Goblin Trilogy 1: Goblin Quest

... Well, this is awkward.I love the idea behind this book. While I have never played D&D, I literally cut my fantasy teeth on Forgotten Realms, Eberron and Dragonlance. (Yes, folks, in that order. The first ever fantasy book I read was [b:Elfshadow 19855 Elfshadow (Forgotten Realms The Harpers, #2; Songs & Swords, #1) Elaine Cunningham https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924906l/19855.SY75.jpg 353259].) I've also dabbled in World of Warcraft and Magic: the Gathering. I think I have a pretty good grasp of the types of stories this book was affectionately poking fun of.And some of it was good. I mean, there was some definitely funny moments that made me laugh. Also there were a lot of typical fantasy style battles. And some poking at them. But there's one huge, glaring problem for me.I don't actually like any of these characters.From the way the story ends, I don't think I was supposed to like most of them - but the ending also made my dislike of Jig go straight to hate. So... a run down: all the characters are selfish, self-absorbed and just plain mean - up to and including our apparent ‘hero' in Jig.Let's just say I'm glad I waited this long to read the book (actually listen to the ‘dramatized' audio version) because this means that I didn't actually have to spend money on it as well as not killing any enjoyment I get from Hines other books. (I can only imagine what would have happened if I'd read this way back after I finished [b:The Stepsister Scheme 3598195 The Stepsister Scheme (Princess, #1) Jim C. Hines https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1305016198l/3598195.SY75.jpg 3640889].) Seriously, though, this used to be one of the authors that always made my shortlist of favorites. After only liking half the series of his I've read, I'm going to have to rethink that.So...curious about the second book, but not sure I can subject myself to such nasty people again. Also, I would like it noted that the story starts out pretty good and went drastically down hill for me. But, if you like unsympathetic characters, this might be the book for you.