A Goblin For a Hero

An Interview with Jim Hines

© Cat Rambo

May 14, 2007

In GOBLIN HERO, fantasy author Jim Hines revisits the world of GOBLIN QUEST, where Jig the Goblin finds himself an unlikely hero. You can find out more about Jim and his work at http://jimchines.com.

Jig the Goblin is a great character, and seems as though he'd be fun to write stories about. What new things did you discover about Jig while writing Goblin Hero?

Jim: He's a lousy leader. Fantasy has a bit of a tradition--almost a cliche, really--when it comes to the reluctant leader. You know the type. The one who doesn't want to take the throne but is clearly the best candidate. When I first started writing the second goblin book, I kind of expected Jig to fall into that mold, albeit in his own special way. And Jig does his best, mostly because if he fails, the other goblins are likely to kill him. But he's not the best leader, and he's smart enough to recognize that fact.

Not that anyone listens to his protests, of course.

Goblin Quest has a number of characters who may seem oddly familiar to old Dungeons and Dragons players. Are you an RPGer? What gave you the idea?

Jim: My first RPG set was the Basic Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the set that came in the red box, where you had to use a white crayon to fill in the numbers on your dice. Yes, I'm that kind of a geek.

While there are gaming jokes in GOBLIN QUEST, I don't really think of it as a gaming book. But role-playing games tend to highlight the pattern you see in a good deal of fantasy, where the heroes run around on their quest, killing monsters and saving the world. I wanted to take that pattern and turn it around a bit.

So what happens if you're one of the monsters? You've got a job to do, and if you're remotely intelligent, you have to know that sooner or later some wizard and his diminutive band of followers are going to sneak into your mountain and slaughter you and all of your friends, all for the sake of some silly ring. Your life is less important than old jewelry!

Goblins are traditionally one of the weakest monsters, so I started imagning what their lives must be like, and voila. Jig and company were born, and two months later, I had a manuscript.

What comes next for Jig?

Jim: Well, GOBLIN HERO just came out, and explores what happens to a goblin who actually survives an adventure. (Hint: it's not all parties and sunshine.)

I'm currently waiting on revision suggestions from my editor on the third goblin book, GOBLIN WAR. That will be the last goblin book, at least for a while. Jig is a wonderful character, but after three books and four short stories, I'm feeling a little burnt out on the goblins. I also want to make sure the series doesn't go stale, recycling the same stories and jokes again and again.

GOBLIN WAR provides closure to the series, and it leaves Jig and company in a new place. So if I do decide to come back to them in a few years, there should be some very interesting new stories to tell.