Hardcover, 446 pages
English language
Published April 2014 by Tor.
A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by a brilliant young talent
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and …
A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by a brilliant young talent
The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.
Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor is an exciting fantasy novel, set against the pageantry and color of a fascinating, unique world, is a memorable debut for a great new talent.
Readable and forgettable. I should have heeded the Young Adult tag and passed on it, perhaps.
Despiertas y plaf te toca encabezar un imperio, tú el cuarto hijo, el relegado, cuasi-exiliado. Nadie esperaba que te tocaría, cualquiera de los otros iba antes, pero así es cuando se mueren todos en un accidente.
Por lo tanto todo es duda y sorpresa, pero cual diplomático japonés te toca ocultar todo estado emocional, ser ilegible conviene a los intereses del imperio. No ayuda que tienes orejas, pues eres un goblin, una raza más oscura de elfo.
En esto ayuda tu inocencia: el imperio no te interesa más que como estructura de poder para ayudar a tu gente. Pronto se nota que no eres como el previo emperador, como los previos: tienes otra sensibilidad, te interesas por todos.
Es que tu guardián hasta ayer era tu primo que te odiaba y maltrataba. Por eso tu capacidad refinada de sentir el dolor ajeno. Por eso serás otro tipo de emperador, nomás …
Despiertas y plaf te toca encabezar un imperio, tú el cuarto hijo, el relegado, cuasi-exiliado. Nadie esperaba que te tocaría, cualquiera de los otros iba antes, pero así es cuando se mueren todos en un accidente.
Por lo tanto todo es duda y sorpresa, pero cual diplomático japonés te toca ocultar todo estado emocional, ser ilegible conviene a los intereses del imperio. No ayuda que tienes orejas, pues eres un goblin, una raza más oscura de elfo.
En esto ayuda tu inocencia: el imperio no te interesa más que como estructura de poder para ayudar a tu gente. Pronto se nota que no eres como el previo emperador, como los previos: tienes otra sensibilidad, te interesas por todos.
Es que tu guardián hasta ayer era tu primo que te odiaba y maltrataba. Por eso tu capacidad refinada de sentir el dolor ajeno. Por eso serás otro tipo de emperador, nomás tienes que creertela.
En este punto la novela nos ha impulsado a reflexiones interesantes, acerca de El Poder, de los vínculos entre monoteiso y monarquía, de la vida interior y cómo se gobierna como se es.
¡Y apenas va construyendo el mundo! De ahí vienen como tres diferentes puntos de inflexión, cada uno complica la trama, arrecia la crisis, acelera la narrativa. Todo aderezado con dos o tres sub-tramas que construyen al personaje central y a sus cuates y a sus adversarios.
Ahora que trato de reconstruirlos en mi mente me doy cuenta de que cada arco narrativo va trenzado con los demás, justo como se peinaría una elfa cantante de ópera.
En suma: recomendable fantasía para lectores receptivos.
the usual fantasy-racism and sexism with a bit of homomisia sprinkled in. the author should just have written the novel in 19th century europe, the fantasy aspect is rarely used at all.
the book seems to want me to have sympathy with an absolutist ruler. 🙄 and what's up with all these different names, and sometimes more than one name for one person? feels like there were a hundred or so names used. oof! and then there are perfectly translatable concepts that are left in some kind of elven language, and sometimes the characters speak really old english? why?!?
at least the story itself is somewhat interesting and has potential, but i'm not gonna read the next books.
Overall this was a good book. It was fairly straightforward in its plot and characters, which allowed it to have a more personal feel to the main character. The setting is hindered a little by aspects of the language which, while they add some depth, they also add a great amount of complexity. I can certainly see the similarities to The Hands of the Emperor, though I prefer that book for its broader story and the focus on the secretary rather than the emperor himself.
For a full review, check out my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2023/07/book-review-goblin-emperor-by-katherine.html
Before reading Witness for the Dead, I took the excuse to reread Goblin Emperor for the nth time, and oh wow is it still such a comfort read for me.
I think it's really that Maia is an endearing (and easy to connect to for me) character. An anxious, apologetic, people-pleasing half-goblin forced into being an emperor that he doesn't know anything about. Wanting to be kind and make friends but struggling with being awkward and trying to do that through an extreme power dynamic differential.
It takes a little to get into the swing of the various courtiers and naming conventions, but it feels a little like a reflection how lost Maia is himself.
Overall, it's just a nice gentle character arc of growing into competency and friendship that always seems to be exactly what I need.
Content warning mild spoilies on general theme
this book was an excellent traveling companion!
i loved the style of the narrative, avoiding forced plot events in preference of exploring the social setting and all of the (inner) world-building. exactly the kind of depth i was hoping for after going exiting an extended period of adrian tchaikovski novels—sorry adrian! yv'e got great ideas, but surface-level treatment at times
really enjoyed the general premise (growing into unwanted power), the character interactions, and the confusion i felt regarding all the courtiers and their names and origins.
Noooo, more book tho!
When this book was recommended to me, I'll admit I heard the title, sighed, and thought, "Man, I'm not really feeling the High Fantasy vibe right now." My reluctance grew deeper when I heard is was Steampunk as well as High Fantasy. But it came highly recommended, and by two people whose literary opinions I respect, so I tried to put aside my momentary prejudices and tucked in.
I'm so glad I did.
This book was as far from the typical High Fantasy novel as you can get, and the Steampunk element was just that: an element, rather than a driving force. In truth, it reminded me of the surprise and delight I felt when I first read [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|14201|Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|Susanna Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357027589s/14201.jpg|3921305], [a:Susanna Clarke|8842|Susanna Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207159127p2/8842.jpg]'s singularly amazing novel, which was ostensibly about two magicians and the workings of magic in late 19th-century England, but …
When this book was recommended to me, I'll admit I heard the title, sighed, and thought, "Man, I'm not really feeling the High Fantasy vibe right now." My reluctance grew deeper when I heard is was Steampunk as well as High Fantasy. But it came highly recommended, and by two people whose literary opinions I respect, so I tried to put aside my momentary prejudices and tucked in.
I'm so glad I did.
This book was as far from the typical High Fantasy novel as you can get, and the Steampunk element was just that: an element, rather than a driving force. In truth, it reminded me of the surprise and delight I felt when I first read [b:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|14201|Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell|Susanna Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357027589s/14201.jpg|3921305], [a:Susanna Clarke|8842|Susanna Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207159127p2/8842.jpg]'s singularly amazing novel, which was ostensibly about two magicians and the workings of magic in late 19th-century England, but was in fact so much more about the growth and struggles of men and women, with magic almost more a set dressing than a topic or plot device. The goblins and elves and magic in The Goblin Emperor are, while present and much discussed, utterly incidental to the real story, which is this: How does a decent man discover both that he IS decent, and that despite having no reasons to be, WANTS to be?
In this, the book also reminded me of the film The Others, with Nicole Kidman. That film was a turn-of-the-century ghost story, and yet despite the beautiful cinematography and costumes, it could have easily been filmed on a blank grey stage, because it relied utterly on the actors and their inner struggles, and had hardly a single noticeable special effect to distract the audience. This is The Goblin Emperor's strength, too; for all that the trappings of High Fantasy led me to expect sword fights and magic duels, this book could have taken place in modern New York or a near-future space station, or on a minimally-set stage. The setting was incidental, the characters were all.
Katherine Addison (or Sarah Monette to her friends, I'm sure) managed to write a fantasy novel about a young man's personal growth in a conservative culture, with hardly any of the expected tropes of the genre, and I loved it.
Three-hundred pages in and it was fine, but I just didn't feel any need to complete it. Plot-wise, there were a lot of irons in the fire, but none of them hot enough to make a mark. I had trouble keeping people straight. There are A LOT of characters and family names and locations thrown at you, and the names were sometimes complicated, or too similar to another. It might have been a personal weakness that I couldn't remember who was who, but it really did make things hard to follow. I will probably read later books by this author. She does show talent, and maybe it was just this book I didn't get along with.
Objectionable material: none in the first 300 pages. The society is formal and conservative, so the story matches.
