The Goblin Emperor

Tales of courtly intrigue live or die depending on how much you care about the characters. Fortunately Maia, the main character in The Goblin Emperor, is well drawn and carries the story from beginning to end. The story itself would be fairly slight, since not a huge amount happens beyond a naif getting to grips with a situation he never envisaged (although maybe “naif” is not the correct word, since he is not so much naive as unprepared), but the way in which Maia faces up to his new responsibilities and proves a match for those around him is both inspiring and refreshing.

A lot of fantasy novels in the same vain tend to be dour; they insist on lumping lengthy trial after trial on the protagonist's shoulders. In this case the events follow a believable, natural progression and the tone is largely light and optimistic. It is nice to have a world where the majority of people do not spend the entire novel trying to dispose of the ruler but instead recognise that he has been set a hard task and needs all the help he can get.

As others have commented, if the book has a failing it is probably the somewhat overwhelming amount of unusual names, which can make it hard to keep a track of who is who. Personally I didn't find this to be too much of a problem, but I can see why this would be daunting. I hope this doesn't put people off.

Strongly recommended.