IF YOU LIKE THE GOBLIN EMPEROR

[truepenny]

I got email from a reader the other day, wondering about other books like The Goblin Emperor (what matociquala has dubbed "committeepunk"). I'm kind of terrible at that game, so I did what any sensible person would do. I asked Twitter.

(And thank you very kindly to everyone who responded.)

Someone pointed out that if you merely want more books by me, there are several of them: Mélusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, Corambis, The Bone Key, Somewhere Beneath Those Waves Was Her Home, plus collaborations with matociquala, A Companion to Wolves, The Tempering of Men, An Apprentice to Elves (forthcoming in October). But there were also many suggestions of other books to try.

It occurred to me subsequently that other people might also like to have those suggestions, so I'm compiling that Twitter list here--also everyone should feel free to add more suggestions in the comments!

(N.b., just because a book is on the list does not mean I personally endorse it as being like The Goblin Emperor in whatever capacity a reader might be looking for. Many of these books I have not read. Some of them I haven't even heard of.)

Lloyd Alexander, Westmark
Lois McMaster Bujold, The Curse of Chalion
Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus
C. J. Cherryh, Foreigner
Zen Cho, Sorcerer to the Crown
Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurtz, Daughter of the Empire
Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
M. C. A. Hogarth, Thief of Songs
N. K. Jemisin, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Robin McKinley, The Blue Sword
Pat Rothfuss, The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Megan Whalen Turner, The Thief

Again, please feel free to play along at home and suggest more books!

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

ALL THE MARTHA WELLS would totally work. Also possibly ALL THE BARABRA HAMBLY.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

The Winterlands books (possibly just the last three) had altogether too much character torture for my taste.

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

In particular, for the Martha Wells (I think) people who like really traditional Court Fantasy would love The Element of Fire, People who like their court intrigues with a dose of mystery, Death of Necromancer, and people who like nontraditional but very interesting social structures The Raksura Books.

(that they are all very well written and good stories in themselves should be taken for granted, cause they are)

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

The Fire Logic books by Laurie Marks are about good people trying to rebuild society.

[stevendj.livejournal.com]

Ariah (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/538816) by B. R. Sanders

[oni-neko.livejournal.com]

Last First Snow by Max Gladstone

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I didn't know there was a new "craft" book out!

[callunav.livejournal.com]

That's fascinating. I don't think I would have come up with any of the ones in your list - but I know and like more than half of them, and don't know and dislike any.

(The Goblin Emperor currently being high on my list of fiction to give people, this is useful because it gives me ideas for 'if you liked that, you should try--', which I'm always terrible at, except for '--more books by the same author.')

[catlinye-maker.livejournal.com]

Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which I read in close conjunction to The Goblin Emperor, had a very similar vibe. I think it's because it is primarily about people rather than about their setting? It was a fun read and I wish the author had more published works.

The Jade Darcy books by Stephen Goldin are also very good.

[libskrat]

Super old-school, perhaps E.R. Eddison The Worm Ouroboros. JUST FOR LORD GRO, who is the best thing ever in the history of things. (If I told you why it'd be a spoiler.) There's an outside chance that a William Morris fantasy would hit the spot; the best is probably The Water of the Wondrous Isles.

Caroline Stevermer, A College of Magics and its sequels.

Ellen Kushner, Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword. I personally find The Fall of the Kings decidedly meh by comparison with the brilliance of the other two, but others may (probably do) disagree.

[larryhammer]

A College of Magics comes closer than any of the above.

---L.

[libskrat]

Probably. :) I think there's a Green Man essay lurking in the comparison between Maia's goals and MO and the Mad Duke's, though.

[larryhammer]

Heh.

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

I have to say much as I liked College of Magics,I loved Caroline Stevermer's "When the King Comes Home" even more and to me that feels like a closer cousin to The Goblin Emperor.

I think Maia would let the Mummers in.

[larryhammer]

A fair point.

[theladymoon.livejournal.com]

Personally I would suggest Joe Abercrombie's Half a King. It's a very different kind of book than the Goblin Emperor but there are very interesting parallels in my opinion and I tend to think about the two in the same framework.

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

re: the mention of Hambly -- despite the difference of genre, I think that the Benjamin January books might be where I'd go for Hambly that people who loved TGE might enjoy. The social structures of the setting are complex, and Ben feels somewhat like Maia to me, being someone who chooses to be a good person when it isn't easy and he could easily have chosen otherwise.

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

I would add

Watership Down By Richard Adams (and not only because of the ears)

The Anvil of The World by Kage Baker

Pretty much anything by Patricia A McKillip

[weatherglass.livejournal.com]

I initially picked up TGE because I saw it compared to the Foreigner books, which I had just finished rereading and wanted more of, and I agree that it was a good rec. They have the same appreciation for crunchy procedural matters, the same feeling of characters acting from within the constraints placed on the political class of an interesting world, and the same basic decency on the part of the main characters who are a bit out of their depth but who seek out other competent people as allies. Decidedly fewer explosions in TGE, though.

I might add Andrea Höst's Touchstone trilogy (Stray, Lab Rat One, Caszandra) to the list, as they also feature a sensible, conscientious protagonist dealing with a culture she isn't fully part of, and a narrative which rewards collaboration and following protocol. (Also like TGE and the Foreigner books, I've seen this trilogy criticized as boring, but all of these books satisfy if you like watching people do their best, find allies, and file the right paperwork.) The Touchstone books aren't as technically accomplished, and I could do with less romance and more of an ending in the third one, but they've become comfort reading for me.

[marcy thompson (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the recommendation of Höst. I agree with your caveats, but the books were very enjoyable.

[genarti]

I don't know if this counts as committeepunk per se, and also it's been a good few years since I've read it, but Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard is coming to mind.

[girlpunksamurai.livejournal.com]

Not sure is the list of authors from original post was chosen because of their parallels to The Goblin Emperor, or to Sarah Monette's/Katherine Anderson's style of writing in general, but I immediately thought of the Kushiel's Scion series, by Jacqueline Carey, when it comes to character depth and world building. Just my two cents though :)