This is a book that shouldn't, by all the rules that govern what makes a book "work", be anywhere near as good as it is. Victoria Goddard has crafted a novel here that goes against every established convention of the genre: there's no war, vanishingly little violence, there's really very little plot on hand here at all. To sum it up, this book is 1000+ pages of filler.

Yet it does work, and works amazingly well. This novel is an absolute triumph that melds incredibly complex characters and deep undercurrents of good humor and comedy, and wraps them around a core of empathy and righteousness to create a perfect cocktail of a story for these times we live in. The core tenet of this novel - that good people doing work for no expectation of thanks or recognition can and do actually and tangibly make the world a better place - is sorely needed these days in a sea of media where every character must be "morally gray" in order to be interesting. 

That's not to say the characters here are not flawed. They are. The entire main cast of roughly a half-dozen is extraordinarily complex and deeply human. But the two main characters in particular develop a friendship so profound and wrapped up in the breaking of tradition and taboo that it's unlike anything I can recall in the genre. Two men who fundamentally want the same thing for contrasting reasons: Cliopher, the Emperor's secretary, the head of the government, who goes home to his islands and is just strange Cousin Kip who went away to the House of the Sun and is always too busy for his family. The Emperor, the Sun-on-Earth, a man made more of magic and ritual and tradition than he is of flesh and bone, so wrapped up in taboo that he can't even be touched. 

Both of these men just want to be understood as human, as the men behind the titles and the work and the obligations. Goddard develops their friendship wonderfully, slowly, through bits and pieces of seemingly random events: visiting an art gallery, a bookshop, playing music on a balcony. 

If you want a traditional fantasy novel with elves, world-destroying magic, armies and quests and the like, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for a deeply moving, optimistic character study about friendship and family and reconciling your identity with your work, your past with your present, your family and your culture with your obligations, all threaded through with good humor and some genuinely funny moments, there's a lot to love here.