The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is one of the books I found out about from the infamous Top Books by Women in the r/fantasy subreddit.  This book was #5 and I had never even heard of it. Sometimes I wonder what is happening in my world that I was so unaware of a book that is so beloved.

Maia is the half-goblin fourth son of the emperor and he was exiled to a distant manor in the kingdom after his mother dies under the care of an abusive distant relative.  He receives news that his father and his brothers have been killed and he suddenly becomes the emperor and we're thrown into the intrigue of royal court.

I know exactly why it's a favorite on the r/fantasy subreddit.  Maia tries so hard to be good, decent, and make the right decisions even in the face of treachery and deceit. He doesn't want to be vengeful, but he recognizes that appropriate punishments sometimes have to be given. He doesn't want to be unkind or thoughtless. Sometimes he gets tired or angry or has outbursts because he's human (er...half-goblin), but everything about Maia is understandable and he's deliciously NICE, which is just not a trope you see in fantasy all that often.

There are some definite struggles with the book.  There are a million very long, unpronounceable words of people and places that make it a bit hard to get into, despite the language guide that makes up the first pages of the book.  There's also a lot of talk about informal versus formal language, what clothing represents, and  the inner workings of diplomacy in a goblin court, so if you're not into that sort of thing, this might not be your sort of thing.  It's strange because, although it's written by a woman (presumably), it's still sort of a "great man" royal story with female characters being few and far between and interesting female characters even fewer.

But it's a world that you can really sink into. I've really been looking for something like the world building of The Realm of the Elderlings and this world might be it.  Unfortunately, there's only one more book in the series, a sequel that focuses on a secondary character from the first novel, so it's not a world I can spend years going through. I will say, though, this book clocks in at nearly 450 pages and it took me quite some time to get through it, so it is a definite time commitment.

I want to make it quite clear that I adore this book and will be adding it to my list of amazing fantasy books that I can wholeheartedly endorse. There's something quite optimistic about this book, despite the coups and murders.  If Addison can pull that off, she's really got a magic formula.