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A review by tsunni
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
I didn't expect to like this this much. I was dreading a thick indecipherable wall of dry text after encountering the giant glossary at the beginning. This turned out to be surprisingly warm and cozy under the dense disguise of court politics, serving up one of my favorite fantasy feel good tropes of: what if being genuinely kind and nice to others actually overcame obstacles and had the power to make the world better?
I wouldn't say that I understood most of the book completely; you'd need to be flipping back to the glossary constantly if you wanted to do that, which I didn't by choice, just plowing ahead and understanding from context (so it's possible if you're worried about that). When I say the politics and maneuvering is dense, I absolutely mean it; there's barely any action to speak of, and large swathes of the book is devoted to deciphering the subtlest of details (what does this very specifically tied knot on this scroll to the emperor mean?) But the core of what the story wanted to tell me is as good and heartwarming as a Becky Chambers Wayfarers novel, but somehow does it while building up an incredibly complex and rich world as tangled and complex as anything GRR Martin would write. Probably one of the most unique books I've read in a while.
I wouldn't say that I understood most of the book completely; you'd need to be flipping back to the glossary constantly if you wanted to do that, which I didn't by choice, just plowing ahead and understanding from context (so it's possible if you're worried about that). When I say the politics and maneuvering is dense, I absolutely mean it; there's barely any action to speak of, and large swathes of the book is devoted to deciphering the subtlest of details (what does this very specifically tied knot on this scroll to the emperor mean?) But the core of what the story wanted to tell me is as good and heartwarming as a Becky Chambers Wayfarers novel, but somehow does it while building up an incredibly complex and rich world as tangled and complex as anything GRR Martin would write. Probably one of the most unique books I've read in a while.