City News

This 512-page book fully utilizes every single page with its action-packed moments, punctuated by momentous sporadic periods of self-doubt and humor. The title definitely achieves to enable the reader to form a clear vision in his or her head, and then smashes (in a great way) them with plot twists abound. M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin combine forces in this thrilling mish-mash of picture book and fantasy to create an epic tale of cultural differences, fitting in, and war. 

Brangwain Spurge, the main character whom the book revolves around, has been chosen to become a spy for the elves in their foreign expedition of diplomacy into Tenebrion, the goblin capital to deliver a gemstone with a hidden purpose. His past of being picked on and being called “the Weed” makes it an unlikely scenario, but Ysoret Clivers, a former bully of his and now current spymaster for King Degravaunt, believes him to be the most aptly suited for the job. After being shot out of a cannon, Werfel the Archivist of the goblins comes to meet him and exchange pleasantries after years of war between the two sides each is representing. Werfel takes him around Tenebrion and shows Spurge the ins and outs of his life, from insults being taken as compliments (and the converse) to twenty-hour plays. Eventually, Brangwain Spurge’s absolute disgust of goblin culture leads to quite memorable incidents concerning major characters like Regibald du Burgh, and his subsequent reaction outcasts Werfel. Indignant on delivering the gemstone, the pair travel to Ghohg the Protector’s royal court and find themselves on the run. Will they survive and make it through? Read to find out.

Just to put it out there, the book is extremely hilarious. Werfel the Archivist and Brangwain Spurge the fellow scholar and historian, despite having similar professions, have contrasting opinions and viewpoints on issues that can flame into contentious debates. However, they all reconcile with each other in, at times, comical ways. Sarcasm can be found pretty frequently. In addition to providing a hearty laugh here and there, gorgeous black-and-white pictures split up Anderson’s lengthy yet poignant writing between chapters. In contrast to trying to capture the text perfectly, Anderson and Yelchin provide a bit of a twist that isn’t revealed to the reader until later on in a eureka moment: the illustrations directly show the opposite of what is described. 

My favorite part of the whole book is the sheer amount of significant character growth from the protagonist and the Archivist. For instance, Brangwain Spurge is locked in his narrow viewpoint of the world, influenced by his elvin upbringing. Later on, however, he discovers the flaws in his paradigm, including the false messages as a result of it relayed back to his kingdom that eventually lead to confrontations and complications. All in all, this book has to be my favorite one of 2022, just because of the sheer amount of vivid details that the reader can easily picture within his or her own mind as a result of the words. If you haven’t flipped through the pages of this masterpiece, I strongly suggest doing so.