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A review by xeyra1
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
4.0
The Goblin Emperor was a delight to read. It's a lovely, simple and enchanting little story about a half-elf-half-goblin fourth son who unexpectedly finds himself emperor without having any training or, in fact, much confidence that he can actually do the job.
The book follows this young man, who, despite a terrible childhood at the hands of an abusive cousin, manages to retain his sweetness of spirit, through a series of slightly episodic but interconnected events at a court he doesn't understand and comes woefully unprepared for. And yet, because he is naive but not dumb, ignorant but not spineless, he manages to make the best he can of it. And that's why this novel was such a wonder to read, because Maia, our young protagonist, is absolutely lovely and it's impossible not to cheer at his small victories or to be sad when things go badly for him. He is the kind of protagonist you're actually really rooting for, and that just motivates your reading.
Despite dealing with court politics, the book doesn't read so much as a complex political drama. It never really gets too dark and there's not really much backstabbing from anyone you didn't already expect to engage in betrayal at some point. The people who end up betraying Maia are very openly antagonistic of and to him already. Though it's a bit of a breath of fresh air to read something and find out the characters you like don't actually end up being traitors, it also robs a bit of the suspense of the novel. Especially because the traitors/bad guys end up being really... dumb? You'll know what I mean when you read it.
I loved reading this, though, regardless of its dumb villains, because it's just so sweet and bright and hopeful and Maia's voice is just so sympathetic as he goes through feelings of confusion, ineptitude, ignorance, loneliness, hope, anger, fear, through this new unexpected stage of his life. And I did identify with his confusion too, because despite its simple, fable-like story, The Goblin Emperor does have much thought put to naming terms and its language is elvish complex and some double takes were necessary at times to understand who was that character or that other.
It's a high 4 but some of the simplicity of the plot and the dumbness of Maia's enemies did drop this from the 5-stars I might have otherwise been tempted to give it just because it was such a lovely, unexpectedly sweet book.
The book follows this young man, who, despite a terrible childhood at the hands of an abusive cousin, manages to retain his sweetness of spirit, through a series of slightly episodic but interconnected events at a court he doesn't understand and comes woefully unprepared for. And yet, because he is naive but not dumb, ignorant but not spineless, he manages to make the best he can of it. And that's why this novel was such a wonder to read, because Maia, our young protagonist, is absolutely lovely and it's impossible not to cheer at his small victories or to be sad when things go badly for him. He is the kind of protagonist you're actually really rooting for, and that just motivates your reading.
Despite dealing with court politics, the book doesn't read so much as a complex political drama. It never really gets too dark and there's not really much backstabbing from anyone you didn't already expect to engage in betrayal at some point. The people who end up betraying Maia are very openly antagonistic of and to him already. Though it's a bit of a breath of fresh air to read something and find out the characters you like don't actually end up being traitors, it also robs a bit of the suspense of the novel. Especially because the traitors/bad guys end up being really... dumb? You'll know what I mean when you read it.
I loved reading this, though, regardless of its dumb villains, because it's just so sweet and bright and hopeful and Maia's voice is just so sympathetic as he goes through feelings of confusion, ineptitude, ignorance, loneliness, hope, anger, fear, through this new unexpected stage of his life. And I did identify with his confusion too, because despite its simple, fable-like story, The Goblin Emperor does have much thought put to naming terms and its language is elvish complex and some double takes were necessary at times to understand who was that character or that other.
It's a high 4 but some of the simplicity of the plot and the dumbness of Maia's enemies did drop this from the 5-stars I might have otherwise been tempted to give it just because it was such a lovely, unexpectedly sweet book.