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jpskewedthroneGoblin Quest is a light, humorous romp through a Dungeon Master's fantasy. In a good way. Jim Hines takes the staples of D&D and gives them a nice, twisted view: the great quest as seen from the "monster's" perspective.
The story focuses on Jig, a goblin who inadvertantly ends up joining the prince's quest for fame, fortune, and perhaps just a smidgen of respect, even though the prince doesn't deserve it. Jig just wants to escape and return to his life amongst the other goblins. Or so he thinks. But as can be expected, Jig isn't an ordinary goblin. Forced at swordpoint and threat to "guide" the pack of adventurers--the prince, his brother the mage, a dwarf, and a elven thief--through the depths of the mountain, Jig is forced to face his own differences from the other goblins, including his own practical intelligence and reluctant compassion. Misunderstood at almost every step of the way, by practically everyone he meets, he manages to persevere and survive numerous D&D tropes, all with a tongue-in-cheek slant.
Goblin Quest is light fantasy, meaning that if you're looking for in-depth world-building, unique cultures, or a heavy-duty magical system to explore, then this is not the book for you. Hines focuses on the stereotypes of the D&D dungeon quest, keeping things humorous and quick and fast-paced, but without actually being stereotypical. He takes one of the cast-away creatures from the D&D realm and gives them their own identity. If you've played D&D, then you'll likely laugh your ass off. If not, then you'll probably miss some of the humor.
The target audience is the younger crowd, young adults and teens, and the D&D set. I wouldn't say that it's as high-calbre humor as Terry Pratchett. Yet. But mainly this is because the target audience is younger than Pratchett's target audience. For his audience, Hines has just the right humorous bent. I'm not sure the book would appeal to the older crowd as much.
In the end, Goblin Quest is a quick, fun read, and even though the book is stand-alone, meaning Hines wraps up all of the relevant plot elements, I look forward to the next Jig adventure.
PS--I tried to get a copy of the cover to appear on here, but it's not working at the moment. I'll try to fix it later.
The story focuses on Jig, a goblin who inadvertantly ends up joining the prince's quest for fame, fortune, and perhaps just a smidgen of respect, even though the prince doesn't deserve it. Jig just wants to escape and return to his life amongst the other goblins. Or so he thinks. But as can be expected, Jig isn't an ordinary goblin. Forced at swordpoint and threat to "guide" the pack of adventurers--the prince, his brother the mage, a dwarf, and a elven thief--through the depths of the mountain, Jig is forced to face his own differences from the other goblins, including his own practical intelligence and reluctant compassion. Misunderstood at almost every step of the way, by practically everyone he meets, he manages to persevere and survive numerous D&D tropes, all with a tongue-in-cheek slant.
Goblin Quest is light fantasy, meaning that if you're looking for in-depth world-building, unique cultures, or a heavy-duty magical system to explore, then this is not the book for you. Hines focuses on the stereotypes of the D&D dungeon quest, keeping things humorous and quick and fast-paced, but without actually being stereotypical. He takes one of the cast-away creatures from the D&D realm and gives them their own identity. If you've played D&D, then you'll likely laugh your ass off. If not, then you'll probably miss some of the humor.
The target audience is the younger crowd, young adults and teens, and the D&D set. I wouldn't say that it's as high-calbre humor as Terry Pratchett. Yet. But mainly this is because the target audience is younger than Pratchett's target audience. For his audience, Hines has just the right humorous bent. I'm not sure the book would appeal to the older crowd as much.
In the end, Goblin Quest is a quick, fun read, and even though the book is stand-alone, meaning Hines wraps up all of the relevant plot elements, I look forward to the next Jig adventure.
PS--I tried to get a copy of the cover to appear on here, but it's not working at the moment. I'll try to fix it later.
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Date: 2007-02-19 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-20 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-20 11:03 pm (UTC)