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Goblins!: The Adventure of the Wise Wench
Goblins!Giants!Beatific Glove Puppets!Demonic Poultry!"A delightful exercise in the grotesque"
386 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 29, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 10, 2018
The forty-seventh book I read in 2018 was Goblins!: The Adventure of the Wise Wench by Richard Pett. Pett is largely known as a creator of adventures and campaign settings for roleplaying games, and he is clearly influenced here by the goblins of Golarion, the setting of the Pathfinder RPG. Pett, in fact, wrote We Be Goblins!, a justly-famous adventure created for Free RPG Day in 2011, in which the players get to play, well, goblins (which usually play the role of easy-to-kill speedbumps in the way of player characters). Goblins! is basically We Be Goblins!: The Novel, which means it is a great deal of fun.
Goblins are violent, lazy, stupid, comically-incompetent creatures, with the possible exceptions of their females, some gifted specimens of which gain the role of Wise Wench, and Urgh Tricksy, sometimes known as Upside Down Face because his head is on the wrong way, with the mouth at the top and eyes at the bottom. Urgh is informed by the Wise Wench, who traffics with such gods as Lord Noc, Demigod of All Wind, and the dreaded Queen Quench, the Moist One, Queen of Boring, the Extinguisher of Bonfires, Bringer of Black, Lady Funless, Madam Dull-and-Damp, Mistress Tedium, the Insipid Crown Princess of Dreary, the Bore, and thus knows everything that is going to happen, that he is destined to become the village hero.
Along with his companion Sorry and Moaris the Minor Apocalypse, son of BigBad Chief Runty Miffed, a sort of goblin Lord Flashheart, Urgh sets forth on a quest to save the goblins of the forest from the invading giants, a species which has all the vices of goblins but is bigger -- and we all want to root for the underdog. While the heroes are off on their quest, the giants must be held off by the vain King Stormgrunties, his adviser Looti Lovelilips, Head Thug Durth Dimbits, and Master Whippet by such means as an iron hamster, a giant nose, and -- worst all all -- the king's own clever ideas.
Pett leaves the door wide open for a sequel -- indeed, the Wise Wench at one point confuses this quest with one that she and Urgh will be on in the future -- and if it comes to be, I will be first in line to read it.
Goblins are violent, lazy, stupid, comically-incompetent creatures, with the possible exceptions of their females, some gifted specimens of which gain the role of Wise Wench, and Urgh Tricksy, sometimes known as Upside Down Face because his head is on the wrong way, with the mouth at the top and eyes at the bottom. Urgh is informed by the Wise Wench, who traffics with such gods as Lord Noc, Demigod of All Wind, and the dreaded Queen Quench, the Moist One, Queen of Boring, the Extinguisher of Bonfires, Bringer of Black, Lady Funless, Madam Dull-and-Damp, Mistress Tedium, the Insipid Crown Princess of Dreary, the Bore, and thus knows everything that is going to happen, that he is destined to become the village hero.
Along with his companion Sorry and Moaris the Minor Apocalypse, son of BigBad Chief Runty Miffed, a sort of goblin Lord Flashheart, Urgh sets forth on a quest to save the goblins of the forest from the invading giants, a species which has all the vices of goblins but is bigger -- and we all want to root for the underdog. While the heroes are off on their quest, the giants must be held off by the vain King Stormgrunties, his adviser Looti Lovelilips, Head Thug Durth Dimbits, and Master Whippet by such means as an iron hamster, a giant nose, and -- worst all all -- the king's own clever ideas.
Pett leaves the door wide open for a sequel -- indeed, the Wise Wench at one point confuses this quest with one that she and Urgh will be on in the future -- and if it comes to be, I will be first in line to read it.
January 28, 2019
For the sake of complete transparency I should first say that I read this book because I know the author, and secondly that since he writes mostly in a genre I don't tend to read I have not read any of his other books or stories. However, this book is in a genre I sometimes read and I was persuaded to read it because it has footnotes. I am enchanted by footnotes in fiction (I quite like them in text books too) - think Terry Pratchett, or Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I'd expected a few giggles but Goblins! The Adventure of the Wise Wench has some real laugh out loud moments too.
I don't like reviews where the reviewer tells you the plot or significant moments from it, so I won't do that here. But I would like to say that there are themes throughout the books that I found simply engaging - the counting system that the Goblins use for a start. If you've ever wondered how uneducated people managed with the Roman system of numerals, the Goblins' counting system probably gives you an indication. The Actors (definitely with a capped up A) and their inappropriate theatrical presentations is another theme in the book that I particularly enjoyed. Together with their rendition of (and other allusions to) the utterly bizarre mythology that sustains the Goblins in their various trials and tribulations.
A good read that is engaging without being too demanding, perfect for the period of time I chose to read it in (over Christmas with the family....).
I don't like reviews where the reviewer tells you the plot or significant moments from it, so I won't do that here. But I would like to say that there are themes throughout the books that I found simply engaging - the counting system that the Goblins use for a start. If you've ever wondered how uneducated people managed with the Roman system of numerals, the Goblins' counting system probably gives you an indication. The Actors (definitely with a capped up A) and their inappropriate theatrical presentations is another theme in the book that I particularly enjoyed. Together with their rendition of (and other allusions to) the utterly bizarre mythology that sustains the Goblins in their various trials and tribulations.
A good read that is engaging without being too demanding, perfect for the period of time I chose to read it in (over Christmas with the family....).
March 5, 2019
Anything written by Richard Pett is a delightful exercise in the grotesque. Here we have a tale of simple woodland folk, their customs and way of life and how they interact with the other inhabitants. Of course these are hideous, disgusting goblins warring with giants and singing about setting fire to everything. Not as dark as Crooked but certainly not twee. The language is wonderfully playful with a hint of British eccentricity and the footnotes are an essential part of the tale. A book that had me laughing in revulsion. Burn, burn, burn it, oh!
Merged review:
Anything written by Richard Pett is a delightful exercise in the grotesque. Here we have a tale of simple woodland folk, their customs and way of life and how they interact with the other inhabitants. Of course these are hideous, disgusting goblins warring with giants and singing about setting fire to everything. Not as dark as Crooked but certainly not twee. The language is wonderfully playful with a hint of British eccentricity and the footnotes are an essential part of the tale. A book that had me laughing in revulsion. Burn, burn, burn it, oh!
Merged review:
Anything written by Richard Pett is a delightful exercise in the grotesque. Here we have a tale of simple woodland folk, their customs and way of life and how they interact with the other inhabitants. Of course these are hideous, disgusting goblins warring with giants and singing about setting fire to everything. Not as dark as Crooked but certainly not twee. The language is wonderfully playful with a hint of British eccentricity and the footnotes are an essential part of the tale. A book that had me laughing in revulsion. Burn, burn, burn it, oh!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews