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A review by ebloch1015
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
inspiring
fast-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
3.5
This book had rave reviews and was recommended as similar to others I've read because it is in the fantasy genre, features court intrigue, and has queer representation in its cast of characters.
I have mixed feelings about how highly I would rate this book or to whom I would most recommend it.
I think it's great for a 12-18 year old reader who enjoys cozy-ish fantasy books and is interested in culture and world-building more than complex plots and exciting action. This book has a lot of scheduling, "history", social interactions, and feelings explored throughout its themes. The reader must also be ok with intimidating new words/names. The author provides a glossary at the back, but not unique vocabulary word is listed there.
Essentially, it starts off as a sad, grim story of a lonely, overwhelmed, lost orphan of a boy that transforms throughout the book into a more confident version of himself that uses his position to improve his homeland and empower the people of his empire, with a beautifully hopeful tenor to the final chapter.
AUDIENCE: I came in expecting it to be an adult fantasy book. I would definitely rate this a teen/YA. There is a mention of potential physical intimacy, but it does not happen nor is it thought about in explicit or graphic detail. Everyone is very respectful and almost formal when it comes to relationships. The youthful categorization is also based on the complexity of the social/political intrigue. Many of the dynamics are black and white, with first impressions only being solidified with further experiences. There is almost no nuance to the relationships the main character develops. Everything is either you are trustworthy or not at face value. There are "backstabbings" and "betrayals" but only one that I personally did not see coming a mile away. Every ill-favored character who is mean to the main character is only confirmed to be a villain later, and almost everyone the main character trusts right away remains loyal and supportive of his best interests in return.
The main character fluctuates between being socially incompetent and sheltered to insightful and wise in the next scene. If they are talking to a friend, they consistently put their foot in their mouth and cause embarrassment. If they are speaking to an enemy, suddenly they have the perfect biting response to the rudeness coming their way. I had a hard time trusting the main character to be a realistic person as a result.
GENDER: This fantasy book very much is a love letter to the odd ones out there. The wallflowers, the geeky girls, the social pariahs. While this is endearing on many levels, it also made a lot of the characters feel very one-dimensional. By the end of the book, each female side character feels very much the same personality; the only difference is which hobby they've chosen to passionately pursue. None of them want to be married for duty/family, are intelligent, competent, and independent, all are interested in "manly" subjects, like stargazing, machinery, or dueling.
All of the villains are misogynists or so traumatized by patriarchy that that's why their turned to the dark side. All of the "good" main characters like Maia and Idra are indisputably feminists, asking the women what they WANT to do, what their wishes are, and respecting their agency. While this is never a bad thing, the way they show their support, and the way the author describes their mindset, is very wish fulfillment. It comes across less like how men support women in real life and hits more like how women *wish* men would treat them in real life. You can tell the author is writing from a feminine perspective. This weakened my suspension of disbelief to fully believe in the story.
UNIQUE SETTING: One of my favorite parts about this book were the intense names, highly flavorful world-building, and unique setting that this author created. Although elves and goblin are common species in fantasy lore, she made them feel recognizable but fresh with her approach. 10/10 for that! I loved the attention to detail for religion, on the body language communication attributed to ear twitches, and so on. I am excited to read more about other characters in her future books in this setting. Hot tip: the audiobook helped out tremendously with understanding how some of the longer names are meant to be pronounced.
PROTAGONIST: I appreciate the main character has had a very hard childhood, but doesn't dwell on bitterness or use their newfound authority to wreak revenge on those who've made their life difficult. Despite being treated like trash for much of their childhood, they've translated that pain into empathy and patience. They are not exceptional in any way, whether mentally, physically, or magically talented. In a world of fantasy books where everyone seems to be The Chosen One, The Prophesied Savior, The Gifted Virtuoso, Maia comes in simply as themselves, The Forgotten One: bewildered, friendless, traumatized, but trying their hardest to do right by everyone.
DISATISFYING VILLAINS: Half the villains are sent off to exile, while their children or wives are forgiven because they "had no idea" what was going on. Bro. Brooo. You canNOT tell me that the most involved woman at court, SUPER knowledgeable and intuitive about every aspect of court gossip, somehow missed the memo that her husband abused and tortured a child in his care. I just don't buy it. Likewise, you can't tell me that this major politician was planning a coup, and his wife is just sat at home going, "wonder what's keeping your father late from dinner tonight?" Of course she knows how he feels about politics and that he's planning on acting on it. No chance he didn't warn her that night that things might go south for him and have a contingency plan in place.
Every villain, except one, was extremely predictable in the sense that the reader should see them coming 100 miles off. The main character's first impression of them is negative and is only reinforced with further experiences. No one is conflicted or changes their mind. Maia never makes the wrong call and dislikes someone who ends up being incredibly cool. The explanation of WHY they dislike the main character is almost always a problem with themselves. LIke, one villain wasn't loved enough as a child or given enough projects to work on, so they're taking their frustration out on Maia. Definitely not anything Maia can help; that might create grey area! And we can't have too much grey area in a YA book. And the dislike he feels for them isn't based on stereotypes or biases he has; it's 100 % reactive. If they're rude to him, he doesn't trust them, and bam 50 pages later they're a villain. If they're nice or merely standoffish to him, he trusts them and eventually wins them over to his fanbase.
RELIGION: Religion is treated pretty respectfully in this book. The main character is spiritual, in the sense that they like to practice some rituals and meditation, but are not zealous about it. The church leaders in the capitol are generally portrayed as honorable, caring people. There are some religious sects who are less endearing. One of the plot points hinges on a violent religious group that seem like a thinly veiled jibe at communists, for example. However, the religious people Maia interacts with are generally likeable and respectable. As someone that is very disenfranchised by real-word religions, it was nice to live for a bit in a world where religion isn't a corrupt and evil thing used to socially control nations.
I have mixed feelings about how highly I would rate this book or to whom I would most recommend it.
I think it's great for a 12-18 year old reader who enjoys cozy-ish fantasy books and is interested in culture and world-building more than complex plots and exciting action. This book has a lot of scheduling, "history", social interactions, and feelings explored throughout its themes. The reader must also be ok with intimidating new words/names. The author provides a glossary at the back, but not unique vocabulary word is listed there.
Essentially, it starts off as a sad, grim story of a lonely, overwhelmed, lost orphan of a boy that transforms throughout the book into a more confident version of himself that uses his position to improve his homeland and empower the people of his empire, with a beautifully hopeful tenor to the final chapter.
AUDIENCE: I came in expecting it to be an adult fantasy book. I would definitely rate this a teen/YA. There is a mention of potential physical intimacy, but it does not happen nor is it thought about in explicit or graphic detail. Everyone is very respectful and almost formal when it comes to relationships. The youthful categorization is also based on the complexity of the social/political intrigue. Many of the dynamics are black and white, with first impressions only being solidified with further experiences. There is almost no nuance to the relationships the main character develops. Everything is either you are trustworthy or not at face value. There are "backstabbings" and "betrayals" but only one that I personally did not see coming a mile away. Every ill-favored character who is mean to the main character is only confirmed to be a villain later, and almost everyone the main character trusts right away remains loyal and supportive of his best interests in return.
The main character fluctuates between being socially incompetent and sheltered to insightful and wise in the next scene. If they are talking to a friend, they consistently put their foot in their mouth and cause embarrassment. If they are speaking to an enemy, suddenly they have the perfect biting response to the rudeness coming their way. I had a hard time trusting the main character to be a realistic person as a result.
GENDER: This fantasy book very much is a love letter to the odd ones out there. The wallflowers, the geeky girls, the social pariahs. While this is endearing on many levels, it also made a lot of the characters feel very one-dimensional. By the end of the book, each female side character feels very much the same personality; the only difference is which hobby they've chosen to passionately pursue. None of them want to be married for duty/family, are intelligent, competent, and independent, all are interested in "manly" subjects, like stargazing, machinery, or dueling.
All of the villains are misogynists or so traumatized by patriarchy that that's why their turned to the dark side. All of the "good" main characters like Maia and Idra are indisputably feminists, asking the women what they WANT to do, what their wishes are, and respecting their agency. While this is never a bad thing, the way they show their support, and the way the author describes their mindset, is very wish fulfillment. It comes across less like how men support women in real life and hits more like how women *wish* men would treat them in real life. You can tell the author is writing from a feminine perspective. This weakened my suspension of disbelief to fully believe in the story.
UNIQUE SETTING: One of my favorite parts about this book were the intense names, highly flavorful world-building, and unique setting that this author created. Although elves and goblin are common species in fantasy lore, she made them feel recognizable but fresh with her approach. 10/10 for that! I loved the attention to detail for religion, on the body language communication attributed to ear twitches, and so on. I am excited to read more about other characters in her future books in this setting. Hot tip: the audiobook helped out tremendously with understanding how some of the longer names are meant to be pronounced.
PROTAGONIST: I appreciate the main character has had a very hard childhood, but doesn't dwell on bitterness or use their newfound authority to wreak revenge on those who've made their life difficult. Despite being treated like trash for much of their childhood, they've translated that pain into empathy and patience. They are not exceptional in any way, whether mentally, physically, or magically talented. In a world of fantasy books where everyone seems to be The Chosen One, The Prophesied Savior, The Gifted Virtuoso, Maia comes in simply as themselves, The Forgotten One: bewildered, friendless, traumatized, but trying their hardest to do right by everyone.
DISATISFYING VILLAINS: Half the villains are sent off to exile, while their children or wives are forgiven because they "had no idea" what was going on. Bro. Brooo. You canNOT tell me that the most involved woman at court, SUPER knowledgeable and intuitive about every aspect of court gossip, somehow missed the memo that her husband abused and tortured a child in his care. I just don't buy it. Likewise, you can't tell me that this major politician was planning a coup, and his wife is just sat at home going, "wonder what's keeping your father late from dinner tonight?" Of course she knows how he feels about politics and that he's planning on acting on it. No chance he didn't warn her that night that things might go south for him and have a contingency plan in place.
Every villain, except one, was extremely predictable in the sense that the reader should see them coming 100 miles off. The main character's first impression of them is negative and is only reinforced with further experiences. No one is conflicted or changes their mind. Maia never makes the wrong call and dislikes someone who ends up being incredibly cool. The explanation of WHY they dislike the main character is almost always a problem with themselves. LIke, one villain wasn't loved enough as a child or given enough projects to work on, so they're taking their frustration out on Maia. Definitely not anything Maia can help; that might create grey area! And we can't have too much grey area in a YA book. And the dislike he feels for them isn't based on stereotypes or biases he has; it's 100 % reactive. If they're rude to him, he doesn't trust them, and bam 50 pages later they're a villain. If they're nice or merely standoffish to him, he trusts them and eventually wins them over to his fanbase.
RELIGION: Religion is treated pretty respectfully in this book. The main character is spiritual, in the sense that they like to practice some rituals and meditation, but are not zealous about it. The church leaders in the capitol are generally portrayed as honorable, caring people. There are some religious sects who are less endearing. One of the plot points hinges on a violent religious group that seem like a thinly veiled jibe at communists, for example. However, the religious people Maia interacts with are generally likeable and respectable. As someone that is very disenfranchised by real-word religions, it was nice to live for a bit in a world where religion isn't a corrupt and evil thing used to socially control nations.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Murder