurcussions for the characters that inteded to commit the assault.

Homophobia

once character discusses sentencing his male lover to death for murdering his wife. His sexuality is considered to be wrong, sinful, and a curiosity by the main character.

marsh_mall0w's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia

mal_eficent's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

If you enjoy stories that just follow a character through their life in a fantasy world, whether it's full of adventure or not, this will scratch that itch for you in the most satisfying way. I wouldn't consider this a character driven story (Maia doesn't quite have enough agency for his choices to be driving the plot) but it's almost entirely character focussed. Which means unless you're really into the details, this might feel like it the story is slow and meandering–especially as the writing is slightly formal to match the expectations of court life. The narrative warms as Maia finds his place, and if the coldness of the beginning puts you off I'd recommend sticking with it to see the change. 

What plot there is isn't hugely complicated or action filled–even when it gets fully into the politics–but it is thorough look. Every aspect of life as an Emperor is considered and addressed, and Maia is the perspective we learn everything about this world through. The world building is excellently paced and explained. Information is there precisely when the story needs it without overwhelming the narrative.  

Except the information at the beginning of the book. There's a couple of pages explaining the naming systems, court addresses, and pronunciation (presented as an in world travel guide). Since I started with the audiobook I didn't realise it was there, and was a little confused for the earlier part of the narrative as it introduced a ton of characters with 'the same name' but never explained why. Turns out I was confusing the 'Sir and Madam' of this world for names. So, bear in mind if you're starting audio first you'll be missing some information - and about five pages of chapter 30, which are just missing. The pay off is that the narrator, Kyle McCarley, is fantastic. His accent and cadence suits the formal setting of the world immeasurably, and the voices he gives each character makes them come alive off the page. Even Maia's speaking voice or direct thoughts sound slightly different to plain narration. 

If you enjoy works like Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, Tamora Pierce's Tortall books, Chris Bunch's Dragon Master series, or even Game of Thrones (though this is much 'simpler'), then I'd recommend Goblin Emperor 100%.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Classism, Sexism, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

istiel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Bullying

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Death, Murder, Xenophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Miscarriage, Child death, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Classism, and Homophobia

alexalily's review

challenging hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Terminal illness, Alcohol, Blood, and Homophobia

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Car accident and Grief

Minor: Infertility, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Miscarriage

ok7a's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse and Misogyny

Minor: Death of parent and Miscarriage

starlit_pathways's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Xenophobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, War, and Classism

Minor: Torture and Suicide