Book Review: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Goblin Emperor is a steampunk-ish fantasy novel. The book is about Maia, a young half-goblin prince who has spent his entire life “relegated” to a distant estate under the guardianship of an abusive relative. Maia’s situation changes rapidly when a messenger from the Imperial Court arrives to tell him that his father the emperor and his half-brothers have all died in a dirigible crash. (And of course, Maia is now the new emperor of the Elflands.)

Maia has to learn how to navigate court politics and all the little details of being an emperor–a role he was never intended to fill. Fortunately, Our Protagonist is very intelligent and determined to Do The Right Thing. (Something that puts him at odds with people either trying to control him or who don’t understand his reasoning.)

This book has a slow and thoughtful pace with occasional moments of humor. Maia is a very relatable character and an absolute “cinnamon roll.” (Too good for this world. Too pure, etc.) Addison does a really good job with characterization here. Maia is shown to be clearly affected by his abuse at the hands of his relative Setheris, and a lot of the story is about Maia overcoming the negative messages he received from his caretaker.

Other major plot lines in the story are the investigation of the dirigible crash and the difficulties Maia has with his chancellor who is attempting to become the power behind the thrown. There’s also the developing relationship between Maia and Csethiro Ceredin, the woman he chooses to marry. (Csethiro is also a pretty great character. A tomboy who’s a little brash and doesn’t think much of Maia due to rumors she’s heard, and then gets called out on it by Maia.)

This book was very much a comfort read for me because the work has a strong “found family” vibe.  The turns and twists to the plot are interesting and I enjoyed the character interactions and the characters themselves. There was enough political intrigue to make it interesting and just enough romance to be charming. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding as well.