The Socially Distant Read Along of The Goblin Emperor sails along like a mighty airship! This week we discussed Chapters 11-16, “The Funeral and the Wake,” “The Princess and the Witness,” “Bargaining,” “Min Nedaö Vechin,” “The Problem of Setheris,” and “News from Barizhan.”
To be fair, though, couldn’t every chapter be called “The Problem of Setheris”?
This week’s section saw Maia trying (and largely failing) to mourn his father, reawakening the Court of the Elflands, visiting the Master of Royal Signets, and meeting a charming young opera singer, Min Nedaö Vechin. Plus poor Csevet is still trying to cajole his new Emperor into courting a potential Empress, but poor Maia is still a very awkward 18-year-old boy.
Heavy Is The Head Etc.
A Rare Rejection of Pettiness
Thoughts for the Victims
The subtle hints of Maia’s father’s cruelty continue!
A Night at the Opera
Maia has never seen an opera before, so it’s maybe a little bit mean to sit him in the front row for one of the greatest singers in his land’s history—and then to expect him to talk to her?
Signets!
The trip to the Signet warehouse if one of most enchanting sections of the book. The Signet Master, Dachensol Habrobar, is an ancient, wizened elf who has somehow lived for centuries. He shows Maia an overwhelming collection of royal signets, and Maia, being Maia, is flustered at the thought of designing his own. But Habrobar intuits the young Emperor’s mindset, and presents him with his mother’s signet, an attempt at a union between cats featured in the Drazhada family crest, and her own family’s, the serpent. Chenelo was never allowed to use her design (unsurprisingly, Maia’s father hated it) but that means that Maia can adopt it as his own. After being alone for a decade, his new life as Emperor has given him another connection with her.
When we asked about your signet choice, some people’s thought turned to the sea:
Some people thought of amphibians:
Some preferred birds:
And some readers were reminded of Harry Potter:
Tell us all about your signets in the comments!
And join us next Wednesday at 2pm EST when #TorDotReads will discuss Chapters 17-22: “Dinner with the Goblin Ambassador”, Varenechibel’s Legacies”, Thara Celehar’s Grief”, “The Proposal of the Clocksmiths of Zhaö”, “Mer Celehar Goes North”, and “The Bridge over the Upazhera”—Maia’s finally meeting his grandfather, The Great Avar of the Goblins!
