A review by literarylottie
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

emotional hopeful medium-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

After years of having this book recommended to me, I finally picked this up after learning the author was releasing a sequel this year. I'm so glad I did. This book instantly rocketed into my top five favorite books of all time. Yes, it's that good.

I think I should note the context of in which I first read this book: I picked up the Goblin Emperor in January of 2021, wanting a comforting read after a year of increasingly scary news. What I didn't expect was how timely this book - at its heart about a fundamentally decent person trying their best in difficult circumstances - would be, or how quietly revolutionary it would feel. If you're bitter or burnt out after the past two years of horror, I can't recommend a better salve of a story.

Maia Drazhar is the fourth, neglected son of the Emperor, Varenechibel IV. Exiled after the death of his mother ten years before, the eighteen year old understands that he is not likely to regain his father's favor. But an airship crash which kills his father and older brothers prompts a sudden reversal of fortune as the formerly ill-starred son becomes the most viable heir to the throne. Bustled off to the imperial court, Maia finds himself contending with a hornet's nest of shifting political alliances, shadowy conspiracies, and a grieving family who has little love for him.

Maia is unprepared, but determined to do his best for the people he now rules. Yet it's his insistence on egalitarianism and concern for those less fortunate - rather than concern for his rich courtiers - that get him into trouble, as he eventually faces
not one but two different coup attempts
. But Maia has allies too, and watching his relationships with his guards, Cala and Beshelar, his secretary Csevet, and fiancé Csethiro - along with various family members - develop is one of the principle pleasures of this novel. Another pleasure is watching Maia always resist the cruel and callous path, no matter how expedient, or how deserving those on the receiving end may be. Maia always chooses kindness, which not only makes him an easy character to root for, but sets him apart in a genre saturated by antiheroes and grimdark stories. But The Goblin Emperor is never saccharine - there are real, deadly consequences in this world, and Maia is not so naïve as to not understand that one wrong move may cost him his life. The stakes become even higher when Maia learns that the crash which killed his father and brothers was no accident, but instead sabotage, leaving him with the burning question: is he next?

One thing to note is the focus on prejudice and racism in the story. Maia is the son of the elvish Emperor, and a Barizhan - or goblin - princess, hence the book's title. Maia knows that his parents' marriage was due to a political treaty, and that his father never cared for his mother or for him, even despising them for their goblin blood. Maia faces both external racism from members of the court who feel he is unfit to rule due to being half-goblin, as well as his own internalized shame of not meeting elven standards of beauty. He also despairs at knowing little about his heritage or the language and customs of his mother's people. While there is enough difference between human and elven/goblin cultures for this to not fall into a tiresome allegory for real-life racism, there were one or two moments which gave me pause and which I would be interested in hearing a BIPOC reader's perspective on. But for the most part I thought this storyline was handled well; I found the scenes where Maia first comes to court and is secretly thrilled to finally be meeting other Barizhan and biracial individuals for the first time to be particularly poignant. The author definitely nailed what it feels like to exist as a minority within a space that is inherently hostile to you.

The storyline that I found most affecting was Maia overcoming his trauma after being physically and emotionally abused by his guardian, Setheris, from age eight onwards. While never maudlin, the author writes realistically about the effects of abuse on a person. We see Maia's history of abuse and codependence reflected in his avoidance of conflict, his reflexive self-doubt and fear of being disliked. We see him cope with anxiety and struggle to stand up for himself against Setheris; it's a pleasure to watch him grow more assertive - while never becoming cruel - throughout the novel.  More than anything, I appreciated the message that it's okay to be angry with those who have harmed you, and to want them to face consequences - that it doesn't make you a bad person. I feel like the traditional narrative with abuse in SFF is either a redemptive arc for the abuser, or a vengeance arc for their victim, but the story doesn't go in either of these directions, instead delivering a far more nuanced resolution. As a survivor of abuse myself, I found it truly affecting, and it made me wish that more authors were able to write about the subject with the same compassion and grace.

I should note that while this book features magic, elves, and goblins, it's not exactly a swords and sorcery fantasy. The story is grounded in court politics (themselves modeled on real life historical courts; just try to tell me that Maia's father isn't based on Henry VIII), and focuses on the backroom dealings of political alliances and deadly conspiracies. I never found it slow or academic, but the focus on Maia's courtship and political fortunes may put off those hoping for swashbuckling adventure. There's also substantial focus on the worldbuilding, but while I found the pages-long glossary of characters at the front of the book intimidating, the narrative never left me feeling lost, or like I needed to refer to front material. If you love the court intrigue of Game of Thrones, or the Zen Cho novel Sorcerer to the Crown, this book is for you.

Honestly, there's so much more I could say about The Goblin Emperor, but if I haven't convinced you to read it by now I don't know what else could. This books is easily one of the best I've read in the past decade, and one I'm sure I'll return to time and again (I've already reread it twice). I'm looking forward to the author's follow-up set in the same world, though I will admit that Celehar - whom the sequel focuses on - was probably the least interesting character to me.  But I'll read it just to spend more time with other characters, and more time in the world of The Goblin Emperor.
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