The Goblin Emperor

I really enjoyed this book. I received a free audiobook copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Listening to this on audio as opposed to reading it physically had pros and cons. First, the narrator was fantastic. I'll be hoping to listen to more from him in the future. The prose of the book combined with the first-person narration also lent itself particularly well to the audiobook format. I also think that this book was extremely light on plot, and while I was entertained the entire time, I might have had a harder time finishing if it was a physical read. However, I am awful with remembering names in audiobook format, and the names in this book are particularly gruesome to try to remember, so it took me a long time to remember who anybody but the central 2-4 characters were. That's an issue for my brain, but it's to be considered when checking out the audiobook if you have similar problems.

Regarding the actual story, I really enjoyed the main character, Maia, and his struggle to deal with the court and palace intrigue that he never thought he'd have to learn. His general goodness juxtapositions himself with the traditions of the empire, and his desire to change these traditions and his gradual understanding of how he wants to lead, is well done. I would recommend this book, but I do have to emphasize again- it really does NOT have a plot. It wraps up nicely, and there were never any spots where I was bored, but it was mostly just random meetings happening and then eventually an event would take place, and then they'd deal with the fall-out of that event. Not particularly recommended for plot-focused readers. This is a character study through and through.

I don't really know how this book works, but it does. There's very little action, and little suspense, and yet I just kept turning the pages wanting to read more. The titular character is a half-goblin teenager relegated to a far-off town in the empire. But when his father, the emperor, along with a sizable portion of his family die in an airship disaster, Maia, the half-goblin, suddenly finds himself the heir apparent. Knowing little, and somewhat shy and insecure, he's navigating the duties of emperor and all the court intrigue that goes with it. He's a great character which I think is the big reason I kept reading. I can't think of a story quite like this one. It's well-written and somehow never really gets boring. You just root for Maia to succeed.

Political intrigue executed with restraint, rich worldbuilding, charming and very smart, and most precious of all unflinchingly kind. I did struggle a bit with some names, titles, and honorifics at the start, but I appreciate how the author doesn't overexplain things, which makes it all the more rewarding when you find yourself catching up with it.

I came to be a big fan of The Goblin Emperor as I went. It has a good amount of political intrigue; not quite as complicated as GoT, but certainly enough to chew on and feel thoughtful (unlike Sanderson, for example). And being thrown into the machinations of the court puts you in the seat of the young protagonist himself, as you both try to keep up with the names and roles. It's deliberately open-minded without being preachy about it, and (didn't see this one coming) contains an unexpectedly thoughtful portrayal of an egalitarian political terrorist. There's a great exploration of insider-outsider dynamics as well, considering the emperor is of mixed heritage. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it's truly warm-hearted. There are schemers and no shortage of opponents, but the Goblin Emperor does a great job of portraying that, when you get down to it, most people aren't evil. Nobody's perfect, but there is kindness in the world, and a lot of people do try and help others when given the chance. Fantasy so often tries to overcome the trappings of being “just YA lit” by throwing in buckets of blood, sex, and cruelty (GoT is certainly guilty, no matter its other strengths). I love that this book overcomes that by instead having a pretty thoughtful political landscape filled by mostly decent people trying to do what's best for their houses and lands.

Cons: I know it's the point for us to empathize with the emperor at being overwhelmed by all the names, but they're just so weird. Having so many strange titles and invented names is a fantasy trope that the book did NOT avoid. But maybe I'm just close-minded and mentally lazy about new languages

I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It has all the markers of being something that should interest me, but I strongly considered DNF at around 50%. I powered through bc I wanted to know if it got any better.

My complaints:
1. Everything being was given a title in the book's language, and all the names being “elvish” with the same 3 letters starting their names was VERY confusing. I had a very hard time keeping track of who was who, and what their motives were.
2. SO POLITICAL oh my god what a draaaaaaaaag

I wanted more action, maybe more time with the main character actually relating to someone, talking to someone they liked, etc.

But hey, not every book is for me.

A different kind of hero and more realistic hero. I found the audio book really difficult to keep track of names.

I liked this a lot. As others have noted, the premise is pretty conventional, but what makes it stand out is the culture Addison has created, which is well-realized and complex. Characters feel fleshed-out and authentic, and the plot has the lopsided shape of something organic; the major threads are wrapped up, but Addison never feels compelled to set everything neatly in its place. One can see the arc ahead for characters who have left the stage, but the camera isn't compelled to show us that arc explicitly.

Loved this one. The sense of haplessly navigating something vast, ancient and complex put me in mind of Gormenghast, but the heart and empathy on display here are all the novel's own. Completely charming.

I'm starting to realize that I really enjoy first-person character driven stories. I totally acknowledge that it can sometimes feel as though nothing really happened in such stories. But for me, there's something really compelling about hearing the inner thoughts of a character experiencing the world they inhabit. A world that is often quite different from my own. In this case, what is the experience of an ostracized fourth-in-line heir to the Elf Empire to feel and do when he inherits the throne he never imagined he'd sit on?

This is not hard fantasy involving a complex magic system and a centuries old war between two great empires. This is the story of a somewhat lonely and scared boy trying to reckon with the new path of life he's been sent down. While the former is interesting, the latter is so much more accessible and relatable with themes everyone can understand. My biggest gripe with the book is that there is a fair bit of name dropping. Totally normal for fantasy, but it doesn't always feel like it's for the world-building, rather it feels like it's simply for the sake of name-dropping.

Don't let the stereotypical long, complicated fantasy names deter you. This book is pretty special.

Re-read. It was 4 stars for me before but I enjoyed it quite a bit more this time, so 5 stars. The main character is a wholesome, good person – a truly good one, one of very few I've come across in fantasy.

I would start off by saying this a book may not be for everyone. It is the first fantasy book I have read almost ever that has next to nothing for action. For some people that may be boring, and therefore not for those looking for a rollicking adventure, HOWEVER, that by no means makes it a bad book. The protagonist Maia is a likeable character who deftly takes you on a journey through court politics in this fantasy realm with wit, heart and an earnest will to serve his people. His staunch attitude toward not using vindictiveness, cruelty or spite is admirable. I was truly engaged in the story of the tenuous beginning of his reign, despite the fact that is mostly him trying to maneuver through the court and deal with a never ending succession of policies, decision making and petty squabbles between officials, nobles and nations. Maia is the heart of the story and as a character he has such a big heart, many admirable qualities, but also isn't perfect. His inner thought process makes even the dullest moments quite enjoyable. Overall I really enjoyed him and the story, despite the lack of action and the world-building was quite unique although not overwhelmingly in depth (although the names and titles of characters can be a bit overwhelming). If you enjoy slice-of-life type stories, lighter fantasy and court intricacies, then I don't think you can go wrong with this one. I didn't absolutely love it, but I did really, really enjoy it.,

For a 450 book in which pretty much nothing happens, The Goblin Emperor sure is a fast read. Nearly all plot is sacrificed for Addison to explore the character development of the new emperor, Maia, and even more than that to build her setting. The political intrigue is nuanced and intricate, without ever feeling too difficult to follow (although I will say that the naming conventions are hard to keep track of and it took me 250 pages to realize that there was a reference index at the back.)

Jon tells me that the book borrows wholesale from the Ottoman Empire, but my own world history is too weak to appreciate the parallels. Nonetheless, I found it perfectly enjoyable without understanding the allusions. Instead, I really enjoyed Addison's world, which felt totally self-sufficient and detailed, with a consistent language, multiple related religions and customs.

Reread in August 2021

This reread of this book is very difficult for me to rate, much less review. Ultimately, I think it's about a 2 1/2 to 3 star read. There are some things I really like, some things I really dislike, a few that I love and a few that I hate. And, honestly, a lot of things I feel very meh about.


Original Review


I'm a little torn on the rating. There were a lot of things I really liked, and a few things that I didn't care for - but there's still a part of me that, emotionally, thinks this book deserves a 5 star rating.

Full review to come on my blog

The first fifty to a hundred pages started out slow, with way too much info dumping and pretty much shoving the reader face first into the story. But, even then, I could see something in the characters, a heart, that drew me in. (And, really, that's where this story shines, the heart.)

So the story is about Maia, a half-elf/half-goblin that is pretty much out of his depth (something that actually works in the readers favor, because he knows more than we do about the world - even if not by much). And he's such a likable character.

He wants to be a good ruler, but feels inadequate. He has this strength that is admirable and a sense of humor - sometimes self-depreciating - that makes him so relatable.

The other characters are brilliantly realized. Even though the focus never shifts from Maia, all the other main characters have personalities and motivations that come through clearly. Naturally, not all are likable, but there are so many that I adored.

The plot is fairly straightforward and maybe even a little barebones. While there is a bit of a mystery - who did cause the death of the Emperor and his heirs (and all the other poor people aboard that airship)? - the story is mostly about Maia getting his footing and political wrangling. (Though, we don't get to see any more of the court intrigue than Maia does.)

And also friendship. So much of this story is about finding people that you can be friends with - even if it might not be a typical friendship - and there were several forming relationships that I loved reading about.

The world building is dense and - in fact - a bit more dense than I prefer my fantasy's to be, but it was still interesting to read about a world that was so fully realized.

However, a few slight issues made me dampen my adoration for this story. First and foremost, it was difficult to keep people/places/titles straight. Sometimes the author introduced four to six new characters at once then, basically assumed that the reader could understand who they were after that brief introduction. (Something that even writers on the internet agree is bad form.) This was compounded by the similarity certain names had - for I feel I could be forgiven with getting Tethimar and Tethimel confused.

Also, if you're interested in this book for the steampunk/fantasy amalgamation, you will be disappointed. The sum total of steampunk in this story is relegated to one trip aboard an airship - along with their mention occasionally - and a Clocksmiths Guild interested in building a drawbridge.

This is not to the book's detriment, but it is described everywhere as a steampunk/fantasy book and, I have to admit, there is so little steampunk elements in it that the story would have been better served to not have it marketed as such. (Because I would have been interested in it anyway, but I was really hoping for a solid merging of steampunk and fantasy and this is a pretty straightforward non-medieval Europe fantasy story.)

There is something to be said for diversity, because the ‘Goblins' are dark skinned and there is also mentions of same sex romances. (Not as much as I could have hoped for, true, but at least not everyone is white heterosexuals.) Also, I gotta admit, I am really happy to find such an enjoyable standalone fantasy novel.

(Originally posted on my blog: pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com)

This book caught my attention from the beginning. Not sure why exactly. It was a simple read and the storyline was easy to follow. I just enjoyed it and the main character Maia. It was easy to relate to him and his struggles as he assumed the position of Emperor that he never considered would happen.

Excellent political fantasy

One of the better books I've read in the last year or so. I was sad to see it ended

Half goblin, half elf
all court intrigue, all the time
charmingly upbeat.

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.

Een boek waar een appendix van tientallen bladzijden bij zit met de namen van de stapels en stapels personages en plaatsen, die gaat van Aäno, “maid at Edonomee; daughter of Kevo”, over Nazhmorhathveras, “the inhabitants of the Evressai Steppes, at war with the Ethuveraz”, en Thorchelezen, “a junior canon of the Untheileneise'meire”, tot Zhidelka, “a Barizheise silk merchant and former pirate”.

Een boek dat het heeft over niet veel meer dan de eerste dagen, weken en maanden van de nieuwe keizer van Elfland, in een wereld blijkbaar zonder mensen (maar met elfen en goblins), die aanvoelt als een soort kruising tussen het Byzantijnse Rijk op zijn hoogtepunt en de 19de eeuw, compleet luchtschepen, eindeloze hofrituelen, pneumatische post, enorm veel beleefdheidsregels en aanspreekwijzen, en een staatsbestel waar verschillende grote instellingen (Geloof incluis) elkaar in precair evenwicht houden.

Een boek vol hofintriges, dat eigenlijk beter in het Duits of het Frans was geschreven, omdat er een groot deel van de tijd gespeeld wordt met aanspreekwijzen, en dat er in het Engels geen onderscheid is tussen ‘you' enkelvoud en meervoud, en ‘you' met veel, weinig of geen respect, en dat het niet meteen duidelijk is of ‘we' betekent ‘wij, meervoud', ‘ik, pluralis maiestatis', of ‘wij, pluralis maiestatis'. Als het echt helemaal informeel is, dan moet de auteur terugvallen op vormen met ‘thou', en da's natuurlijk wel correct, maar het komt toch onvermijdelijk als min of meer gekunsteld over.

Als ik het goed heb, is iedereen zowat afgeschrikt nu?

Nergens voor nodig. Het was al lang geleden dat ik een boek zó in één ruk uitgelezen heb, tot zeer diep in de nacht.

Maia Drazhar is de vierde zoon van de keizer van Elfland, Varenechibel IV. Van zijn vierde vrouw, een goblin, die hem na het overlijden van zijn derde vrouw door de regering is opgedrongen, om een alliantie te bewerkstelligen tussen elfen en goblins.

(Tussendoor: elfen en goblins zijn allebei hoogstaande beschavingen, met een geschiedenis van duizenden jaren, de ene zien er wit uit en de andere zwart, de ene omschrijven de andere als ‘bruut uitziend' en de andere de ene als ‘wezelachtig', er is iets dat tussen racisme en nationalisme zit tussen beide, maar er zijn ook veel gemengde huwelijken in allerlei tinten van grijs.)

De vierde vrouw en de vierde zoon werden gehaat door de keizer, die niet over de dood van zijn vorige vrouw raakte, en als de vrouw sterft, wordt Maia verbannen naar ergens zeer ver op het platteland, samen met een oom die uit de gratie gevallen is en hem ook haat, en fysiek en psychisch mishandelt bovendien.

Op zijn achttiende verjaardag krijgt hij het nieuws dat een luchtschip waarin zijn vader en zijn drie oudere broers zaten, neergestort en uitgebrand is. Iedereen is dood, en dat wil zeggen dat Maia de nieuwe keizer is.

Hij wordt naar het keizerlijk paleis gebracht, waar hij gedropt wordt in een wereld waar hij niets van snapt. Met politiek en hofintriges die boven zijn hoofd gaan, waar hij niemand kent, en waar niemand hem (openlijk) mag of kan tegenspreken.

En dan wordt het een verhaal van een keizer die probeert goed te doen. Enorm meeslepend, en ik citeer uit een review van Foz Meadows op Strange Horizons (hier, maar lees het niet volledig wegens zware spoilers):

In traditional high fantasy, the archetypal Good King wins out in a moment of deep catharsis, triumphing over obvious evils to claim the birthright exemplified and proven by his chivalrous qualities. InThe Goblin Emperor, Maia becomes a Good King—or a good emperor, rather—in precisely the opposite fashion, and to much greater effect. Despite several dramatic events, there is no single dramatic catharsis: just the steady business of wounds healing, progress being made, and formerly lonely, alienated people being made whole by the trust they come to have in each other. Maia's chivalric virtues, if we can call them that, stem from the fact that he doesn't believe himself to be inherently worthy. He earns the throne, not because of who he is, but because of who he strives to be, while the evil he defeats isn't personified as a hoard of devils or a cackling overlord, but by the more insidious cruelties of abuse, entitlement, pride, and callousness.

The Goblin Emperor is a powerful, poignant book, and an excellent addition to the genre. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Very enjoyable, but it would have been more so if I hadn't had to deal with a new & complicated etiquette system AND convoluted politics AND unpronounceable names with elaborate rules AND slowly/not revealed background info. (Easier names/naming system would have helped a lot!)

This was such a nice surprise. I think I heard about it via the Incomparable discussion of Nebula or Hugo nominees. It's like all the court-intrigue of Game of Thrones, but with a compelling protagonist of an unexpected King, of of a shunned race, just trying to do his best. (and no graphic violence)

I'd say more but I don't want to spoil it.

reviews.metaphorosis.com

2 stars

Maia, the half-goblin youngest son of the Emperor, is suddenly called to the throne when his father and brothers are killed. With no education and no allies, he tries to find his footing in unfamiliar surroundings, amongst unreliable subjects.

I've seen a lot of positive reaction to Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor, and I envisioned a complex but innovative, steampunky look at goblin life. A look at the blurb suggested more of a political novel, and I decided it wasn't for me. On getting my Hugo review package, I realized the book had been nominated, so off I went to read it. Turns out I was right - it wasn't for me.

The Goblin Emperor isn't a terrible book, but there's very little that's original about it. Unexpected heir struggles to find his place - this is a fantasy trope that's been covered extensively. Addison doesn't bring much to it that's new. Pretty much every action the bewildered heir Maia takes feels scripted - entirely ‘by the book' in every respect. He finds unexpected allies, turns out to have a heart of gold, the common touch, etc.The empire is composed of elves, but there's nothing essentially elfin about it - it's humans with pointy ears. Goblins turn out to be elves with dark skin.

Addison does herself no favors by substantially complicating the book's environment. There's scenery and verisimilitude and then there's getting carried away. While she uses terms such as Emperor, Arch-Duke, and Count, she also creates a whole new hierarchy of ranks, each with its own carefully thought out, gender-dependent term. Wise readers will spot an annex with explanations in the table of contents; I didn't. Without reading the annex, the book becomes difficult to follow as names and titles flow fast and free without much in the way of context. It's like reading a Russian novel without knowing about patronymics and diminutives - you wonder who the hell all these people are, only to find that half of them were already introduced by other names, and the reader's expected to just see the connection.

Addison similarly adds plenty of neologisms, including for one-time events or items (do we need to know that a Barizheise nesting doll is called a Barchakh'kaladim?). There's clearly a good deal of thought behind them, but this single-novel world is not one that calls out for Tolkien level etymology. I found that, rather than enriching the world, the vocabulary distracted from it.

Despite all these efforts, much of the world is not credible. Maia comes from nowhere and, despite known opposition, is crowned without much resistance. He goes through much of his new imperial life without meeting more than a handful of people. There's much more information about his burdensome clothing than about actually governing the empire. No one ever has any concern about funds, even when planning grand engineering projects. The ruler of another kingdom invites himself to stay, and it's accepted as a normal thing. I found it hard to accept, in an environment that is said to be complex and highly factional.

I've admitted to not being a fan of political fiction - factions, infighting, and manipulation - and that's really what this book is about. There is a secondary storyline about Maia's development as a young man, but it is clearly secondary. While some seem to have found that story the book's strong suit, I found it far from credible, and not greatly moving - perhaps because so much of it is so predictable. There's little depth to the emotions - more cues that here we should feel happiness, there dismay. Maia's ‘I have power but I am imprisoned' by power introspection is everything we've seen before. His intellectual progression is also not credible - he goes from ignorant innocent to sharp (but bumbling) political actor in the space of just a few pages, with no apparent cause. Happily, it all works out, because, as luck would have it, he trusts and suspects exactly the right people. Maia at one point finds it incredible that people are so devoted to him. Me too.

While Addison takes pains to source some of his knowledge, Maia occasionally seems to pick up information through diffusion. (Would a man who's spent most of his life with just a handful of people in the back of beyond recognize the particular pattern of stylish wallpaper?) He's also simply not a particularly appealing person. While he's naive and innocent, he's also pretty whiny. While his actions are mostly those of a puppet ruler, there's no one pulling the strings; he's just shy.

Overall, the book gives the feeling of an author trying too hard, with a result that's stiff and stilted. Addison's world uses formal and informal second person address (you, thee), but also first person (we, I - and not just for royalty). It sets the stage, but is tedious to read, and requires frequent authorial callouts (“he used the plural ‘we' rather than the formal”). To her credit, Addison, unlike so many other writers, gets the usage right almost all the time, and the few errors are likely no more than typos.

I've become more vocal of late about SFF that doesn't reach very far, and this book is a good example. Though written by a woman, it relies on standard medieval ‘women are property' conventions. I'm tired of that even in books that are about fighting the patriarchy. Here, it's a throwaway - ‘Hey, women are property. How about some lunch?' I'm baffled by why this theme persists. If your book is not about changing standards, why adopt outdated old ones? Surely even the most conservative writers aren't longing for the days when husbands literally owned their wives, so why use those days as the basis for fiction? The closest this book gets is that Maia at one point accepts a female guard - so long as the male guard is okay with it, that is. At one point, I hoped the story would turn out to be a complex satire. Sadly, it's not.

All in all, not a compelling book. I can't decide whether it's meant as young-adult fiction, but with far too complex a style, or as adult fantasy that's strictly by the numbers. I assume it to be the second, which places it in the ‘readable but dull, and not recommended' category.

The official blurb for the book claims it “is a memorable debut for a great new talent.” That turns out not to be at all true. As Katherine Addison's own website points out, she's actually published author Sarah Monette, forced by her new publisher to use a pseudonym. Monette doesn't seem too happy about this, and I can see why, given the misleading (actually, untruthful) nature of the promotion. As it happens, I've read and disliked one of Monette's previous works, Melusine, so it's unsurprising that I didn't care for this one.

The Goblin Emperor can perhaps be described as the most interesting book I've ever read in which nothing really happens. I mean, things happen, but not in the epic way that I think many fantasy readers have come to expect. The Goblin Emperor is the story of Maia, a half-elf, half-goblin who falls into the position of Emperor of Elfland when his father and half brothers are killed in an airship crash. Maia is whisked to the capital where he has to learn how to navigate tricky political waters and govern his kingdom. The entire novel resolves around the policies Maia must learn and the rules he must abide by, as he tries to fit in to the world of the Elven elite, while trying to maintain his own individual identity.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. Maia is the sort of character who will win over a reader with his utter goodness. He has a sort of wide-eyed innocence that isn't uncommon to people thrust into a new situation, but he somehow manages to maintain it even as he learns to deal with the less glamorous side of politics. Some people have complained that this makes him too good, or uninteresting, but I think the writing of Maia is so good I don't really care. I don't think this book would have worked any other way, really. It would have caused to book to completely loose its charm. And it's Maia - once you've read the story it is very difficult to imagine him any way other than how he is written.

Throughout his journey through the realm of Elven politics, Maia is lucky to have a (mostly) great team of advisors and staff to help him (Especially Csevet. Love me some Csevet.), but he must learn to deal with the history of his family (and the loss of them) on his own. The characters are fun and interesting, though it is not an uncommon complaint about the internets that the names did not have to be quite so difficult to pronounce. I don't know if I agree with this - the names really are quite beautiful once you grasp the sounds of them - and honestly many of the longer, more complex names have stuck with me over the shorter or more common ones precisely because of their interesting collection of sounds. In a book with so little action (we barely leave the palace), the naming conventions really did help me feel like I was in another world. I think the world building is really fantastic - you get a very real sense of what life (well, court life at least) is like in Elfland, and how the cultures are different elsewhere. Some of the themes of the book a bit obvious (he's building a bridge!), but none are out of place or bring the story to a stop.

All in all I have to say that this was a great book. It is a quiet story - not a typical epic hero's journey at all - but that is what I like about it. Maia is the sort of heartwarmingly good character you need in your life every once in a while. Especially if you've just read Game of Thrones. He's like chicken soup for the fantasy reader's soul. The writing is good, the world is interesting, and the story is full of interesting and subtle court driven politics. Definitely a fun read for anyone who likes historical fiction or fantasy, though I think any reader would fall in love with Maia and enjoy his story. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. I fell into this world immediately and didn't want to leave; how could I, anyway, abandon Maia to this unfamiliar nest of treachery? I've seen comments on the difficulty of keeping track of the similar names / use of honorifics, but completely disagree that there is any flaw in these things. I was no more confused than any reluctant heir who had been hidden away in a gloomy and isolated keep for eighteen years, so I found it to be a skillful technique in producing an empathetic reader with a strong affinity for the protagonist. Excellent!

Tedious court intrigue with confusing, made-up language.

I don't think I would have read this if it wasn't part of a book-club reading list. I found the title more than a little off-putting. The image it conjured up was of a grotty chieftain avoiding being stabbed in the back somewhere under the Misty Mountains. Not my cup of tea. I was wrong on this count.

The premise is not made clear in the blurb – but is actually very intriguing (this is all Chapter 1 stuff, no spoilers): Years ago the Elven Emperor was forced into a political marriage to secure peace with the neighbouring Goblin lands. Marriage was how such treaties were made, so a Goblin Princess married the Elven Emperor. She was his sixth wife and so could be safely swept under the carpet after the legally obligated nuptials. She was sent to live her life in an isolated forest to be forgotten. Everyone was rather surprised when an Elf-Goblin halfbreed prince was born, but as he had a gaggle of older half-brothers he could be safely ignored. That is until an airship crash wiped out the Royal Family, leaving our little halfblood prince as the heir to the throne.

I'd happily give 4.5 stars for the scenario. After Chapter 1 my head was spinning with the possibilities, how was this plot going to develop? Was our Prince going to be hunted down by rivals, desperate to stop him reaching the capital? Would he assume the throne and have to face down a popular uprising due to his Goblin blood? Would he in fact be the great peacemaker between these ancient rivals, bringing them together at last?

The answer is that he gets on an airship, flies to the capital in a few paragraphs, and then pretty much does nothing.

Possible Spoilers ahead (but not much).

OK, there's some letter writing, some key building projects he pushes through and some functions he attends. Yes there is some opposition and some courtiers scheme away, but really he just learns the ropes with a couple of stumbles along the way, but nothing really to write home about.

That's right. Nothing. Happens.

It's a well written, deeply thought out, intricate nothing. If you are interested in the bureaucracy of a fantasy world, or some very polite manoeuvring in the royal court, you might like it. If you want world-building and a likeable enough character then you might enjoy this book, but I've got to say I need Plot as well as Character and Setting. This has only two of the three. I think I found him selecting his outfits the most gripping scenes in the book.

I guess that's what made it so disappointing – I like the character, I love the setting, I just wanted something to happen.