Reviews

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

blue_guitar's review

Go to review page

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

3.75

freckledlife's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

4.25

I really enjoyed this story and have been thinking about it for several days after finishing the book. It did take me almost a month to read because the language was challenging and the pacing was slow. I don't think I would have survived without Kindle's X-Ray feature because there were so many similar-sounding names, and characters were also referred to by more than one name, so I kept losing track of who was who!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

capincus's review

Go to review page

5.0

Maia is infinitely lovable. This book has plenty of pitfalls but all of them are forgivable in light of that fact.

a_ab's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

This book was lovely. While it is long, and arguably too long, it flows like the most natural of rivers and I found myself swept up in its narrative. There is tension and oppressive fear in the situation in which the main character finds himself, but his quiet unbending resolve to not let that guide his decisions and mood ends up being the more dominant melody. 

(I found myself thinking about different scenes, threads and plotlines of this book in terms of soundtrack music and that in itself has been a new, but very enjoyable experience for me. This personal, although probably unintentional, gift alone made this book a 5* read for me, but there are plenty of other wonderful qualities, which also contributed to my great enjoyment of it.)

The greatest and perhaps the only real detriment I found in this book was the unmanageably jumbled alphabet soup of all the names and terms. My brain refused to keep up with it and that was annoying. But I found it also clever — the main character is overwhelmed by the novelty of everything he experiences and by the cacophony of new faces, terms, and indirect communications he has to wade through, just barely keeping up and not drowning in it all. The way I felt about the names and terms mimicked that very efficiently, giving me, as a reader, a stronger emotional and empathetic connection to the main character. So I ended up annoyed, but begrudgingly appreciative.

everyothergrievance's review

Go to review page

inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

ldasoqi's review

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 Who doesn't love a little bit of Court Intrigue? I know it's one of my biggest guilty pleasures, but this book didn't scratch the itch. The Dandelion Dynasty might have spoiled this genre for me because no matter what this story threw my way it was being silently compared and found lacking. This is not a bad book by any means, it just doesn't have the grit- It seems the Elflands have yet to meet their version of Machiavelli (Machiavelzihar or whatever). So if you find "court" to be way too dangerous and deadly, but you want some of that sweet-sweet court talk/politics, look no further, this is court intrigue for hippies.

This story follows Maia, the Emperor's fourth son; half elf and half goblin, Maia has grown up in exile from the court living with his abusive Cousin in the backwaters of the Empire. All of that changes when the Emperor and his three favored sons die in an Airship accident. Regardless of how unlikely and ill-equipped he is to rule, Maia ascends to the Imperial throne, invested as Edrihasivar VII.

Honestly, I love that set-up, it's just unfortunate that this book isn't up-front about what kind of story this will be. This is High-Fantasy, not Grimdark-even though the story sort of begs for it to be that way. What does that mean, exactly? It means that danger is fleeting, the risks and threats posed against our new Emperor spend all the book developing in the shadows just to evaporate in contrived and anti-climactic surprises. It's crazy that I can say that when there are multiple attempts on Maia's life over the course of this book. The problem is that those attempts are something an infant would plan. I am spoiling a little bit here, but one of these would be assassins straight up tries to stab him at a party, with his Imperial guards literally right next to him. It really bothered me, how the politics and the world could be so rich, and yet the schemes and "intrigue" could be so one dimensional. What remains is a coming of age (at court) story that is by no means terrible, but not really what I signed up for.

That leads into probably my biggest problem with the book; I hate Maia. Obviously the Elflands play by a different set of rules, but if Maia were a Roman Emperor, they'd have found his body in a dumpster on his second day. He's kindhearted, apologetic, and visibly unprepared for the task at hand; perfect for a coming of age out in the prairie but (having read a million of these) an obvious mark in the court. He changes over the course of the story, experience colors in the gaps in his education and demeanor, but he retains his softness thanks to the Nerf™ world that surrounds him. If this story dealt with something other than a succession plot, or if the story twisted my expectations with some trope subversion, I could maybe get behind Maia, but that's not what this book is about. At the end of the day, he's just too much of a fairy tale protagonist for my taste.

My final criticism is aimed at the world building; specifically the entirely new vocabulary this book invents. Now, court intrigue is tough to write because of how much emphasis there is on characterization and dialogue; it has to be that way since we are confined to one setting. The world building is always weaker in books like this, but I have to say that this book does the most it can on this front. This world is interesting, just not tonally consistent and mainly delivered by exposition. I can appreciate just how much world building we get when you consider we're basically stuck in the same gloomy set of chambers all book long. Since so much of the world building is relegated to atmosphere and flavor we get to pick through a 300 word glossary and character sheet that is unreadable. I hate when books give a massive glossary, but I hate it even more when I can't read any of the words. This is definitely one of those books where you should start with the audiobook (which is actually amazing, Kyle McCarley kills it).

This is well written and interesting, but it feels like someone replaced the filling in my Grimdark Oreo with some fairy tale cream. If you like court drama, but you're tired of everyone including the MC being a calculating piece of work, this might be exactly what you're looking for. Personally, I can't get off unless the MC is planning to destroy every noble house that stands in his way. 

starstreamer26's review

Go to review page

slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

A slog to get through and exercise in world building but the last quarter was entertaining.

mmmlysaght's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

An uninspiring update from one of my favorite authors.

It leaned so heavily on its high fantasy elements that it felt like a hollow repetition of genre; the presence of elves and exotic architecture do not a compelling political intrigue make.

Pros:
- the author's signature lushly descriptive prose
- the main character was charming

Cons:
- lack of engaging political intrigue
- linnear, predictable story
- no creative use of its fantastical elements. Instead of being interested, I found myself asking 'why it gotta be elves' and realizing that the fact of elves was the most compelling part of the story

lunarchfey's review

Go to review page

5.0

5/5 stars

Ahhhhh this was just a perfect book. Immersive, kind, and just a joy to read. I very much struggled to put it down. She continues to cement herself as the first name that comes to mind when I think of my all-time favourite authors (having read many of her books as Sarah Monette as well).

This book follows the journey of Maia, a young half-goblin distant heir of the Emperor who abruptly finds himself thrust into suddenly being his successor when his father and brothers die in an accident. Nobody expected this to ever happen, least of all poor Maia. The court of elves is hostile and confusing and Maia has to figure out who to trust and how to navigate his new life and responsibilities, while also coming to peace with his own losses and trauma.

If you (like me) don't like grimdark books or novels where the worst possible thing happens and people can't be trusted, then The Goblin Emperor is a breath of fresh air. There are people who can't be trusted, and things that go wrong, and Maia is often upset, embarrassed, or treated poorly, but overwhelmingly the book is about how if you choose to be kind, then you can cultivate kindness in the world around you; and there will always be people that choose the path of kindness as well.

It's well-written and so joyful in its own way and ALL political machinations are made better when you remember that everyone in the room has big wiggly elf ears.

Content warning for childhood abuse, and a heavily patriarchal society with conservative social views (with a narrative and protagonist that clearly views this as wrong).

sophisticotton's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

a reread for me, and it confirmed how much i love this cozy little political fantasy.