Katherine Addison - The Goblin Emperor

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.

Comment: I had seen this book being positively recommended by several readers and finally decided to add it to my TBR. Now that I have read it, I can understand why it was liked, but I did expect a bit more as well.

In this fantasy world where Elves and Goblins co-exist, Maia is the half-goblin fourth son of the elf emperor and he has been living in exile since he was a child. Now, suddenly, he must return to the imperial city because his father and three older brothers have been killed in an accident and Maia is the next in line. Unprepared and lacking self confidence, Maia knows there is a lot to be expected of him and he has no idea who we can trust in this new situation he is going into. However, Maia is a sweet natured young man, he feels is his duty to be a good and fair emperor and he certainly doesn't want to continue as his father has done. Will Maia be able to deal with his new court, including the intrigues and the betrayals, and succeed in being the best person he can be?

The several accolades and a few comments I've seen before I even opened the book made me believe that this would be a sweet cozy fantasy, with romance elements and a quiet plot. I can now see why some readers made certain comments or suggested the story would include this and that, but I did expect the romance hints to be a little more obvious. Now that I've finished, I can't say I really mind that the hints weren't more than suggestions, for the story is heartwarming, but yes, a bit more romance elements would have probably elevated this book to me.

The plot of this story is very simple and focused on Maia's experience as becoming an emperor when no one ever believed he would be one. When the story begins, he is taken right away to the imperial court and needs to deal with doing things he wasn't educated to learn and since he is a sweet young person, he isn't vicious nor is he confident to make decisions without knowledge. We follow him as he goes along in his new role, trying to navigate who he can trust and who can help him. Since he is emperor he realizes he can't have friends in the way he imagined, but his attitude and personality slowly allow him to be cherished by those he feels are his closest allies.

This is a truly fascinating story, even though it doesn't have a very complex story. The focus is always on Maia, and the narrative is third person but always from Maia's POV and what he knows and what he doesn't know is imparted to the reader at the same time. I think this worked out well in some cases, not that great when things happened and Maia learned the whys and hows only later on, which means a few things felt confusing for a while.

I've found the world building to be very detailed and this I can say, complex, in a way the plot itself was not. In fact, I was often a little confused over the immense amount of names and families and conjunction of family ties and roles in each family or designation and sometimes I simply had to ignore this and focus on the characters that were mentioned more often, otherwise I'd feel a bit lost. The author includes a glossary and list of names at the end, but so many are so similar that I'll probably forget even the easy ones quickly. Well, maybe not something simple as Maia...

The story is a study in character. What would we do if we had to be in a position we would never dram of, and without enough base to know how to act? The fact Maia is a quiet and sweet natured person makes him seem an easy target but I did like how he slowly progressed in his confidence, and in his reasoning. I'm very glad this wasn't a story where we would see his humiliation or fails and is, instead, a story about doing things slowly and carefully, but while respecting others, specially those who might be in a lower position int he hierarchy, but still necessary to help/make things run smoothly.

Since the plot is pretty much non existing, and the issues that could be seen as conflicts or problems or worrisome situations are quickly solved, the main focus is really on Maia and his evolution. I also liked the elf and goblin information and how they came to exist and mix up, and i think Mais was an interesting example of how the qualities of both can make someone be more and not less, as some elves seem to consider at some point.

This is a heartfelt story, where good things also happen to good people (as opposed to bad so many times) and where being fair and honest isn't something to be mocked or to be seen as flaw. I see there are more books in this universe, I'll likely try to get the next one, featuring a different protagonist, who was a secondary character in this book.

Grade:8/10