Fandom #39: The Goblin Emperor

I had this fandom in my Assorted Fandoms post for some time, but my list of recs has recently ballooned. This book, which won the Locus and almost won the Hugo and Nebula awards, is a very political fantasy story about a despised younger son suddenly inheriting the throne. Racism, sexism, homophobia, class issues and their causes are all discussed, and the politics focuses on progressivism (or, well, the fantasy version of it) and Maia's difficulties in converting a conservative court to accept his pro-female, pro-worker policies. And of course it features intrigue, assassinations (both successful and attempted), canonical same-sex marriage, witty wordplay, women who want to duel their fiance's enemies, and a ruler who opts for mercy and justice over personal revenge. Basically this book has most of my favorite things. Whenever I pick it up, it's almost impossible to put it down, even though it's almost 500 pages long. Everyone, read this book!

( Your Imperial Serenity... )