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A review by a_ab
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
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.
(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.