The Goblin Emperor

2nd re-read July 11 2023
4 stars. Still amazing. Might have to make this a thing every 4 years now.

Re-read Nov 2019

Read Aug 10 2015
Definitely 4.5 stars. This book was amazing in so many ways. There's so much crafted into it that it makes me wonder how the author's brain functions so brilliantly.

Maia's background growing up in Edonomee–away from court life–leaves him ill-prepared to become emperor after his father and brother's die. It is from there that his rule in the Untheileneise Court begins. I really enjoyed reading about Maia's character because it was so well thought-out and humbly brilliant. I do wish there more perspectives because Maia had a lot preconceptions about the people around him at court that I'm sure would have pleasantly surprised him to know were not completely warranted. However, that would have been a cherry on top of an unbelievably delicious cake.

Of course, the real craftsmanship was in the writing of the political processions. If you do not enjoy political fantasy and court intrigue then I'm not sure I would recommend this book to you because that is basically what it's all about. However, I also confess to enjoying the moments where Maia's vulnerabilities are most apparent to others and they surprise him with their understanding. (I reread those moments many times.)

Another one of my favorite aspects of the book was the underlying plot of women's freedoms and expansion of their “duties” in the court or outside of it. I'm finding that in more and more of the books I read, women's rights and feminism in general is an unwavering advantage to my appreciation of the book.

I started this book with somewhat high expectations after reading a review here on Goodreads and they were immensely surpassed. I know that I will come back to this book in the future and reread my favorite parts many times more.