The Goblin Wood

Rating:
Summary: Richie's Picks: THE GOBLIN WOOD
Review: "...As I returned across the fields I'd known
I recognized the walls that I once made
I had to stop in my tracks for fear
Of walking on the mines I'd laid..."
--Sting

Tobin, though innocent, has pled guilty to treason, sacrificing his own honor and future in order to protect the life of his little brother. Disinherited and disgraced, Tobin is offered an opportunity for regaining his good name and, at the same time, saving the people of the Realm:

" 'If I bring down their leader, what will the goblins do?'
" 'If they were human, they'd probably thank you. But goblins are completely mercenary--they never do anything except for payment, or to avoid punishment. Once her hold over them is broken, they'll probably just run off...'
"Tobin drew a deep breath, his gaze wandering over the map, chest, stone, and charm. 'Isn't there any other way?'
"Master Lazur shook his head. 'The barbarians are coming. We have no place to go except north. They have no place to come except here. There is nothing in this world I would not sacrifice to get the Bright Realm behind the goblin wall in time. How high do you weigh the life of a sorceress, one who has killed again and again, against the survival of this whole realm?'
"Tobin's finger traced the river curve that marked his home. He couldn't imagine living in the woodlands, but he'd seen the barbarian armies for himself. Master Lazer was silent, letting him figure it out. Tobin didn't like it, but surely the priest was right. How many knights, men Tobin knew and respected, had already died? If it would end the war, save the whole realm, then the life of one sorceress was a cheap price to pay."

But we know that "sorceress" whom he's being asked to "eliminate" is the young hedgewitch Makenna. She has pursued a relentless outlaw lifestyle since the priests enacted new rules of intolerance that destroyed a long-standing coexistence with the goblins and resulted in the slaughter of Makenna's mother.

What will Tobin, a principled young man, do when he learns what we know about Makenna? How will he reconcile his training that the goblins are merely vermin with the reality of meeting, talking, and seeing the real qualities that goblins possess? Why was Tobin's brother plotting against the Hierarch, the leadership of the Realm? And who is right and who is wrong when climactic changes trigger a widespread crisis, forcing a desperate and starving people to encroach upon the lands of a neighboring civilization?

THE GOBLIN WOOD begs comparison to analogous intercultural/international situations in the real world. It is also a captivating story of scheming and blundering, spells and slapstick, powers and paybacks.

" 'And you're human, whatever else you are.'
" 'Insults,' she snapped, 'will get you nowhere.' "

In addition to the human characters, Hilari Bell does a stellar job of creating the various groups of goblins--the bookeries, the stoners, the charmers, the trackers, and so on. She similarly succeeds at drawing individual goblins. As a whole, these goblins all possess just enough "humanity" to allow us to readily identify with them, while, at the same time, they are different in sufficient ways to prevent them from ever being human.

But why, Tobin ponders, do the goblins follow the girl?

"Was it possible the girl really was a common hedgewitch? If it was, then how had she defeated all the forces that had been sent against her? A small force could defeat a stronger one, but only if the leader of the small force was a very good tactician. To defeat stronger forces again and again, the leader had to be not merely a good tactician, but a truly great one. A general, in fact. Tobin scowled. A seventeen-year-old peasant girl? He couldn't believe it. But he found it no easier to believe that she was a mighty sorceress."

The crown jewel of the story is Makenna, a young woman whose heart is torn between recalling the lessons of tolerance and charity her mother taught by example, and her fierce urge to protect the goblins and seek revenge upon those responsible for her mother's demise. Not an especially quick learner, nor a character whose actions we always agree with, her complexities and contradictions compel us to think, and are prime reasons why THE GOBLIN WOOD is a superb fantasy tale that deserves to be read and discussed.

Richie Partington...

Rating:
Summary: REFRESHING!
Review: Hilari Bell creates a story line that no other writer(of which I have read) has explored! This was one of my favorite books for 2003 and I hope to read more of Bell's work! I was, however, not too impressed with the writing in it...that's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Rating:
Summary: Gives reader a different view over goblins
Review: I can not say what exactly makes this book different from any fantasy I've ever read. The description was vivid, even the tiniest details of reaction/thought which are usually not mentioned in this kind of story, can take you back to reality but somehow managed to keep your environment with the goblins which sound a bit odd to you maybe but it happened to me.

Maybe the way Ms. Bell building her character and situation that was easily accepted and consistent throughout the book. The politics reasons in conflict with the goblins' was so well developed that you can not just say right or wrong about each side. This book really show you how it was like to have something in the middle, when everything has its own right and wrong. Yet all was told in not-so-flourish language.

Although I think the way out for the ending was a bit too coincidental (because I feel it was too simple but again maybe I wouldn't like it better any other way) , the last chapter brought a lot more feeling to the whole story. My eyes just soaked a bit with a big smile on my face after reading the last word.

What a gem. I simply love it :)

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic fantasy
Review: I was a little put off by this book at first. Fantasy is not my favorite genre, and I especially don't like stories where problems are conveniently resolved with magic spells. But the characters in this wonderful book soon grabbed ahold of me. The author did an amazing job of maintaining my interest. There was literally never a dull moment.

Rating:
Summary: excellent!
Review: This is easily one of t he best books I've ever read. Hilari Bell creates an entire world of magic, superstition and war. It takes place in the Realm of the Bright Gods, and the main characters are Makenna, a hedgewitch, and Tobin a knight. Makenna hates all humans becuase of how they betrayed and killed her mother. Tobin has taken the blame for the rebellion his brother has ben involved , and now is an outcast. In an attempt to win back his honor, and save the entire realm, he sets off to kill the legendary sorceress of Goblin Wood, who has an entire army of "enslaved" goblins to do her will. Makenna, who is only a mere hedgewitch, and is only fighting to save goblinkind from the superstitious humans, is ready to drive off Tobin like all the other bounty hunters that have entered the forest. But Tobin, who has nothing to lose, is not so easily driven off, and manages to take her captive. Makenna and Tobin have more in common with each other than they realize, and Tobin soon begins to love the goblins he once hated. Now Tobin is torn between saving the goblins, and staying loyal to his origional task, and the wellfare of the realm.
This book is nearly impossible to put down once you've started it, and the plot is full of sybolism of today's problems as well. Anyone who loves this book will also love "The Seer and the Sword" and "The Healer's Keep" both by Victoria Hanley.