Title: Goblin King
Author: Kara Barbieri
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5
Against all odds, Janneke has survived the Hunt for the Stag–but all good things come with a cost. Lydian might be dead, but he took the Stag with him. Janneke now holds the mantle, while Soren, now her equal in every way, has become the new Erlking. Janneke’s powers as the new Stag bring along haunting visions of a world thrown into chaos and the ghost of Lydian taunts her with the riddles he spoke of when he was alive.
When Janneke discovers the truth of Lydian and his madness, she’s forced to see her tormentor in a different light for the first time. The world they know is dying and Lydian may hold the key to saving it.
Torn between her feelings and her duty as the Stag, Janneke must bring her tormentor back to life if she has hopes of keeping her world alive. But the journey is long and hard and this time she won’t have Soren for company.
Lydian might be able to stop the worlds from crumbling, but reviving him may cost Janneke the life with Soren she’s tried to hard to build. After all, there can only be one King….
I loved the first book in the Permafrost series, White Stag, and Goblin King was just as good. Sometimes the second book in a series isn’t, so I was very pleased that did not hold true here. I find the setting and mythology compelling and vivid, and the characters, while brutal, are well-developed and believable.
Janneke has so many issues she’s dealing with it stresses me out! It’s a shame she had to learn the hard way not to keep secrets from people she cares about…I love even the secondary characters in this series! They’ve distinct and unique enough to keep my attention, even if I prefer reading about Janneke and Soren. Highly recommended!
Kara Barbieri likes adding mythology to her stories. Goblin King is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 