Book Review: The Goblin General by Autumn Dawn

Plot Synopsis

They call it tribute. It's just another word for sacrifice.

When a weak human king offers brides to appease the goblin horde, the goblin king sees his chance. He'll wed them to his oldest generals; warriors whose time has passed. Two birds, one stone. Keep the humans in check, remind his generals they're disposable.

Only problem? These battle-scarred veterans didn't survive decades of warfare by being stupid. And they didn't earn their scars by being merciful.

Between assassination attempts, political schemes, and a royal family that makes rattlesnakes look cuddly, the tribute brides are about to learn why goblin retirement plans don't include rocking chairs.

The goblin king's about to learn why you should read the fine print on marriage contracts - especially when your generals are more cunning than you thought.

No explicit content, but plenty of political intrigue, dark humor, and the kind of romance that blooms in blood-soaked soil. After all, in the Goblin City, nobody's quite what they seem.

Review

I’m always getting different recommendations from Amazon on my feed, and when I saw the cover for The Goblin General, something about it just spoke to me. When I read the synopsis for the book, I realized I had to check it out. I’m so very glad I did. The author, Autumn Dawn, has a couple dozen books she’s written, and I have no idea how I missed them. But The Goblin General has me convinced she is a true talent in fantasy.

The world building is top notch. She has created a world where human kingdoms are on a downward slide, while the goblin civilization is gaining power and influence. These are not the weak, craven goblins you normally see in fantasy. These are fierce warriors, with a culture of strength and cunning, even more advanced than the human civilizations they are supplanting. It’s a society where the powerful are always looking for advantage, and constantly have to watch their backs against the machinations of the ambitious. The tension between the humans and goblins is well developed, especially the idea that the humans have to give up hostage brides as a price of not being invaded. We get a good look at how the humans of the world operate too, and they don’t exactly cover themselves with glory. It’s very well set up, and I can see many more stories in this world.

The characters are a real strength. The goblins are quite diverse in their opinions and actions, and their motivations are hidden in a lot of cases, only being revealed later in the story. It keeps you guessing about what the characters are truly up to, especially the goblin generals, who have plans within plans within plans, that will only reveal themselves as certain events take place.

Ashi is the main character of the book. One of the hostage brides, the throwaway illegitimate daughter of the human king, she is given as an insult as much as anything else, but she has hidden depths. Raised as an outcast in her own castle, she was basically a servant, abused by her legitimate siblings, but she perseveres, and is genuinely a good person, and her goblin husband, General Ye, makes sure she is protected as much as possible from the machinations of both goblins and her own sister, another princess married off to a rich goblin, but in that case, it’s a match of conniving horrible people. Ashi is such an appreciative person, who basically grew up with nothing, disdained and abused, but she has a fate she could never have expected. Her husband, General Ye, is a calculating strategist, looking out for the best for the goblins, oftimes in opposition to the conniving king of the goblins. He also respects Ashi’s lineage, since her mothers people are human warriors from the North that have fought the goblins to a standstill in their lands, and since the goblins respect strength, this respect falls to Ashi as well. 

The secondary characters are excellent as well. Various personalities come into the story, and they are so well fleshed out that they feel completely organic to the story, not just cardboard cutouts. They get their own arcs, and you can see how they play into the grander schemes of the powerful players in the story. I really enjoy the interplay they bring to the story between themselves and the main characters. 

The antagonist of the book is the King of the Goblins, Thothzi, whose grandfather took over as the first king of the Goblins. He is a master manipulator, ruthless and cunning, always looking to stick the knife in, both figuratively and literally. He plays his people against each other, but his blind spots can leave him on the back foot, and the final comeuppance for him is quite satisfying. 

Final Thoughts

There are so many good things about this book. It had a fairly straightforward seeming plot that turned out to have surprising twists, keeping me guessing throughout. There were double and triple crosses between characters, with sometimes fatal consequences. Best yet, people in so many cases got exactly the justice they deserved. From the kings and queens to the lowliest servants, karma came knocking in some truly epic ways. You won’t want to put this book down, and when you're finished, you’ll definitely want more. I give it my highest recommendation.