The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M. T. Anderson (review)

Historian Brangwain Spurge has been mockingly known as "Weedy" since he was a young elf, and he desperately hopes to become a hero instead of the squeamish and fearful laughingstock his peers see him as. To this end he travels to the center of the goblin kingdom in order to resolve the generations-long hostilities between the two peoples with a mysterious gift with which he's been entrusted. His goblin host, Werfel, an archivist, is as welcoming as possible, understanding the stakes and genuinely wanting this visit to go well for the future of his people as well as his own personal safety. Surreal full-spread illustrative sequences pulled from Spurge's mind's eye and letters between the elf monarch and the pompous aristocrat who selected Spurge for this mission clue readers in that the secret gift is, unbeknownst to Spurge, actually a bomb and this peace mission is actually a terrorist plot. Still, Spurge and Werfel's ill-fated attempt at intercultural diplomacy—where elves are haughty and oblivious and goblins are proud of their culturally brutish ways, but neither does a convincing job of hiding their mutual resentments—is sharply funny, and it's enhanced by the bookish and bumbling duo's eventually finding common ground in obscure books and accidental heroism. An epilogue hints that the two remain close friends in a less hostile world, and the detailed illustrations, rich world building, and epistolary elements make for a worthwhile reread.