#victoria goddard

[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.

[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

[sanjerina]

So the reason Hands of the Emperor/At the Feet of the Sun works is that it is fundamentally a queerplatonic whateverthefuck/romance between two traumatized middle-aged dudes who deeply deserve each other, in all of the ways that phrase can possibly mean — as eternal reward, as daily punishment, as earthly duty, as sacred right, as two goobers meant to goob along together because no one else can possibly be as Extra as either one of them, much less match their synergy*

And literally everyone in their lives goes from “what a remarkable/strange friendship” to “wow, these extra-ass goobers belong together for the safety of them and everyone else.” And I think that’s beautiful.

(*many come close to the Extra, which is why they stick around and become comparatively restful friends)

Anyway. These novels have a lot of wish-fulfillment feelings in them, but let’s not say that like it’s a bad thing.

[sunnyupsidedown]

[sleepyfey]

Little Kip and Au’aua!

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote YES if you have finished the entire book.

vote NO if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[plankton-in-space]

Fanart of Jemis Greenwing, the goodest boy of them all!

[powersandplanetaries]

I've connected the two dots.

[rattyjol]

Kip: There's something I need to tell you. Fitzroy and I are fanoa. Eidora: We've known for the last few centuries. You two are inseparable. Kip: Centuries? We've only been fanoa for a few weeks! Vinyë: Then what the hell were you doing before that?!

[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...

[myriad-rainbows]

Jemis Greenwing, ill-loved nephew of the new chief magistrate, was scrutinized and accused by the court of public opinion of every sensational act in the barony.

I made a tally of said sensational acts attributed to me. All right, I had rescued a mermaid from a burning building, and I had slain a dragon, and the two of my university friends who had so far shown up had been a beautiful cross-dressing Indrilline spy and an Imperial Duke, and I had broken a curse on the bees of the Woods Noirell, and I had been involved in the strange matter of the disastrous Late Bastard Decadent dinner party given by Dame Talgarth, but that was incognito, as was the small matter of the cult to the Dark Kings sacrificing cows at the Ellery Stone, which Mr. Dart and I had witnessed.

The rest of the rumours were totally wrong.

Whiskeyjack (book 3 of Greenwing & Dart series), Victoria Goddard

[thecommongale]

I don't want to talk about how important The Lays of the Hearth Fire are to me because that is too precious and huge to put into words. But if you are also reading these books and if they are also important to you I want you to know that I am holding your shoulders and touching foreheads with you

[ofliterarynature]

An eclectic little birthday haul (sponsored by my mom <3)

[sanjerina]

Just contemplating how Victoria Goddard skillfully used worldbuilding to not only pack, but credibly pack, just so. much. parent-based narrative drama/suffering into Jemis Greenwing

You got your “tragically orphaned scion” “major daddy issues” “mysterious maternal-line powers” AND “only son of a forbidden marriage” and that’s before she even gets to his stepparents 😳

you can fit sooooooo much angst in this bad boy

(I’m not going to slap Jemis’s ass, that’s Perry’s job to do or delegate)

[owlwinter8]

Been a hot second since I've posted on here but long story short, I been dumped head over heels into the Hands of the Emperor fandom 😆

Have some fanart for the iconic fic Can't quite put my finger on it by alfgifu!!

[sleepyfey]

Drowned Kavanor

✨

Forgot to post this earlier, but better late than never? Last fall, a friend of mine wrote a scene that stayed with me, and in February I decided to try my hand at drawing it! The Arrest of Cliopher Mdang is fantastic and can be read here💜