The Goblin Emperor

By: Katherine Addison

Narrated by: Kyle McCarley

Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Maia, the youngest half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an 'accident', he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir. Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favour with the naïve new emperor and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages and the spectre of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor.

©2021 Katherine Addison (P)2021 Penguin Audio and Rebellion Publishing

Critic Reviews

"Challenging, invigorating and unique." (Scott Lynch, bestselling author of The Lies of Locke Lamora)

Just a little disappointed

I read this straight after finishing The Hands Of The Emperor by Victoria Goddard. Perhaps if I'd read this first I would have enjoyed it more, but for me it suffered from the comparison.
Actually I listened to it and that was unhelpful. The names of people and places were inevitably strings of gibberish so I had little idea who anyone was or if perhaps 'they' were actually a city or a building or a job title. A visual reading would probably have made that easier.
I found the plot rather thin. Everything interesting happens in the past (an airship crashes) or in the future (the Emperor has an arranged marriage) or offstage (the Emperor tasks an interesting character to unravel the mystery of the crash ... character vanishes from the text and returns several chapters later with the complete answer).
The Emperor is a Nice Guy. Oops sorry - in this book that is pretty much a plot spoiler.
If you like the idea of Goblin Emperor, do look for Victoria Goddard's book. For me, she wrote the book that this nice attempt wanted to be.

Almost perfect

This is one of my favourite books and was happy to find and audio book of it! The only snag was that part of chapter 30 is missing, one of the better parts at that! Aside from that everything else was great

Glorious

I first read the book several years ago, but revisiting it as an audiobook really was an untrammelled delight. It’s a deeply beloved novel in my circles, with its cinnamon roll protagonist gradually overcoming the bigotry and Macchiavellian schemes of the court which he finds himself suddenly ruling, but I have to say the vocal performance really elevated the story. Cracking character voices and a crisp, engaging narrative voice; I’m horribly fussy about narrators so it is a real joy to find a beloved book so well served by the voice artist.

strange pronunciation of common words

I love this book. The narrator has an odd attitude; he sounds annoyed or sardonic a lot of the time, Words with the vowel la' in are sometimes pronounced very oddly, but the names and words unique to this imaginary world are spoken faultlessly. Odd!

Engaging story line.

Enjoyed the story but the character names we're confusing as place names.
Narration was annoying.

Excellent

One of my favourite fantasy novels beautifully narrated. Definitely one to listen to over again and again.

Slow moving but fairly enjoyable

The narrator had9 very weird pronunciation of some words, for instance a drawled 'kohlm' for 'calm' which was a bit disconcerting, but overall the narration was okay. I felt the story was quite slow moving but it got better towards the end of the book. I'll probably get the next one in the series.

pure entertainment

a lovely take on a classic format. if you like court intrigue and world building, this is for you.

Brilliant Book

It feels rare to find a fantasy book so far removed from being grimdark. The main character solves many of the problems he encounters by being kind, understanding, and earning the loyalty of the people around him. Refreshing.

Can't get past the narration

Why on earth does the narrator insist on pronouncing every other o as oh. It sounds utterly ridiculous and as if he is trying (and failing) to sound upper class.

Maybe this is a good story but the narration is so off putting and the names so strange that after
Struggling through a few chapters I find I simply don't care what is going on.

one of my favourite books

a beautiful book of court intrigue. i loved every minute of it. i was so sad when it ended because i just wanted more.