#the goblin emperor

[coldtofu]

Reading The Goblin Emperor AGAIN (for the third time) uhhh so I think it’s time to start drawing them

Still workshopping it but the elves are pretty cat-like to me (taking inspiration from the royal signets) so Maia is a bit furry and has bobcat-ish ears

[stormsbreadth]

finally read the goblin emperor (90% of it today). it hits the perfect balance between having genuine stakes and intrigued while still feeling incredibly safe and gentle. the central themes are about friendship and the power of being resolutely good and kind even when the world wants you not to be. instant comfort read, five stars.

[grendel-menz]

wonder tales and cloud bridges

[wiltkingart]

he was white and cold and sparkling, like a snowfield under moonlight.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

I still haven't gotten around to reading the Goblin Emperor but I'm obsessed with how fans talk about it on here they're like NOTHING happens but POLITICS for FOUR HUNDRED PAGES the protagonist is TRAPPED in MACHINES OF POWER and can do NOTHING TO ESCAPE he has NO FREE WILL he also has SOCIAL ANXIETY this is the BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ

[captain-hooks]

He was called the Winter Emperor, for his reign was brought in with early snow…

The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison

[bobellafofella]

He said lamely, "She is very beautiful." "And she has the sense not to frighten you," Dach'osmin Ceredin said, and Maia took a step back, wanting to protest her deduction, but unable to deny its truth. "We should take lessons from her, we see."

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison is one of my favorite books of all time, and within it, one of my favorite scenes is Maia and Csethiro's first real interaction at Nurevis' party! so i drew it. their slow romance is so delicious.

[aethersea]

A neat thing about The Goblin Emperor is that while it's a classic trope of the lost heir plunged into a morass of courtly intrigue where he has no idea whom he can trust, the very first thing it does is emphasize how much he has to choose to trust anyway. Maia has to trust the head of his household to appoint his body servants, and he has to trust those servants. He has to trust the adremaza to appoint his nohecharei, and he has to trust his nohecharei. Any one of these people could kill him. Any one of them could carry gossip to his enemies, or make him look bad in public and thus weaken him in the eyes of the court. But if he so much as implies a discomfort with these choices, he'll offend powerful people without cause – and anyway, how could he possibly pick better? He has no idea what he's doing. He's forced to rely on people. He's forced to trust. The only person he actually personally chooses is Csevet, and what he chooses to do is essentially hand Csevet the keys to the empire. He got so fucking lucky there, that could have gone so incredibly badly.

But it didn't. Because, as the book emphasizes, trust is the right choice. Even when it does go badly, even when he is betrayed, that doesn't mean the trust was wrong. Because when one person betrays him, every single other person around him shows how truly loyal they are, not only by rushing to his aid, but by caring so deeply and obviously about him.

That's why this book feels so odd for its genre: there's a bunch of complex courtly intrigue going on, but Maia never plays the game. He never schemes, he's never playing 5D chess with his enemies. He has to navigate the factions of the court and try to win them to his side, but he does so by being kind and forthright. He's completely blindsided by the coup attempts, and frankly so are we, because he's just been focusing on other stuff! And he survives them, not through his own cunning, but through the love of those he placed his trust in.

[upongoblinhill]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕲𝖔𝖇𝖑𝖎𝖓 𝕰𝖒𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖔𝖗

by Katherine Addison

[asmywhimseytakesme]

I’ve been re reading The Goblin Emperor and having feelings about it.

[esmeblaze]

Yeah

[heyitsrink]

Maia is not one for violent activities and when Csethiro needed a new dueling partner, he found that he had neither the interest nor the talent. Csevet, however, has found the sport a good outlet for all his pent-up frustration energy.

Although he prefers not to participate, the emperor greatly enjoys observing the efforts of his secretary and empress:

[grendel-menz]

it's licherally my calling...

[look-a-diversion]

Maia “Conflict Aversion” Drazhar aka emperor Edrehasivar VII, having determined that he cannot make everyone happy, deciding to make a decision that will make NO ONE happy and then immediately canceling all his appointments for the rest of the day so he can go to his room and panic about it is truly the biggest mood

[nerves-nebula]

losing an ideological debate against the guy who killed my dad and put me on the throne because he believes that I will be a good change in this world and I'm trying to convince him that the people he killed weren't worth it but he's actually kind of 100% correct in saying that what I'll do for the common folk will save way more lives than he killed and he's satisfied with that and he's kind of got a crazy look in his eyes but that doesn't mean he isn't right

[eggcats]

In my opinion, the funniest thing is reading The Goblin Emperor and meeting Thara Celehar, who acts like he's fucking ancient and ready to die of old age, and then you get to The Witness for the Dead and you find out this bitch is like, 30 years old