Goblin Hero

Second in the “Jig the Goblin” fantasy series, featuring the reluctant hero, runty, nearsighted Jig the Dragonslayer. I like this series because it’s different—Goblins aren’t usually a fantasy race that you think of being the hero of a story, but the author pulls it off very well, baldly admitting to the faults of the goblin race in general and Jig in particular, but using those foibles to make Jig all the more endearing. Jig once again has to set out on a dangerous mission at the behest of Kralk, the new goblin chief. He takes with him just a few cohorts—Grell, an ancient goblin who has been in charge of the nursery, Braf, a big and especially stupid warrior, and Veka, a wanna-be heroine and wizard who is jealous of Jig’s show more notoriety. Along the way, they meet other characters of other races who feature in the story, too. A humorous and well-told story, Goblin Hero manages to dispel that ‘second book curse’ in which the middle book of a trilogy often fares poorly and ends up being a rather ho-hum setup for the finale. This book stands on its own very well, and I enjoyed it just as much if not more than the first in series. Looking forward to Goblin War! show less

You know that thing in books and movies, where the sequel isn't as good as the first?

Does not apply here. I wanted to stand up and cheer every time a pixie got squished. The book started out a bit slow, and I was suspicious of this Veka goblin, and was she really even necessary, but after I got to the halfway point, I had problems putting it down.

Now I have to pick up [b:Goblin War|1236298|Goblin War|Jim C. Hines|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51w2+ESdszL._SL75_.jpg|1224930].

Goblin Hero, by Jim C. Hines, is the sequel to Goblin Quest.

After recovering from his adventures in slaying the Necromancer and the dragon, Jig is now known as "Jig Dragonslayer." Unfortunately for him, an invading army of pixies know about him too. When an ogre comes to the goblins (Jig specifically) for help with a pixie infestation, Jig is forced to lead a group to investigate. But Veka, a wizard-in-training, is jealous of Jig's hero status, and decides to save the day herself. And she just may jeopardize everyone's chance at defeating the invaders to their land.

I was surprised to find that I enjoyed Goblin Hero even more than its predecessor. With even more laughs and excitement, Jig becomes the reluctant hero once again. Every show more character is unique with wonderful quirks. From the brawny goblin who pretends to be dumber than he is to the hobgoblin warrior who faints at the sight of blood, this fantasy is cleverly written from beginning to end. I can't recommend this series enough. show less

GOBLIN HERO returns to the story of Jig, the runty goblin who got kidnapped by adventurers, killed a Necromancer, defeated a dragon and returned to tell about it. While Jig is useful to his fellow goblins for his healing ability, he's viewed as a threat by the goblin chief. So when an ogre shows up looking for Jig the Dragonslayer to battle a new threat to their mountain home Jig has two choices: go and face somewhat certain death, or stay and face much more certain death at the hands of his deceitful fellows. Going and getting killed will at least free him from having to watch his back, so off Jig goes.

GOBLIN HERO is an enjoyable follow up to GOBLIN QUEST. Hines has managed to create a world and characters that keep the reader show more guessing. Instead of heroes-with-a-capital-H his characters are just trying to stay alive and (with one exception) have no delusions of grandeur. This is a world where one could as easily be stabbed by one's companions as by the enemy (and friendly-stabbing happens more than once in the novel).

The book takes a lot of stabs at heroism-with-a-capital-H, adventurers in general, notions of fair play, and who someone is and who someone pretends to be. At one point a hobgoblin who has no compunction eating another hobgoblin, goblin or ogre (cannibalism isn't really a matter of ethics in this world as one of survival) complains about adventurers bringing their pets into the mountain only to be killed leaving their pets to fend for themselves.

The real strength of the book, however, is the gradual revealing of each character as more than just your typical fantasy monster. From the amorphous concept of goblin Hines pulls out individuals. They are cowardly and sneaky and backstabbing, to be sure, but they also have interests that involve more than just self-preservation. Over the course of the book the characters grow from roughly sketched stereotypes into finely drawn personalities. And it all takes place through the characters eyes, as they come to realize there's more to each other than meets the eye. It's a delightful realization. show less

After finishing Jim C. Hines's Goblin Quest, I was excited to read the next book in the series, Goblin Hero. Particularly, I was interested in seeing how Hines would continue Jig's adventures since the first book felt more like a one-shot deal rather than the beginning of a trilogy. Plus, I thought Goblin Quest was hilarious and I was looking forward to more trope-bending fun from Goblin Hero. It's not necessary to have read the first book to enjoy the second--both stand alone very well, even if Goblin Hero makes reference to events that took place in Goblin Quest.

The evil dragon as been slain, the caves and tunnels have been safely sealed away from adventuring parties, and peace has been established, more or less, between the races show more living in and under the mountain; all thanks to a runt of a goblin named Jig, now more commonly known as Jig Dragonslayer. Not that it has really made his life much easier, though he doesn't get picked on quite so much. He really just wants to be left alone, but when the ogres are desperate for his help, he as little choice but to go off on a adventure once again. Along with his god Tymalous Shadowstar, he is aided by Braf (exceptionally dumb, even by goblin standards) and Grell (probably the oldest goblin living). Of course, both of them have instructions to kill him if they get a chance. And then there's Veka, obsessed with magic and becoming a hero in her own right, who's out to make a name for herself with Slash, a hobgoblin who faints at the sight of blood, reluctantly in tow.

It actually took me quite a while to really get into Goblin Hero. I was enjoying it well enough, but it didn't really grab me until I was well over a third of the way through. The humor was at times was even subtler than that in Goblin Quest while at other times it was too obvious. Maybe part of the problem was that if felt like Hines was trying to justify it by using Veka and her obsession with the "hero's quest" to point out just exactly what it was he was making fun of. Regardless, it was still very amusing and silly. Like in Goblin Quest, some of the action sequences were a little unclear, but fortunately to a much lesser extent. Most of the areas explored were from the first book but there are some important additions--ewww. Readers also get a better look at the other major races that were only really mentioned in passing before, particularly the ogres and hobgoblins. Where Goblin Hero really shines is in its characters and the clever twists on fairly standard fantasy tropes. It's marvelous to see such a misfit group of creatures band together, save the day, and even manage to survive. And they don't even like each other that much. The story is told from both Jig's and Veka's point of view, so it is interesting to see both of their perspectives on the situation and on each other.

I wasn't quite as taken with Goblin Hero as I was with Goblin Quest, which is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book, because I most certainly did. It made for excellent light reading in all its silliness. While I didn't find the humor as laugh-out-loud as I did in the first book, I was still greatly amused. Jig and Smudge remain wonderful characters that I will always be fond of, Tymalous Shadowstar continues to make me grin, and I liked the other characters that were introduced in Goblin Hero quite a bit. I'm not in a huge hurry to pick up the last book, Goblin War, but I will definitely get around to it. (It's supposed to be the best of all three.) I'll probably even make a point to check out some of Hines's short stories featuring Jig and the others.

Experiments in Reading show less

As much fun as the first book was, this wasn't quite as fun, but it explored another goblin character almost as much as Jig.

A fat gobliness who wanted to be a magician and hated Jig because he wouldn't teach her magic. And pixies, those evil little balls of light. I mean, who DOESN'T hate pixies? Grrrrr. Bad pixie, bad!

All in all, even though I didn't find this as fun" as the first book, I did enjoy it just as much. Definitely have the 3rd and final book in my TBR pile..."

This is the second book in the Jig the Goblin trilogy by Hines. This one is very much in the style of the first book and makes for another humorous dungeon delving quest.

Jig has been granted the power of healing by his god Autumnstar and would love nothing more than to spend his days healing goblin wounds and being left alone. However the goblin chief sees him as a threat and when an ogre shows up asking for Jig Dragonslayer; the chief is happy to see Jig leave. Now Jig has another quest, against evil pixies to be exact and he has some dubious goblin companions who just may help him if they don't kill him first.

This book goes between two different character viewpoints. Like in the last book we follow Jig, but in addition we hear a lot show more from Veka's viewpoint (she is a goblin who greatly desires to be a hero). As far as writing style, plot style, character style goes this book is much like the first one. I found the characters humorous but not incredibly engaging. I found the plot interesting but not edge-of-your-seat gripping. This book wasn't quite as funny as the first book. A lot of time is spent with Veka and she is not a pleasant character...she takes herself way too seriously and I didn't like hearing from her as much as Jig.

This is another very classic dungeon crawling adventure; although this book has a more "save the world" tone to it than the first book. The book wraps up nicely and gives a very complete story. You wouldn't have to read "Goblin Quest" to enjoy this book, but "Goblin Quest" does give some nice background on Jig for this story.

Overall another fun and amusing read. I look forward to reading the third, and final, book in this series "Goblin War". show less