Goblin Quest (Jig the Goblin Series #1)
4.3
50
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352
7.99
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780756404000 |
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| Publisher: | DAW |
| Publication date: | 11/07/2006 |
| Series: | Jig the Goblin Series , #1 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Sales rank: | 155,717 |
| Product dimensions: | 4.19(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.94(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
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Goblin Quest
4.3 out of 5
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0 ratings.
50 reviews.
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Jig the goblin is blue, has fangs and is a cannibal like the rest of his race. In goblin land nobody trusts one another and Jig as the runt of the litter is always picked upon. When the captain forces Jig to do tunnel duty, he is kidnapped by adventurers that are hunting for the magical artifact the Rod of Creation protected by Straum the Dragon. His advisories consist of the human princes Barius and his younger brother Ryslind, the dwarf Darnak and the elf Riana.------------- This is Barius¿ quest and he intends to use Jig to navigate the tunnels to find the dragon. First they must battle the necromancer¿s minions, then they must fight to the death the necromancer and finally they must find the tunnel that leads to Straum. It is not an easy road to travel because there are traps within traps and Ryslind is sinking into madness as he uses more and more of his wizardly magic. Jig needs to find within himself the courage to stop the adventurers from killing the goblins as they intend to do but first he must have a plan. The death of someone gives him the strength to do what must be done to save goblin kind.--------- This humorous book about cannibalistic goblins, the lowest beings of the underground races, will keep audience¿s laughing while afterward digging for more tales by James C. Hines. The author uses the goblin nature to put his protagonist in situations that may not be funny to him but are hilarious to the audience. There is plenty of non-stop action in this enthralling fantasy land and the character development is superb. The adventures, Jig, the dragon and others have distinct personalities so that readers will want to join the tunneling quest. Harriet Klausner
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Jig is a goblin with little social status. He has been assigned to the lowliest muck duty far longer than others his age, and he can¿t help but feel shame. He also can¿t help that he is a clumsy, near-sighted runt, and his cousin Porak and his buddies never let him forget it. Only in his fantasies is Jig a brave and respected warrior, and he longs for the chance to prove himself. Finally Jig is given the opportunity to guard the mountain tunnels from intruders, which is a scary proposition since so many of the tunnel guards wind up dead. He resolves to do what needs to be done in order to stay alive. Imagine his surprise when he is accosted by a party of treasure hunters made up of two humans, a dwarf, and an elf who are searching for the Rod of Creation thought to be guarded by a dragon named Straum. Jig is forced to join them for the hunt¿or die. ¿Jig knew what a real hero would do. A hero would scream something defiant, wrestle Darnak¿s club away and use it against the dwarf and the human. A hero might even slay them both before making his escape. Of course, Jig knew all the goblin songs, so he knew what happened to goblin heroes¿. He had not desire to be a hero. He only wanted to go home, curl up with a hot bowl of lizard-egg soup, and feed dead cockroaches to Smudge¿ (p. 25). The prospect of making such a journey successfully with his captors doesn¿t look good to Jig. He doesn¿t even know where Straum¿s lair is, but instead of mounting what would be a suicide attack, Jig reluctantly agrees to help the adventurers find their way around the tunnels. What follows is a series of action-filled, entertaining, and often funny adventures as they battle hobgoblins, worms, a necromancer, and various other foes. This book will appeal to both adults and young adults. Teens will very much enjoy Jig¿s quest and his attempt to define himself in a world that doesn¿t necessarily value his skills. Adults will also enjoy the humor and the upending of various aspects of the fantasy/quest genre. Prepare to be entertained throughout and completely satisfied with Jig¿s journey by the time you reach the end. ~Lori L. Lake, reviewer for Midwest Book Review and author of the ¿Gun¿ series
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An excellent romp for anyone who likes fantasy, and who's tired of the same old looting-questing-raiding tropes. If you've ever played D&D, in particular, you'll adore the offbeat sense of humour and skewed perspective in this novel.At times, I got a bit annoyed with the very obvious trope inversions, but then the author would throw some fabulous aside out there, or a really resonant bit of character development, and I'd go back to being in love with the book. It's a fast, fun read, meant to be devoured in an afternoon, and I'm definitely hungry for more.The ending was particularly wonderful...after slogging through yet another dungeon crawl, despite the inversion of the heroes (it's hard to get bored when a cowardly goblin is your narrator), it was jarring in a good way to have such an unexpected, pragmatic, slightly brutal finish. Actually, that's a good way to describe everything about Jig, our goblin narrator - he's unexpected, pragmatic, and slightly brutal, simply because that's what life in a goblin lair lends itself to. He's also smart, if not a bit clueless, which just makes him that much more engaging.Highly recommended.
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A light and humorous retelling of fantasy adventure stories from the point of view of the "monsters." Delightful.
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There is a genre of sending up D&D players. There are books that try to tell heroic fantasy from the monsters point of view. None of them are as fun as Goblin Quest. Jim Hines introduces a world only possible in the strict semi-reality of role playing games and plays with the tropes well. The title spells out the plot: It's about a goblin. It's about a quest. It's also a hell of a lot of fun to read.The other book that springs to mind is Mary Gentle's Grunts, which is another monster point-of-view book, but impersonal. Hines gives us a goblin to care about, and a very personal story for one small worthless goblin who has the misfortune not to die when he's supposed to, and he goes and gets himself a real life.Jig is the runt of the goblins, a race defined in most RPGs as runts. That they have a society (of sorts) and culture (of sorts) rarely comes across in a monster guide book, except for pointing out one out of every dozen goblins will be slightly tougher, which usually means they'll take two hits instead of one.The goblins here have some depth to them, more than the adventurers who keep barging into their caves looking for experience. The other characters step out of the stocks just enough to make them real and make them recognizable, but not enough to distract from the hero Jig.Hines excels at a readable book that makes you remember past games when the DM has pulled something really clever out of their hat and sent the table into hysterics for fifteen minutes. The necromancer is a great example of this stunt.This book belongs next to my Terry Pratchett books as the old friends I revisit when I want to read something light and familiar before I go to bed.
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I picked this book up mainly because of the fact that I have a cat named Goblin. Plus, I'm a fan of dragons, and with a dragon featured on the cover, that was another draw.Now, some qualifications. I fondly remember playing Dungeons and Dragons back in middle school. I like fantasy and fantasy-related things, from renaissance festivals to books, to castles and knights, etc. However, I have not really gotten into the Dungeons and Dragons novels, or the Forgotten Realms, or that sort of book. Therefore, it's often hard for me to find a book that I would like on this subject.This book does start off sort of hard to get into, but it quickly picks up pace and becomes a fun novel. It sort of reads like an adventure of Dungeons and Dragons, with all of the classic and stereotypical going ons of an adventure, and you can easily see this story unfolding around a table in middle schools and high schools around the country. What makes this story more unique is the fact that it's told from the point of view of a goblin, one of the low-level creatures that adventurers usually kill without much thought. And of course, it's because of him that the characters actually survive (or not, as the case may be) throughout the adventure. The adventurers are an odd group--the goblin, a young elf who is there not by her own free will, a dwarf, the warrior, and a magician, as they make their way deeper and deeper into the mountain's cavern on their quest to find a magical item and battle the same sort of creatures as you'd find on a Dungeons and Dragons adventure quest. The book claims to be humorous, though I didn't find it that humorous, though there are some very funny moments in the book, and most books like this tend to take themselves way too seriously, and that's not the case with this book at all. Because of this, I will definitely be reading the next two books in this series.
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#15 Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines.I picked this one up because it promised "one of the funniest dungeon-delving epics ever." Sigh.Why do I ever put any credence in book blurbs?Okay, the premise is this. Take your usual quest gang. Hero, wizard, dwarf, elf. And add a goblin, a short-sighted, weak little goblin, who starts to question why goblins are always just sword-fodder. Who is impressed into the gang willy-nilly, and who begins to develop an independent outlook, some initiative, and even some goals. He even picks up a god along the way--a little god, mind you, but when has there ever been a god for goblins, huh?The writing is nothing special in itself. Pretty pedestrian. The plot is a typical quest plot by design, but from the viewpoint of the goblin instead of other members of the group. It's not really that funny most of the time, unless you are really into goblin angst, which can get a little irritating in large doses. But the denouement, the climax, actually showed originality and made me laugh. So, if you are willing to read 336 pages in order to really appreciate the last 10, be my guest. Don't say I haven't warned you.This is the first in a trilogy, but the story arc of this book ends here and you can easily tiptoe away into the night with no loose ends.
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Really loved this one. The book is about an unlucky weakly Goblin, who has the sheer luck of being captured by a few adventurers. The story basicaly is a standard quest story, but this time through the eyes of the goblin, who is not by definition one of the good guys. Great and funny read, really loved it!
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I read this book in one sitting--it's a fun read, a great adventure. It's a quest told from a reluctant Goblin point of view instead of the lofty human view. Humorous, fun weekend read!
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Fun, but not great. Especially funny for people burned out on standard fantasy. If I'll check out the next books in the series? I'm not sure.
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It was amusing, but I wasn't left wanting any more.
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I very much enjoyed this book. Any book that can make me laugh out loud while reading it is a winner in my world. Taking the usual fantasy cast and twisting the story around to be told from the goblin's viewpoint works well. I look forward to continuing Jig's adventures in the next two books.
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great book, it starts off kinda slow (but don't most books) but soon picks up and becomes quite addicting. It was a rather fun and quick read, and I was delighted to find out that there was a sequel, which I quickly bought. Highly recommended to anyone looking for something quick or maybe someone looking for a break from the usual very serious and dramatic fantasy novels.
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I was looking for something like the Discworld series, adventurous and funny. This hit the spot. I’ll definitely read the other two in the series and try some of Hines’s others.
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Fun read
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Great book from a class A author, I own and have read all of Hines' other work. Should have known this would be a solid book. This is a retelling of an epic high fantasy from a fresh angle. I loved it & am off to buy the rest!
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This was okay. It could have been a lot better if the author didn't try so hard to make you hate the protagonist. The description of the tunnels overwhelmed the story. I have also read 2-3 of this series and do NOT recommend it.
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Read this while on vacation and really enjoyed it. Not something that will blow your mind, but was definitely fun and enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
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Probably one of Fantasy's most unlikely yet lovable underdog heroes.
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