History Literature / TheGoblinEmperor

* UnknownCharacter: Varenechibel's second wife is never named or even directly referenced, despite being the one to bear 4 children for him, including his previous heir and surviving daughter. We can assume she died from circumstances other than childbirth at least 20 years before the story takes place, but that's about it.

* TheGhost: Varenechibel's second wife is never named or even directly referenced, despite being the one to bear 4 children for him, including his previous heir and surviving daughter. We can assume she died from circumstances other than childbirth at least 20 years before the story takes place, but that's about it.

* TheGhost: Varenechibel's second wife is never named or even directly referenced, despite being the one to bear 4 children for him, including his heir and surviving daughter. We can assume she died from circumstances other than childbirth at least 20 years before the story takes place, but that's about it.

* TranslationConvention: In an unusually overt example, it's made clear that there are more grammatical persons in the language being spoken than modern English, and the RoyalWe is specifically noted to be an alternate singular pronoun distinct from the plural (and used by others besides the emperors). The later books show that the "formal first" is primarily used in the imperial court and not often resorted to by commoners except in particularly formal settings. There is also an additional preposition "an", meaning something like "so long as" or "if".

* HiredHelpAsFamily: This is the custom in Barizhan, both legally and often in fact. It is not a custom shared by the elvish nobility and Maia's over-familiarity with his staff and house servants is a point against him in the eyes of the court.

* TranslationConvention: In an unusually overt example, it's made clear that there are more grammatical persons in the language being spoken than modern English, and the RoyalWe is specifically noted to be an alternate singular pronoun distinct from the plural (and used by others besides the emperors). The later books show that the "formal first" is primarily used in the imperial court and not often resorted to by commoners except in particularly formal settings.

* TheClan: Any of the elvish families.

* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: The book opens with a zeppelin crash that kills the emperor and most of his close family. They're used for transporting courriers and cargo, but are implied to be noisy, cramped, and dangerous, so people only use them if they're in a hurry.

* DueToTheDead: Funerary, burial, and mourning customs are important in Ethuvereise culture, and as ''Literature/TheCemeteriesOfAmalo'' shows, there are practical implications for this, at least in the north. Sometimes clashing ideas of what is DueToTheDead cause conflict between characters - Maia wanted to pursue all possible avenues of investigation in order to see justice done, including InterrogatingTheDead, while Shevean was angry at the bodies of her husband and in-laws being messed with (even by a priest of the god of death following proper ritual).

* {{Acrofatic}}: The Great Avar, Maia's maternal grandfather. Maia's first impression is that he is "monstrously fat" but he is surprisingly light on his feet.