Ah Pseudonym of Sarah Monette! No wonder I liked this steampunkish fantasy where an unassuming half-goblin is thrust by tragedy into the role of emperor of (mostly) elves. There are airships, clockwork bridges, and multiple assassination attempts, sadly no romance, and good evidence that "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." For what it's worth, I found the long names somewhat hard going, and discovered only at the end that there is a list of characters as well as explanations of honorifics, etc.--I suggest keeping this handy when reading it, I wish I had known it was there.