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I read a contemporary book and liked it! I read a contemporary book and liked it!
The Goblin Emperor is (as far as I can tell) Katherine Addison's first publication and is (also as far as I can tell) that rare beast of a standalone fantasy novel. It tells the story of 19 year old Maia, a goblin, who goes from royal outcast to emperor of the elflands overnight when his father and half-brothers are killed in an accident. Half political fantasy fiction, half coming-of-age story, all courtly misery.
I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads since I stayed up past 11pm on a work night to finish it, but if I'm honest it's more of a 3.5. It had its strengths in likeable characters, mostly solid worldbuilding, an engaging writing style, and some interesting politics. Maia is neither annoyingly prone to grievously stupid decisions nor obnoxiously overcompetent in a role he's not been trained for, and he's easy to root for in his struggles to find his place as both a ruler and a person. There are some nice, subdued relationships that develop, and the victories feel satisfying. It's a melancholy story overall, but an optimistic one too.
It could have been better, though. I started wondering why it was a story about 'goblins' and 'elves' only a few chapters in, and I never got an answer - erase the references to ears moving up and down and it was a human society from top to tail. This was particularly frustrating when apparently Addison couldn't even fathom developing some fantastical flaws for the society; instead we trod the same grounds of racism, classism, patriarchy, and even homophobia. What was the point, besides providing areas in which Maia can show himself to be a decent person? It's all very well and good that he believes women shouldn't be forced to marry if they don't want to, but it doesn't give his older half-sister any more prominence in the story and it doesn't present me with a new and interesting moral problem to muse on. It just seemed either a wasted opportunity or an unnecessary affectation.
The politics lacked nuance as well. In fairness, great political fiction is hard to pull off, and even favourites like Robin Hobb's Assassin series have sometimes had some rather two-dimensional figures in them. Addison really struggled with crafting proper political antagonists though - too obvious in their opposition to be unexpected, and too clumsy in their actions to be much of a credible threat. Maia's insecurities and loneliness ended up being far more compelling foes, which wasn't a downside in and of itself but meant this was another area that felt underutilised.
Still, it was nice to settle in with something that had me turning the pages with real interest again, and I enjoyed the conclusion. Recommended if you like political fiction but aren't extremely fussy about it.
The Goblin Emperor is (as far as I can tell) Katherine Addison's first publication and is (also as far as I can tell) that rare beast of a standalone fantasy novel. It tells the story of 19 year old Maia, a goblin, who goes from royal outcast to emperor of the elflands overnight when his father and half-brothers are killed in an accident. Half political fantasy fiction, half coming-of-age story, all courtly misery.
I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads since I stayed up past 11pm on a work night to finish it, but if I'm honest it's more of a 3.5. It had its strengths in likeable characters, mostly solid worldbuilding, an engaging writing style, and some interesting politics. Maia is neither annoyingly prone to grievously stupid decisions nor obnoxiously overcompetent in a role he's not been trained for, and he's easy to root for in his struggles to find his place as both a ruler and a person. There are some nice, subdued relationships that develop, and the victories feel satisfying. It's a melancholy story overall, but an optimistic one too.
It could have been better, though. I started wondering why it was a story about 'goblins' and 'elves' only a few chapters in, and I never got an answer - erase the references to ears moving up and down and it was a human society from top to tail. This was particularly frustrating when apparently Addison couldn't even fathom developing some fantastical flaws for the society; instead we trod the same grounds of racism, classism, patriarchy, and even homophobia. What was the point, besides providing areas in which Maia can show himself to be a decent person? It's all very well and good that he believes women shouldn't be forced to marry if they don't want to, but it doesn't give his older half-sister any more prominence in the story and it doesn't present me with a new and interesting moral problem to muse on. It just seemed either a wasted opportunity or an unnecessary affectation.
The politics lacked nuance as well. In fairness, great political fiction is hard to pull off, and even favourites like Robin Hobb's Assassin series have sometimes had some rather two-dimensional figures in them. Addison really struggled with crafting proper political antagonists though - too obvious in their opposition to be unexpected, and too clumsy in their actions to be much of a credible threat. Maia's insecurities and loneliness ended up being far more compelling foes, which wasn't a downside in and of itself but meant this was another area that felt underutilised.
Still, it was nice to settle in with something that had me turning the pages with real interest again, and I enjoyed the conclusion. Recommended if you like political fiction but aren't extremely fussy about it.
