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The Goblin Emperor

By: Katherine Addison
Narrated by: Kyle McCarley
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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)

What listeners say about The Goblin Emperor

Average Customer Ratings
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Really good

Political intrigue and detailed world building, quickly invested in the likeable underdog MC.

Names of places and people can be hard to keep track of but it's a great story.

Narration also gets 5 stars.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

unexpectedly great

I have never enjoyed politics in fantasy books but after listening to the goblin emperor I can appreciate it a lot more. I was hooked from beginning to end and the narrator was amazing. I loved all the characters and definitely enjoyed the main character's progression.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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LOVE.

This is currently my best find of this year. Amongst my favourite books of all time. Genuinely in love with the story and the narration. I haven’t been this excited for an audiobook since the Martian. 5/5 for sure.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It has been so long

It has been so long since I have heard a book so unique and captivating! Brilliant concept, story and masterful narration and storytelling! A must have got I any fantasy fan. I wish I could give more than 5 stars!

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • DeD
  • 08-10-2021

really lovely, and interesting world building

The names though.. Phew. Hard to keep track of. I recommend writing them down as you meet them.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

What a great listen. I don't usually start with the narrator, but he was perfect for this book, especially since The Goblin Emperor is told entirely from the perspective of one character.
The story is a simple premise, being an unfavoured son plucked from obscurity, but also mixes in some whodunit, court politics, and intrigue.
I was really quite captivated by this book, and despite the names being quite complex and the levels of hierarchy having unfamiliar names, this was a great listen.
There are two other books that follow, but as the focus moves from this character and the narrator changes, I decided to leave it with just this one book and enjoy it for what it is.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking & beautiful

A thought-provoking & deeply hopeful story set in an intricate & intriguing new world. Maia is a likeable & sympathetic protagonist & is surrounded by interesting characters. The world-building is masterful and rich - there's so much detail & depth, and much more to explore in this world.
The story grapples with a lot of the ways in which a dominant culture discriminates against minorities, but is beautifully written and isn't didactic.
The narration didn't suit Maia's gentle and curious voice particularly well, but was perfectly competent.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A good story

I enjoyed this book as a whole but it was a very slow burn to get in to the meat of the story. Even then the pace felt subdued and highly political. I did enjoy it though.

The voice performance was fantastic and each character had a very distinct accent which helped a lot as the fantasy names were at times hard to follow.

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extremely boring

every plot point in the book was concluded without conflict. There are far too many characters and it was near impossible to remember who anyone was.
As to the quality of the recording there were many points where the dialogue repeated over itself or paused for no reason.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A different kind of fantasy read.

The Goblin Emperor marks my very first audio book and it didn't disappoint. This is a somewhat slower paced fantasy read more concerned with the day to day affairs of running an empire-by an ill-equipped and often unwanted half-goblin, half-elf emperor nonetheless. While some of the names were difficult to keep track of, the author would include just enough additional context for the reader/listener to be able to place them whenever they appeared on page.

While I enjoyed the underlying conspiracy plot lines that parallelled the more character driven ones, some of the villains seemed a tad too inept to be able to mastermind some of these threads. Additionally, the author is very impressive for being able to maintain the archaic dialogue.

I would much like a sequal, although I'm pretty sure there is a spin-off focusing on one of the more prominent supporting characters.

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  • Nora
  • 07-12-2023

Boring

I made several attempts at listening to this book and i found it incredibly boring. i just wanted to scream at the protagonist to get up and do something. Didn't finish it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Mim
  • 09-11-2023

Such is the way of political machinations …

Listened at the recommendation of my bookseller friend Ron, once I got used to the narrators pronunciations and the complex names and locations it was an enjoyable listen. A faithful mirroring of modern politics in my opinion.

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 11-09-2022

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.

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  • Raonaid Watt
  • 12-07-2021

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

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  • Nichola F
  • 05-09-2021

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.

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  • Mr Shepherd
  • 18-10-2022

pure entertainment

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

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  • Anonymous User
  • 24-09-2022

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.

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  • sb
  • 17-10-2021

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!

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  • p.a.nankoo
  • 16-08-2021

Engaging story line.

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

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  • Elisabeth
  • 09-06-2021

Excellent

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

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Prospero63
  • 25-04-2023

A very enjoyable book.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The story was great, the characters and locations were well formed and interesting too.
I went through the book very quickly, as I was always keen to see what happened next. I hope there will be more books set in this world of elves and goblins soon.
The narration was generally clear, and each character was voiced well and distinctly.
I did find the accent of the narrator odd, and at times quite difficult to understand. On a few occasions I even had to rewind a few moments to try an work out what he said. It sounded like someone trying to mimic an English accents, despite never having actually heard one. It grated slightly, which was a shame, in an otherwise excellent book.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • JayJay
  • 04-12-2022

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.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Cailleach Eilidh
  • 18-09-2022

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.

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