Nine Goblins:
A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief
DETAILS:
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date: January 20, 2026
Format: Hardcover
Length: 160 pg.
Read Date: February 20-23, 2026
What’s Nine Goblins Book Jacket Say?
No one knows exactly how the Goblin War began, but folks will tell you that goblins are stinking, slinking, filthy, sheep-stealing, henhouse-raiding, obnoxious, rude, and violent. Goblins would actually agree with all this, and might throw in “cowardly” and “lazy” too for good measure.
But goblins don’t go around killing people for fun, no matter what the propaganda posters say. And when a confrontation with an evil wizard lands a troop of nine goblins deep behind enemy lines, goblin sergeant Nessilka must figure out how to keep her hapless band together and get them home in one piece.
Unfortunately, between them and safety lies a forest full of elves, trolls, monsters, and that most terrifying of creatures…a human being.
Sings-to-Trees
Nessilka and her troops are not the sole focus of the book. We also spend a lot of time with an Elf who is a veterinarian. We meet Sings-to-Trees when he’s struggling to help deliver a breach unicorn—it took me back to James Herriot books that I read in Junior High—but with a bit more graphic detail than the genteel Herriot would give.
I was very happy to read in the Author’s Note that he was the inspiration of Sings-to-Trees, incidentally.
While the goblins are good for laughs and ridiculous antics, Sings-to-Trees grounds this in a sort of reality, and brings most of the heart and maturity to the book.
There’s part of me that wonders why we got him in this book rather than some other party that seems more thematically on point. But I liked him so much that I really don’t care if it doesn’t make sense to feature a veterinarian in this. (then again, something making sense would feel a little out of place)
Why did I pick this up? Why did I keep reading?
I picked this up on the strength of A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.
I kept reading for a few reasons: it was too short to quit once I started (not that I ever wanted to, I’m just saying); and it was so sweet and amusing that I couldn’t help but keep going.
So, what did I think about Nine Goblins?
I like this side of goblins—it reminded me of Jim C. Hines’ Jig the Goblin. The nasty, grim, killing type of goblin is all well and good. Same for the super-clever tinkerer types. But there’s something about the not-terribly-bright, misunderstood goblin that really gets me.
But this book is about more than that; there’s this great elf—and some okay elves, too. And the wizard turned out to be a lot more interesting than you’d think when we first met him (and an interesting wizard is always a welcome sight).
I laughed, I chortled and chuckled, and I found a lot of this to be surprisingly sweet. It’s a quick read that’s practically pure pleasure. Fantasy fans should pick it up.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
