The Goblin Emperor

When the Emperor and all of his sons die in a tragic accident, Maia becomes the unexpected heir to the throne Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor. The son of a political marriage, Maia is half goblin, half elf, but more his mother's son than fathers, and so is more goblin than elf. After years living on the periphery of the empire, cast off by his father to live a tortured life at the hands of an exiled courtier, Maia finds himself thrust into the deadly intrigues of the imperial court, and it will take all of his wits and luck to learn the skill, develop the relationships, and navigate the politics that swirl around him. Everyone seems to be angling for an advantage, and Maia will have to learn to identify friend from foe before he show more ends up deposed or worse: dead.

I've struggled for months to come up with how to describe what I thought about The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison's first novel. For months I had seen it appearing at the top of best read lists for 2014, but without an easy way to categorize it, I put off reading.

That was a mistake. The Goblin Emperor is clever, intelligent, subtle, and a complex and beautiful thing. Woven with complex threads of fully imagined characters, cultures, and nations, Addison's novel faces the threat of overwhelming the reader with a high learning curve, and then obliterates any apprehensions with a story that is so real I wanted to read another in the same world as soon as I finished it.

So, yes, The Goblin Emperor is difficult to categorize, and that's part of why it took me a while to talk about why I liked it so much. There is steampunk, there is magic, and there are complex court politics. But none of those define the novel's genre so much as the deep character development of Maia at the center of the story. As he grows in the midst of complex and obscure politics and cultural norms around him, most of which he understands only slightly better than the reader at times, Maia becomes sympathetic and appealing, a protagonist you can cheer for, but whose success remains in doubt until the very end.

Addison's fully formed world (complete with its own social classes, linguistic twists, and religion) is only a supporting character in this breathtakingly fascinating bildungsroman allows the setting to lie in the background, fully textured, but without threatening to overtake the story.

The Goblin Emperor was intellectually stimulating, as well. With an imperial setting, Addison doesn't shy away from asking how a culture composed of individuals that are physically different (goblins and elves) but sexually and genetically compatible might develop and interact. As one who is heavily involved in my own home town's politics, but an avid fiction reader, this is one of the best and most fully imagined depictions of how politics might really look in a multicultural imperial setting.

In the interest of full disclosure, I hasten to note that my better half took a long time to get into The Goblin Emperor. But then, she didn't much enjoy Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, either, which I also enjoyed immensely.

Katherine Addison has already pulled in a few of science fiction and fantasy's biggest awards for The Goblin Emperor, and she's up for the Hugo, as well. I'm still reading The Three-Body Problem, but right now The Goblin Emperor is my top pick for the award when I vote later this month. I hope she does well; The Goblin Emperor deserves it. show less

Maia, the half-goblin youngest prince of the Elflands, has lived most of his life since the death of his mother in isolated exile with his abusive relative Setheris. Until one day, a courier brings the sudden news that his father and three older brothers have all been killed in an airship crash -- leaving Maia as the new emperor. Thrust into his new position with no friends and no idea how to navigate the political intrigue of the court, Maia is lost and helpless. Over the first few months of his reign, he must learn very quickly the rules of his new life and who he can trust in this new position -- or the consequences might be deadly.

Everyone told me I was going to love this and guess what, I loved it! One of the most complex, well show more done, rewarding fantasy novels I've read in a long time. The brilliance of this book is that we spend all of it in Maia's head, being very lost right along with him; that's also the part that might turn off some readers, as for most of the book Maia's head is a very lonely place to be. But this is balanced by Maia's essential goodness, and despite everything, he never loses that, and in fact, it only grows stronger. I wish that the pronunciation and character prefix/suffix guide at the end of the book had actually been at the beginning because I think I spent longer than I should have figuring out who everyone was due to my brain refusing to process most of the names. I keep wavering between 4.5 and 5 stars; let's go with 4.75 for now. show less

A half elven, half goblin prince is forced to take over the empire after everyone in the line of succession ahead of him is killed in an accident.
I loved this book, I can’t believe how much I LOVED this book. The world the author created is incredibly complex and believable, the characters, especially Maia are engaging. And Maia, oh my god Maia, I just wanted to wrap him up in snugly blankets and hugs and keep him safe. I fell in love with Maia.
One of the reasons I am so amazed at how much I loved this book is because not much really happens but it’s never boring. It deals with court intrigues and politics and the growth of Maia as a person and leader and it’s a slow, slow build but I could barely bring myself to put it down.
The show more only problems I had were with the names and official titles, they were hard to even try to pronounce, and I had a hard time keeping many of the characters straight through much of the book, not helped by the complexity of the names, but this did not take away from overall pace and flow of the book.
Reading this book was such a pleasure to read and just made me so happy, I am really looking forward to the next book this author puts out. show less

Maia, fourth son of the Emperor of the Elven lands, was exiled from the Imperial Court and relegated to an outlying estate as a child following the death of his mother. After all, with three sons before him (and the fact that he was half-goblin), there was really no need to have him present. And because of these facts, he never expected he would see the Court again. But when the Emperor and everyone in the line of succession before Maia is killed when their airship crashes, Maia finds himself suddenly returning to the Imperial Court for a purpose no one--including Maia--ever would have expected: to take his now rightful place on the throne. But becoming Emperor certainly isn't easy. There are those who certainly oppose Maia's ascendance show more to the crown. And his absence from Court means he missed out on much of the necessary education to fully understand all of the requirements, expectations, and duties of his new role. Add to that the revelation that the death of his father was not an accident, and Maia certainly has his work cut out for him if he's going to keep his realm prospering and his people inspired.

Talk about some well-written fantasy here. Katherine Addison has created a wonderful world with a rich history and a very complex set of relationships between these characters. While not poised as a mystery per se, it also contains a whodunnit plotline that certainly kept me guessing until the end, too. It's very easy to become invested in these characters, to see all of their dimensions (including their flaws), and really understand what motivates them. The players here are certainly not stock characters by any means and the storytelling is masterful.

It can be easy to feel intimidated by the 12-page list of names at the end of the book: but I say don't be. While there are a lot of names (some of which are a bit similar due to family relationships), I found it is always very easy to understand who is who by relationships. In pretty much every scene, it is apparent the role each person plays either in relation to the Imperial Court or to Maia and thus it's easy to track the major players that way. show less

I've heard considerable praise about this book over the past year. I was reluctant to seek it out because I'm burned out on most epic fantasy. However, this made the Nebula shortlist and was made available in the voting packet. After hearing so much praise, I figured if I was going to squeeze in any additional books in March, this should be first.

The positive buzz is well-warranted. The Goblin Emperor managed to make a cozy, positive read out of court intrigue. It seems like a contradiction, since court intrigues tend to be dark and delve into graphic sexuality or lewdness, like A Song of Ice and Fire. This one has dark moments, true, but the bright, hopeful outlook is what makes the difference. Maia is the emperor's fourth son and a show more complete outcast from court. He still mourns his mother who died when he was eight; his love for her adds a beautiful sentiment throughout, and her teachings guide his morality and character. When his father and brothers are killed in an airship crash, Maia is thrust onto the throne. The politics are nasty and Maia is clueless, but his genuine attitude makes all the difference.

For me, the biggest negative in the book is the sheer number of names. The world uses its own language devices to denote titles and gender and many character have more than one name--and they aren't common Earth names, either. There's a large cast. I was constantly confused as I read, and was grateful that the author usually supplied clues to add context to who was who. The unique names added depth to the world-building for sure, but I found it frustrating. I almost stopped reading early on and I'm glad I pressed through. (The end did have a guide to names and pronunciations but this was useless to me as I had the ebook and didn't even know the section was there, and flipping back and forth would have gotten tedious quickly.

It IS a very good book. If you're not name-impaired like me, you'll get even more joy out of it, too. show less

Rare and inspired, a bit like Wells finding her SecUnit voice, here Addison gives us Maia, and he is someone for whom you are rooting wholeheartedly by about page 1 and a half as he enters unexpectedly (and entirely unprepared) into being the Emperor of his nation after his father and three brothers are killed in an airship accident. Maia has had a rough upbringing, his mother, the fourth wife, died when he was eight and was the daughter of the Great Avar of Barizhan and therefore a goblin, as opposed to an elf. After her death he is banished to a humble manor in a marsh, basically, with two servants and a guardian who is unkind and uncaring. This is the court intrigue type of fantasy, subtle and character-driven -- no tromping about show more fighting battles, very little magic, no dragons (except figuratively) and the world itself is so fascinating and complex and we read breathlessly along with Maia as he tries to figure out how to find his way. Brilliant! I'll be reading it again! ***** show less

A reread for my book club ;)

...and what a delightful one it was! The book hit me much harder emotionally than the first time – then I was busy following the plot, figuring out the world-building and the details (the names, the names!). This time, I was there for each emotional turmoil, each trauma, each unexpected kindness and moment of happiness.

One of my favourite tropes in books is characters that are out of their depth and must develop and grow with the challenge (is that because I love learning new things myself? ;) ). And don’t you just love Maia all at once? He has been neglected, unloved, abused since he was eight. He also has pride, dignity, curiosity, kindness, honour, the desire to do the right thing. It’s just so show more incredibly nice to follow Maia’ journey, watch how he treats other people, grows with each conversation, discovers things he is good at, builds relationships and friendships.

“… you must try living for ten years with a man who hates you and whom you hate, and see what is does to sharpen your wits.”

“But he did not forget, and told himself he would not forget, that it was possible for people to be kind without ulterior motive, that sometimes bargaining was not necessary.”

I also think that Csethiro Ceredin is awesome! Somehow, there was less of her in the book than I remembered. This is probably because she makes sure to steal every scene she is in. I would dearly love to have a novella with her POV – preferably involving a duel with somebody who’s been mean to Maia. (Pretty please?) Isn’t Csevet (who suddenly becomes the emperor’ secretary) Cliopher’s distant cousin, by the way? (I am thinking about The Hands of the Emperor, of course.) I am convinced that he is. His POV novella would not be unwelcome either (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

It was interesting to read about Thara Celehar again, knowing what I know from “his” novels in the series. It was a strange mixture of heartbreak and delight.
“ ‘Mer Celehar’s notions of obedience are most individual,’ Maia said wryly.”

I am so reluctant to leave this universe now… It’s nice to know I can reread Thara Celehar’s books too :) show less