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A review by lavendermarch
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
3.0
I have parts of The Goblin Emperor that I really enjoyed, such as the deftly woven court politics, the deeply flawed, imperfect, and yet endearing main character and his growth throughout the novel, and the general subtle characterization beyond Maia himself.
However, I'm not sure how to rate the book. The speech style of the characters, while certainly well-thought out in terms of what it was going for, felt almost like reading another language for a while at the beginning. Having to get used to not only the world building but also the very specific speech styles was a bit much (and also probably shows that I haven't read hard fantasy in a while, haha). In all seriousness, I did find it a bit hard to get used to, and it made the book, at 450 pages, feel more like 600.
The other thing that felt a bit odd to me was that while there clearly was some magic at play, it was quite subtle. While the book obviously takes place in a fictional empire with steampunk elements, the fantasy aspects (sorry, the elf/goblin stuff didn't really feel very fantastical with how it was executed) weren't prevalent enough for me. As mentioned at the start of my review, the court intrigue is excellently done, but as a fantasy novel, while the main character didn't need to be casting spells himself, it would have been nice to see more magic in use, even just subtly in every day life, rather than relegated to a few specific characters in a few small parts of the book. Even the whole elf/goblin stuff didn't feel very fantastical, with no particular traits like enhanced speed, strength, longer lives, or anything like that - just physical appearances.
Despite my grievances, I did enjoy reading this book and think that it was worth the read for the court intrigue and characterization alone. While the fantasy elements could have been stronger, and the writing style slightly smoother, this was a decent read and I would recommend it if you go in knowing what to expect. 3 stars.
However, I'm not sure how to rate the book. The speech style of the characters, while certainly well-thought out in terms of what it was going for, felt almost like reading another language for a while at the beginning. Having to get used to not only the world building but also the very specific speech styles was a bit much (and also probably shows that I haven't read hard fantasy in a while, haha). In all seriousness, I did find it a bit hard to get used to, and it made the book, at 450 pages, feel more like 600.
The other thing that felt a bit odd to me was that while there clearly was some magic at play, it was quite subtle. While the book obviously takes place in a fictional empire with steampunk elements, the fantasy aspects (sorry, the elf/goblin stuff didn't really feel very fantastical with how it was executed) weren't prevalent enough for me. As mentioned at the start of my review, the court intrigue is excellently done, but as a fantasy novel, while the main character didn't need to be casting spells himself, it would have been nice to see more magic in use, even just subtly in every day life, rather than relegated to a few specific characters in a few small parts of the book. Even the whole elf/goblin stuff didn't feel very fantastical, with no particular traits like enhanced speed, strength, longer lives, or anything like that - just physical appearances.
Despite my grievances, I did enjoy reading this book and think that it was worth the read for the court intrigue and characterization alone. While the fantasy elements could have been stronger, and the writing style slightly smoother, this was a decent read and I would recommend it if you go in knowing what to expect. 3 stars.