From the Bookshelf of The Toast…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
This book has all the hallmarks and tropes of the kind of high fantasy I hate, except I loved it???
Main note: it is much more charming, more wry, and more generally disarming than the summary suggests.
Main note: it is much more charming, more wry, and more generally disarming than the summary suggests.
Y'all. Y'ALL. This is FANTASTIC.
I adore Maia. He's a young man trying his best to do a good job in a role he's utterly unprepared for while remaining true to his own morals, and it takes *effort*, but he's determined to be a good, kind person, and I cannot praise this enough. Ugh. I love it. Read this. ...more
I adore Maia. He's a young man trying his best to do a good job in a role he's utterly unprepared for while remaining true to his own morals, and it takes *effort*, but he's determined to be a good, kind person, and I cannot praise this enough. Ugh. I love it. Read this. ...more
This appealed to me more on an intellectual than on an emotional level - but it's kind of nice to be able to say that about a novel populated by elves and goblins. It's all about governance, really, and about the difficulties of being a good leader even if (especially if?) you're a good person. Maia was a little too perfect for me at times, and I'll admit I had some trouble keeping all the names straight, but the ending was quite satisfying.
...more
Deliciously intricate political fantasy, with inscrutable naming practices, and a commitment to defining and exploring a very rigid culture and norms of polite behavior. All with a half-goblin elf emperor who was not supposed to be seated on the throne. I loved the exploration of power, of what it means to be yourself as well as a symbol of the state, and how to find ways to enact change within a system.
Less action and more political intrigue than I expected, but still eminently readable and engaging.
May 15, 2016
Joanna
marked it as to-read
Jul 12, 2016
Linda
marked it as to-read
Jul 18, 2016
Emily
marked it as to-read
Jul 19, 2016
Anna
marked it as to-read
Nov 09, 2016
Patris
marked it as to-read
Dec 02, 2016
Rebecca B
marked it as to-read
Oct 04, 2019
Laura
marked it as to-read
May 07, 2020
Alisha Linehan
marked it as to-read
