How can you find power when you are the most powerless person (or goblin) in the room?

Shelly is a goblin slave living in a land ruled by ruthless idiots – the Duchy of Halfsock. Looming in the horizon is the threat of invasion by the Skeleton Queen and her gigantic army of undead creatures.

When Halfsock’s mage is mysteriously murdered and the Duke’s heir fight to frame each other for the crime, Shelly decides he needs to do something about it and guarantee that he will survive the upcoming attack by the Skeleton Queen.

As his plans work, but in the way he intended, Shelly finds unexpected allies and gets himself much deeper in the castle’s political intrigue.

In his eagerness to live, Shelly discovers much about himself, as well as about friendship, loyalty and courage.

This was a fun story to read, with Carter’s easy narrative. Sometimes I found the use of modern expressions a bit jarring, but it did not rob the flow of the story. I would like to have seen more character development, in particular for Alaistair, Betticia and Buckingham, as they felt a bit two dimensional to me, and I would also love to have seen a bit more about the world that Shelly lives in.

The final boss battle was very cool and clever, and I suspect readers can expect a sequel to this story!

A fun read for fans of whimsical fantasy with unlikely heroes! Thanks Tim for graciously sharing a review copy of your book with me.