The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge

By M. T. Anderson, Eugene Yelchin (Author/Illustrator)

An elf and goblin's mission spirals into chaos, risking war.

4.1/5 Goodreads · 4,374 ratings

532 pages· 41,921 words· Est. 4.5 hour read

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Bookroo's summary

Elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is catapulted into goblin lands to deliver a peace offering and spy. His goblin host, Werfel, eagerly guides him, but cultural blunders and double crosses thrust them into a crisis. As their nations teeter on the brink of war, these unlikely allies must navigate misunderstandings and hidden agendas. Will they survive the chaos, or will their nations fall to conflict? This tale of humor and intrigue questions who truly writes history.

From the publisher

Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom—from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them—and war for their nations. Witty mixed media illustrations show Brangwain’s furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel’s determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story. A hilarious and biting social commentary that could only come from the likes of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin, this tale is rife with thrilling action and visual humor . . . and a comic disparity that suggests the ultimate victor in a war is perhaps not who won the battles, but who gets to write the history.