Goblinopolis: The Tol Chronicles Book 1

by Robert G. Ferrell

On a planet where magic and technology are inextricably intertwined, Tol, a gruff inner city Goblin cop, finds himself in the unlikely role of saviour when the world's access to The Slice, a reservoir of magical energy, is threatened by a fiendish criminal plot. And Life is only getting more complicated for Tol as the Chosen One, when his younger brother becomes king by defeating all comers in a network hacking contest, only to then staff his cabinet with the legendary and nefarious hacker, Boogla. And not helping Tol in the least, are the intrepid reporter Selpla and her crew as they battle their way to the uber story of the century, through magical super-storms, vicious wildlife and a robot that grafts random animal parts onto wandering pets. In Goblinopolis, Robert G. Ferrell has crafted an entirely new comedic world of magic, mayhem and technocracy that devoted readers of Terry Pratchett's Discworld will love and new fantasy readers will devour and be left wanting more.

434 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

I was born in Houston, Texas, USA, in 1957. I grew up in Iowa Park and Odessa, Texas. I hold a B.S. in Life Science, and spent a total of five years undertaking graduate studies in Avian Ecology, Pre-Biotic Chemistry, and Medicine. During my career I worked as an analytical chemist, environmental chemist, ornithology field researcher, cancer research technician, network engineer, systems administrator, and information security special agent.

I have been writing for publication since the late 1970s. My 15-part hacker fiction series 'Chasing the Wind' was published on the Security Focus website from 2000 - 2002. I created a recurring satirical feature called ‘The State of the Hack Awards’ for the Hack in the Box website during the same era.

I was a finalist for the Robert Benchley Society Humor Writing Award in 2011 and a semifinalist in 2012. I was also a finalist for the 2012 Atlanta Review Poetry Competition, and my unpublished novella, 'Theopraxis' was a finalist in the 2012 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. I've been published in several humor anthologies and dark fiction. I was a columnist for ;login: magazine from 2006 - 2020. I have also been an invited guest author and panelist at several fantasy & science fiction cons.

I live in rural Wilson County, Texas with my wife of 30 years and, at current count, three cats. I have nothing whatever to do with AIs, LLMs, or smart technologies, unless you count my phone. Every last syllable of my writing comes from my own brain, often against my better judgment.

Reviews

[Paige Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelous world building and fun characters. Really enjoyed the snark and mysteries.

[Billie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read, a fun mix of cyberpunk themes combined with magic and fantasy, done in, what felt to me, like a very new way. Please please please read this book.

I emphasise read because I listened to the author narrating this in an audiobook and I have to say no matter how good the writing is, his narration sounds dull and bored. Which is a shame because this is an action packed book with fantastic world building!

The narration made it a bit of a struggle for me, which lost a couple of stars, but the story is great.