The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1) in Adventures in SciFi Publishing

Apr 07, 2014 Michael rated it really liked it

I actually finished this some time ago - not sure when. I really enjoyed it. Will write a full review shortly.

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Apr 26, 2015 Timothy Ward rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hugos-2015, 2015, fantasy, 2014, tor, top-reads-2015

#3 - Top Ten Reads of 2015 at timothycward.com

A book that touts court intrigue in the description is not likely one that I’ll end up reading. I picked it up after a friend, DJ, called it his best read last year, and I’m glad to have given this a chance. It could end up being my top read this year.

While the first few chapters kept my interest, the names and titles began to wear me down. Some nights I read on, hoping repetition and future subtext would help me where I was failing to commit to memo #3 - Top Ten Reads of 2015 at timothycward.com

A book that touts court intrigue in the description is not likely one that I’ll end up reading. I picked it up after a friend, DJ, called it his best read last year, and I’m glad to have given this a chance. It could end up being my top read this year.

While the first few chapters kept my interest, the names and titles began to wear me down. Some nights I read on, hoping repetition and future subtext would help me where I was failing to commit to memory. Some nights, and some times for days or weeks at a time, I gave up and read other stuff. I’m thankful I picked this back up and finished it, though, because it is truly special.

The best aspect to The Goblin Emperor is the main character, Maia. He is a young goblin forced to become the Emperor after an airship exploded with his unloving father and many other royalty inside. His story is how he handles the transformation from life as an exiled, distant heir to the throne, half-breed, to a young emperor. He's locked in the sights of those who would seek to manipulate him in his reign or flat out try and take that throne from him.

Maia is an outstanding person. He is a leader who cares because he knows what it’s like to have people not care for him. He is not proud because he’s been bullied into thinking he was both worthless and less than “human” to every other kind of “human” out there. In many ways, this is a story about people society treats as lesser than. Maia finds a way to overcome this prejudice in ways that are inspiring and heart warming. His is a beautiful story I will loudly recommend to anyone who loves stories, not just fans of Fantasy.

Addison is a phenom talent of a writer, and The Goblin Emperor deserves a critical eye, to character development and empathy, dialogue that enhances the story and how we connect to the characters as living beings, and in where one should insert idioms and world facts to make the world more realistic.

Here are some gems:
(Read the rest of the review on my website http://www.timothycward.com/2015/09/1...) ...more

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Jun 10, 2014 Mike rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-when-price-dropped, from-tbr, 2015-best-of

A lot of people have been talking about this book, so while it was on sale I picked it up.

The main complaint I'd heard was that it was boring, but I'd also heard that it was excellently written, and sometimes books with a lot of depth get dismissed as "boring" by people who are used to shallow action. What I found was that it was dull sometimes, but I still wanted to keep reading.

I think what people are reacting to is that there's not a lot of conflict, and what conflict there is is often over A lot of people have been talking about this book, so while it was on sale I picked it up.

The main complaint I'd heard was that it was boring, but I'd also heard that it was excellently written, and sometimes books with a lot of depth get dismissed as "boring" by people who are used to shallow action. What I found was that it was dull sometimes, but I still wanted to keep reading.

I think what people are reacting to is that there's not a lot of conflict, and what conflict there is is often over quickly, and frequently the main character wins the conflict without a lot of struggle. This is the opposite of how to write a fast-moving thriller. It wouldn't be true to say that nothing happens in the book; plenty of things happen, it's full of things happening, but most of them aren't conflicts. It's rich with worldbuilding and description, there are dozens and dozens of characters with long, confusing names (I stopped trying to keep track and just let them wash over me in the end), and even the solving of the murder mystery happens offstage. This last is inevitable, since the viewpoint stays with the title character throughout, and he is stuck in the palace while other people do things like solve murder mysteries on his behalf.

The overall feeling I got from this book was similar to the main character's situation: overwhelmed with the complexities of the court and its denizens, occasionally bored, but wanting to press forward anyway.

Someone, I suspect the editor, has wisely given it very short chapters, so at least there are frequent breaks and more of a sense of progress.

So far I've damned it with faint praise, but it is a beautifully written novel by someone with considerable command of her craft. It's heartening to me to see that something that isn't filled with conflict can get published and command an audience. The book is like an enormous tapestry, every stitch intricate and precise. It's not exciting, but I don't think it's meant to be. It's meant to be beautiful, and it is. ...more

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Jun 25, 2015 Abby Goldsmith rated it did not like it

Shelves: sff, pov-non-human

This could have been historical fiction, except for the pointy ears and steampunk elements. There's almost no magic. In the end, I wished this was about a reluctant emperor in our world's history, rather than a purely fictional one.

Overall, this book has a warm, fuzzy feeling. Maia is a nice guy. People like him. Everyone (except for the few villains) are really sweet and nice. Peace, joy, and goodwill to all.

My problem is that all the niceness makes for a lack of tension and conflict. Maia's This could have been historical fiction, except for the pointy ears and steampunk elements. There's almost no magic. In the end, I wished this was about a reluctant emperor in our world's history, rather than a purely fictional one.

Overall, this book has a warm, fuzzy feeling. Maia is a nice guy. People like him. Everyone (except for the few villains) are really sweet and nice. Peace, joy, and goodwill to all.

My problem is that all the niceness makes for a lack of tension and conflict. Maia's biggest obstacles seem to be when he should wear imperial white. He's lonely as the emperor ... but he's got power, and no one really threatens that power. I was sympathetic to his loneliness at first. After a while, I was rolling my eyes. "Make some friends, Maia! Just say hi to that cute elf girl! Drop the formality! Give some commands! Grow a spine!"

The racial tension between elves and goblins was subdued and too easily dismissed. Goblins aren't a whole lot different from elves, other than a slightly more relaxed sense of propriety and darker skin. If you're expecting crazy gremlins or a long history of conflict between the races, it's absent. The two races apparently coexist nicely with each other. Only one idiotic character dared to protest Maia's right to rule based on his heritage, and it was a flimsy insult. I was expecting a lot more racial tension.

There's a name overload. In historical books, I'm okay with a heaping pile of named places, characters, titles, verbiage, etc., which lends to its historical gravitas. I'm less forgiving of it in fantasy fiction. Unimportant characters and places can, and perhaps should, go unnamed. Their names were beautiful, but since it's fiction, I expect most of the terminology to be "translated" to English.

There were a few moments of brilliance in the dialogue. I particularly liked the confession of the terrorist who destroyed the airship.

I think this really appeals to a certain readership. Not me. I need more mayhem in my stories! ...more

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May 10, 2015 Katie Daniels rated it it was amazing

Shelves: outread-aubrey-2015, hugo-2015

Wow. This novel was difficult to get into, starting out as it did with a bunch of people you don't know, all with names you cannot pronounce, speaking in a complicated and bewildering grammatical syntax, being woken in the middle of the night wondering what the heck is going on.

And then suddenly it gets a whole lot better. The names never get easier to pronounce, but they have a poetry to them that you come to appreciate. The grammar is still bewildering, but you recognize it as a poor translat ...more

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May 23, 2014 Andy rated it liked it

The book throws you into the deep end of two whole new cultures, their courts, and all the peculiarities and names that come with them. This make you feel as alienated and frustrated from the start as Maia, the overwhelmed Goblin Emperor, but I got frustrated and gave up keeping track of names, and reading got smoother.

The story also takes a while to find something to do besides teach Maia about the elfish and goblin courts and cultures. You have to be able to deal with a lot of uneventful pages ...more

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