Goblins

Philip Reeve's Goblins is a rollicking fantasy adventure for 9 year olds about a small, clever goblin who gets thrown off a tower for knowing too many words.

What happens

Skarper lives in Blackspike Tower, one of seven crumbling towers around a giant black castle where an evil sorcerer once ruled. The goblins there hatch out of eggstones from a lava lake. They spend their days fighting, stealing and eating spider stew.

Skarper isn't like them. He's found a heap of old books (the other goblins use them as toilet paper) and taught himself to read. So when the goblin king makes a big speech about being land pirates, Skarper puts his claw up and politely explains that pirates work at sea.

That's a mistake. The punishment for cheeky young goblins is the bratapult, which flings them off the top of the tower.

The book actually opens with Skarper mid-fall, which is a brilliant way to start! He lands in a cloud full of furious cloud maidens, runs from their lightning bolts and wanders out into the ruins, where he meets a real live human. A young man called Henwyn, who takes one look at Skarper and tries to chop his head off for being a troll.

It's SO funny. The goblin names are brilliant (Gutgust only ever says "Anchovies!"), the king secretly wears pink frilly knickers under his armour, and Skarper's commentary on everything is dry and clever. There's lovely writing too. The ruins, the moss and the cloud maidens' cloud all feel real enough to touch.

Be warned, though. Goblins are nasty creatures and the book doesn't pretend otherwise. There's lots of talk of raiding, killing and throwing hatchlings off the roof for fun, and the bottom of the tower is littered with skeletons. A troll gets flattened by a falling stone and the river runs red. It's all told with a wink, but it's a lot for a reader who's squeamish.

Anyone who's ever felt like the one clever outsider will be rooting for Skarper from page one. He's a bit selfish and a bit sneaky, which is exactly what makes him so much fun.

What to read next

Skarper and Henwyn are back in Goblins Vs Dwarves, if your reader wants more. The two of them go looking for a mysterious smoking chimney up in the mountains, and Henwyn drops straight through the ground into a tunnel full of dwarves.