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The Goblin Emperor
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The Goblin Emporer by Katherine Addison - 4.5 stars
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I've had this on my radar for years, but it never seems to graduate to the shortlist of things to actually read. Thanks for the reminder I need to update the old list of 'potentially' interesting stories.
This was my IRL Feminerdy Book Club's discussion this month - and everyone loved it! That doesn't usually happen. Some read it when it first came out, re-read it and still loved it. It's such a fantastic character with some good world-building. I had it on my TBR for some time - as it was repeatedly recommended by a friend who counts it one of her favorite books. It also is pretty much a standalone. Author has written more in the same world but a secondary character in this is the MC of all the rest.
This is the story of how the son who never expected to rule, a naif who has never been to court, is uneducated, unsophisticated, very shy and full of self-doubt, comes of age and learns his own strengths while maneuvering through the political turmoil and intrigue of a court and government suddenly left in his inexperienced, trembling hands. It is wonderful! Entirely seen from Maia's eyes, you are taken on a journey that I found fascinating in its details, not just the complex political setting Maia has to wade through, mostly alone. I loved all the detail of an emperor's daily life and the struggles those caused - never being alone while being intensely lonely, elaborate dress and appearance, the 'job' of emperor, the routine, the schedule. Of course, court is a pit of vipers that has to be maneuvered through and around. Months later, after some pretty dramatic events, Maia has found his footing, if not embraced his future as emperor, has at least settled into the role.
Maia is simply an amazing and sympathetic character. He is the heart and soul of this novel, not the political intrigue which of course is wonderful. You feel the uncertainty, fear, nerves, but also the humanity, kindness, despair, and humor. You see and feel his growth. The setting is fantasy with steampunk elements, with the world-building being mostly political as there are multiple families controlling different areas of Elfland's geography but also trade and manufacture. There's a murder mystery element too as the airship disaster that catapulted Maia to the throne was sabotage - caused by a bomb. This allows the introduction of an investigator who will feature at the center of the author's next books in the series. However, I only give this a 4.5 star rating, rounded down to 4 stars, primarily because of the names the author gives everyone, every place, everything, and there are a lot of them. She seems to have primarily based her 'nomenclature' on very long vowel laden words, and in many instance, characters have titles, first and last names and other honorifics by which they are referenced. Many have very similar names, only 1 or 2 letters different. To me, it was too ornate, complex, and ridiculous and distracted from the easy straightforward flow of the writing the story. She provided a little essay (called a travel guide) at the beginning about pronunciation, honorifics, etc. and a very very long alphabetic glossary at the very beginning, which I glanced at before starting because it was boring - but it does tip you off that nomenclature fascinates the author and is richly on display (every fantasy author has something like this - Rothfuss has money/coins, GRRM has heraldry). What I found incredibly irritating was that every time I came across a name or title or servant position I didn't remember, I could not find it in the multi-page glossary. Fortunately, I read this in ebook and could just search to find where it was first introduced and defined (and it never found it in the glossary).
I would also have liked a bit more steampunk in it but there was much 'wealth' to enjoy - especially the way goblin ears betray mood and thinking. It is quite an accomplishment for a debut novel.