Nine Goblins

Nine Goblins (2013) T. Kingfisher

It’s not that Nessilka wanted to be in charge of this squad of goblins, it’s just that there wasn’t anyone else to do the job.

Smart goblins became mechanics. Dumb goblins became soldiers. Really dumb goblins became officers.

So when, in the midst of battle, they are pulled away and dumped in a strange forest, she does the best she can.

She wasn’t very good at it—her prayers tended to sound like “You! Up there! Pay attention and heaven help you if you don’t keep an eye on my boys!”

This was, of course, a delightful story about goblins (obviously) but also about an elf veterinarian.

(W)hen somebody needed to actually reach a hand in there and turn a foal around, suddenly the unicorn lovers of the world melted away, and it was down to Sings-to-Trees and a barn and a bucket of soapy water. And the hind end of the unicorn, of course.

That passage gave me extreme James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small vibes, which was also delightful.

I can’t tell you a great deal more about the story–it is a novella–except that it was precisely what I’d expect from a T. Kingfisher story.

Characters: Nessilka, Corporal Algol, Weatherby, Murray, Thumper, Mishkin, Mushkin, Gloober, Weasel, Blanchett, the Bear, Sings-to-Trees, Captain Matthien Finchbones, John, Lisabet

Cover by Ursula Vernon

Rating: 8.5/10

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