I've been putting off work on the new novel once again (which kind of tells me something about this book, that maybe it doesn't HAVE to be written right now -- maybe later, maybe never, who knows). Instead, I've been catching up on sleep and reading more.

Just finished Jim C. Hines GoblinQuest, another fine book from Five Star. It was a fun read, part adventure, part satire, part social commentary on the role of the underdog -- in this case, a skinny, nearsighted Goblin named Jig.

What I liked most about this book was the insights given about the goblin psyche (yes, there is such a thing!). I mean, we've all read fantasy novels and watched Lord of the Rings umpteen times, rooting for the heroes as they hack and slash their way through hordes of nasty goblins. But this time, the tables are turned, and we get to see the quest from Jig's (somewhat blurry) eyes.

Not only do we get to see how goblins live (and eat, unfortunately!), but we also see the silliness of "adventurers" on their all-important missions to find artifacts like "The Rod of Creation" (heh heh). Along the way, Jig narrowly evades death and even meets up with a forgotten god, comes face-to-fang with a dragon, and begins to see some of the tactical errors of goblin combat (most goblins seem to die of stupidity when it comes to attacking adventurers).

This was a fun read, just what I needed right now, and I look forward to the sequel, which I hear is being finished up as we speak, entitled GoblinMage.

Later!