#The hands of the emperor

[captainkirkk]

I'm normally a very slow reader of published novels, but I devoured The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard and now I can NOT stop thinking about it.

Everyone who has read my Fire Lord Zuko content knows how much I love 1) people of power working tirelessly to make the world a better place for all; and b) kings, slowly being crushed under the weight of their crown and duty, finding love and care in their loyal servants and staff

Except this story is more. The Emperor is worshiped and treated as a god, bound by extreme taboos and protocols that he can't break. It's about his staff (his found family) looking BEYOND the exterior of godhood and finding the human being underneath - who is dying under the weight of being the Emperor - and deciding to reach out, even if by acknowledging his humanity they are technically breaking many laws.

God this book is about so many things, including:

Found family can be the Last Emperor and his senior members of staff

The Emperor learning how to be human again with the help of his friends

There's no romance in this book. The deep friendships are the beating heart of this story, and they very much Love each other.

Breaking down a previously corrupt imperial empire through hard work and radial reforms, leading to sweeping changes including UNIVERSAL INCOME

Embracing cultural heritage, even in the heart of the imperial palace. Our main character is both one of the highest ranking members of government and from an islander culture, and he dedicates himself to both

The struggle for your family (who have a case of tall poppy syndrome, and live far far away from the capital and palace) to see you as a respected adult and understand all of your (many, MANY) achievements, even when you're very literally brought the Emperor home with you.

This book has some BEAUTIFUL confrontations, take-downs, and revelations based on the past two points (and more). If you underestimate or insult our main character, You Will Regret It. Watching him lose his temper is a glorious thing to behold.

Anyway I'm pretty sure this just became my all-time favourite book, because it's beautifully written and touches on all of my favourite tropes.

[hermitknut]

All the hands of the emperor stuff - and presumably all of the Nine Worlds stuff by extension - is so good at balancing a variety of tones. The hope and the loss, the seriousness and the ridiculousness. The humour is sharper and sweeter because it's timed so well.

But possibly my favourite is the one that comes up in Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are an emperor (among other things, but we're trying not to think about them). You are the emperor. The formality around you is extreme, most people you deal with are baseline frightened of you, hardly anyone sees beyond your ceremonial front. You are desperate not to be like the previous emperor, your uncle. All of this is very painful and difficult.

And you get this secretary, and you adore him. He's like your favourite person. And so when his great-uncle turns up and says he needs to do this cultural rite of passage ceremony, you're SO onboard. You're like, yes, fantastic, you should do this, do you wanna do it in the throne room? you should do it in the throne room, let's go. This is all very powerful and emotional and sincere.

And after this is all over, you swing by your secretary's apartments when he's out. Just being a good host, y'know, dropping in on his great uncle, making conversation. And you make this almost idle remark, a quick curious question about an element of his personal history, just being courteous.

And this ninety year old man looks you dead in the eyes, and says, in essence, "oh yeah I fucked your uncle, and he was ~mediocre~."

just. iconic, ten out of ten, no notes. Buru Tovo I love you so much.

[mielmoreland]

My greatest accomplishment of 2024 to date. Possibly the best thing I'll do all year.

("Assistant" is of course a loose general term for the relevant characters. And Csethiro is wonderful. But I'm queer, and AO3 understands my need for Csevet fic.)

[sunnyupsidedown]

Imagine how much faster Kip would’ve reformed the government if he had access to microsoft excel

[andhumanslovedstories]

Do you wanna talk about the charming and unique reading experience that is The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard, a doorstopper of a book that dares to ask “what if a 900 pages high fantasy novel was about government workers making friends at work?” And then do you want that talk to repeatedly pivot to two best friends coming to terms that maybe we were too mean to the term “queerplatonic” considering we are in fact so clearly queerplatonic? This week in Cracked Spines, I pitch Cyrus on why they should continue pushing through what is frankly one of the most slow moving books I’ve encountered in a while, and we also talk about whatever the fuck we are to each other, inspired by the central relationship of the book which is SO beat for beat a romance without being explicitly romantic. Finally, a book for the Coworkers-To-Friends relationship I’ve been waiting for. Listen here on buzzsprout or on Spotify, or search Cracked Spines in wherever you listen to podcasts.

[taryo88]

Just like a wizard out of a storybook 🥰

[ilovedthestars]

okay so we’ve taken a break from deep emotional turmoil and self discovery in order to have several chapters of the hilarity that is Cliopher’s family finding out for the first time that he is not, as they assumed, a regular secretary in the palace, but is in fact the Secretary of State. and their god-emperor just made him Prime Minister.

[hunxi-after-hours]

finally reading Victoria Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor and it’s really got all of the good fantasies in it. sky ships and sea trains. a functional imperial bureaucracy. the loneliest god-emperor you’ve ever seen and a big sprawling rambunctious family to love him. death-defying devotion to your friendships. a deeply intimidating clothier who will give you a personal makeover upon promotion. a lot of competent people trying their level best to survive mountains of paperwork. disgustingly gorgeous textiles. academic digressions into historical research that hijack entire chapters. an unspecified cataclysm that fractured time, space, and maybe reality, but don’t worry that was a thousand or maybe just twenty years ago and we built a functional bureaucracy out of the debris eventually. we’re dismantling the aristocracy and it’s taking a moment, but the rehauling of the meritocratic exams is bringing promising young candidates from the hinterlands to reform the future. oh by the way we rolled out universal basic income. the spreadsheets are many but so are your assistants helping you make sense of it. you are finally loved and appreciated and recognized for all you have done. you are bringing the fire back to the hearth of the world. you’re doing it, you’re doing it, it’s really happening. put your pen down, the meetings can wait until tomorrow. you can rest now

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Tori Spring- Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Cliopher Mdang- The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard

Abby Suso- Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Magnus Bane- The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

[piyo13sdoodles]

a "quick" gif that's taken me like 2hours, it was supposed to be coloured (so his eyes glow when he first opens them and then fade to 'regular' gold shade) but like i said it has been hours already and i wanted to share! he's supposed to be taking deep calming breaths but idk if that's working lol...

outfit directly inspired by @dedeuteros' art here!!! i love that crown so much it brings so much sun/eclipse to mind for me and i wanted to do a little homage <33

[logarithmicpanda]

The Hands of the Emperor (Victoria Goddard)

Heavily political but character centered so it always felt easy enough to read

Hopeful yet down to earth

Full of delightful moments that made me laugh out loud

Why choose between blood family and found family when you can have both?

Somehow despite being over 700 pages long in a small font, it left me wanting for more

9/10

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

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[powersandplanetaries]

I've connected the two dots.

[crabs-with-sticks]

I just finished The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard and I love everybody's friendship so much. When Kip was looking at the house and how it would work for everybody, how everybody could live there together....

Ms Goddard please you can't give this much hope to my poor aromantic heart....

I really hope they all get their retirement together...

[sunnyupsidedown]

[asmywhimseytakesme]

Ok I’m finally reading The Hands of the Emperor

And I get why people recommended it for fans of the Goblin Emperor and the Queens Thief series

Very similar vibe

Excuse me while I continue reading