TGE: Similar reads?

[Roger]

Just finished the audio version of TGE and LOVED it. It got me to thinking about what other stories might have similar themes of young boy/girl suddenly thrust into role of leading a nation/people world etc.

What stories have you read with similar themes?

[John (Taloni)]

Initial thought, Dragonriders of Pern. Lessa is Pernese royalty, granted, but never thought beyond recovering her Hold. Now she's thrust in the role of saving her entire world from Thread.

[Stephen]

You asked for it, so here it is:
Prince of Thorns
If TGE is a cup of Hot Chocolate, The Broken Empire is a cup of Hot Chocolate thrown in your face. You heard of the term " Chekov's Gun". Mark Lawrence took the term and ran with it.
Half a King : When I heard Joe Abercromie was writing a YAD with a protagonist that has a handicap I was expecting something like TGE. But no. I love Joe A. and everything he has done but someone needs to tell him writing his normal violence filled novels without the cuss words does not make a YAD. His main theme is the same as his other novels, Life sucks and can kill you at any moment.

[AndrewP]

For fantasy political court drama I would recommend The Curse of Chalion, it has a lot of what you are looking for and, in my opinion, it's way superior to TGE.

[Sky]

Stephen wrote: "You asked for it, so here it is:
Prince of Thorns
If TGE is a cup of Hot Chocolate, The Broken Empire is a cup of Hot Chocolate thrown in your face. You heard of the term " Chekov'..."

hahaha...great recommendation. Though I wouldn't exactly say Jorg Ancrath was "thrust" into the role of leading a nation...More like he is thrusting the world.

[Art]

^Those books have the same themes as TGE but what stands out to me is the tone of this book. I'd be really interested if anyone knew of any more books like that. Slower more character and world building focused book. Though i like fantasy books about epic wars, it gets old.

[Dara]

I'm not reading TGE but I think The Golem and the Jinni might be something you're looking for. It's focused on character, not plot. Sure, there's some action but it's really about the Golem and the Jinni, how their paths intersect and the effect they have on each other's lives.Also there's no war. No swords or sorcery. The writing style is beautiful. One of my favorite books that I read last year.

[John (Taloni)]

I'm'a step out on a limb and suggest the later Three Musketeers books. "Twenty Years After" and "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later". They are not genre, but cover the youth and early reign of Louis XIV in great detail.

EDITED TO ADD: And they're all available at my favorite price - free - at gutenberg.org.

[Joanna Chaplin]

Dara wrote: "No swords or sorcery. "

There's a little bit of sorcery in the origins of the golem and the jinni themselves, but no one's really casting attack spells.

[Stephen]

I too loved The Golem and the Jinni, as it is set in one of my favorite time periods, the turn of the last century. There is a lot of fantasy elements in the book and a rather surprise ending I did not see coming.

[Karina]

I haven't started on TGE yet (soon!) but "young girl suddenly thrust into role of leading a nation" made me think of The Queen of the Tearling, which I liked a lot. (Has a sequel coming in the near future, I think.)

[Kate]

It's well over a decade since I read it, so caveat lector, but I think Daughter of the Empire fits the bill.

[Roger]

Thanks for the great recommendations I really liked the slow pace and character development of the Goblin Emperor but the thing that really stood out to me was the innocence of Maia and his kindness in the midst of the traditional politics and snobbiness of the court I think that jumped out to me more than the theme itself and was just looking for another book that had that same nice guys make a difference in a jaded world kind of book...

[Andrew]

A couple that I think of as similar reads, but for a different reason from what Roger was looking for - Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy starting with Titus Groan and Guy Gavriel Kay's Lord of Emperors, the second half of his two book Sarantine Mosaic. They're both slow building, atmospheric takes on life at court, with emphasis on atmosphere and character, but without the innocent central character. The Goblin Emperor felt to me like a more accessible and optimistic take on this sort of book.

[Kevin]

Kate wrote: "It's well over a decade since I read it, so caveat lector, but I think Daughter of the Empire fits the bill."

This one is definitely very similar in theme.

And The Curse of Chalion is indeed also pretty close.

[Daniel]

Nation by Terry Pratchett has similar themes I guess. Plus it is Pratchett's masterpiece

[Gabrielle]

any stand alone books that is similar to TGE?

[AndrewP]

Andrew wrote: "A couple that I think of as similar reads, but for a different reason from what Roger was looking for - Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy starting with Titus Groan and Guy Gavriel Kay..."

I second Titus Groan, it only has a handful of characters to keep track of too!

EDIT: you can read it as a stand alone too since the trilogy was never actually finished.

[Rob, Roberator]

Gabrielle wrote: "any stand alone books that is similar to TGE?"

Of those suggested so far, I believe The Golem and the Jinni is stand alone.

And while not stand alone exactly, The Curse of Chalion can easily be read that way.

I just did a quick skim, so it's possible I missed some others.

[Gabrielle]

thank you Rob

[Andrew]

AndrewP wrote: "I second Titus Groan, it only has a handful of characters to keep track of too!

EDIT: you can read it as a stand alone too since the trilogy was never actually finished.
..."

And what glorious names those characters have! Steerpike, Flay, Lord Sepulchrave, Swelter, Prunesquallor... I definitely didn't get any of them confused as I occasionally did with TGE.

While the series wasn't properly completed, I found I got the greatest sense of completion at the end of the second book. The third one takes such a jump away from the original, it barely felt like the same setting.

[Warren]

There are plenty of old movies with a similar theme such as:
The Prisoner of Zenda
If I were king
Or try Heinlein's book- Double star

[Joseph]

Mazarkis Williams' Tower and Knife trilogy (The Emperor's Knife: Book One of the Tower and Knife Trilogy, etc.) has a very similar set-up (completely unprepared third-string heir becomes emperor) but to very different effect and very different tone.

It's also a great trilogy, though, and well worth checking out.

[Roger]

So I picked up the Golem and the Jinni. And the curse of chalion. I am really enjoying G&J so far. Thanks for the recommends!

[Kimberly]

Stolen Songbird has the same focus on politics and world-building, with a positive tone focused on building connections between groups that Goblin Emperor has. It's YA though, so there's a bit of a romance in there too.

[Joanna Chaplin]

It just occurred to me today that Emperor Gregor's arc from the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold has some similarities. Gregor was raised to be Emperor and he's far more melancholy than Maia is, but he also is a monarch with a good deal of power trying to transition his empire to something more democratic and progressive. He's never the viewpoint character, though.

[Molly]

I love political intrigue as a focal point for fantasy. I thought the Kushiel's Dart trilogy did this phenomenally. Memorizing all the names, titles, and connections is always difficult at first, but if it's well-written, I can't get enough.

[Trike]

Eleanor wrote: "^Those books have the same themes as TGE but what stands out to me is the tone of this book. I'd be really interested if anyone knew of any more books like that. Slower more character and world bui..."

John Crowley's books might appeal to you. He focuses more on character than plot. Otherwise: Three Novels by John Crowley, Little, Big.

[Robert]

For some reason this book reminded me of the Gomernghast trilogy, might just be because I couldn't figure out why I loved that book(s) either :-)

[Kevin]

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin fits more or less in this thread too.