The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

I don't re-read books very often (my very long TBR highly disapproves of it), and I read this one only a few years ago. But one day I was looking for a comfort read, so I picked this one up off my shelf to read a few chapters, not intending to read it all the way through. But then I just couldn't stop myself!

I don't really know why this book works for me so well, but it does. It's a pretty chunky book, and mostly revolves around court intrigue, something that definitely is not usually my thing. But it's about Maia, a half-goblin who is the fourth son of the elf emperor, pretty much living in exile with his guardian-relative who hates him. Then one day at 18 years old, he wakes up to find out his father and three older brothers have just died in an airship accident, and he is now emperor. Except he knows NOTHING about politics or how to behave, and he has no desire to be emperor. But he just... has to try his best. People are not happy about this clueless, half-goblin emperor, plus the airship accident was not an accident, so maybe people are trying to kill him?

The world-building in this book is pretty much Tolkien-level intense, and there are so many characters and places and different ways to address people (although at least there's a semi-helpful guide in the back of the book). And we're just watching Maia muddle his way through his first months as emperor. It was occasionally hard to follow what was happening as Maia goes to meeting after meeting, and there are all these warring parties and schemes and machinations. But like, Maia is just so good. He's trying to do his best and keep up, and he's doing everything wrong, but maybe actually better than his jerk father and grandfather? He cares about people as individuals, and thinks about the people nobody else is thinking about. I don't really know why this is a comfort read for me, but maybe it's just nice to see a leader being a good person. Everything points to me getting bogged down in detail and losing interest, but I never did, even during my second read. I don't understand it, but I gave this book a hug after I finished reading it again, and it probably won't be the last time I read it either.