“We is Oli and Cousins Hauling Company. And also on road trip to see family!” he added hurriedly.

The dragon sucked down a wash of air and Oli stumbled forward, near sucked into the gaping nostrils.

“Thou smell of too little intelligence for deceit.”

“That us!” Oli chirped happily.

Oli is a goblin and as their reputation has them perceived he’s the last one you would want to send on a dark, dangerous and secret world-ending quest. Yet that’s exactly what The Dark Lord does, for having brought him a magical Ring, Oli has proven that a goblin can go unnoticed and that may just be useful. Oli must get to Fort Isoglar and retrieve a Key that will rid the lands of The Bright Queen, the Dark Lord’s nemesis, once and for all. To help him on his way Oli enlists his cousins and here begins a family road trip quite like no other! 

Wriggly Little Hands by Alex Knight is a fun-filled tale featuring a familiar fantasy world and goblins you’ll fall in love with. Strap on in and let Oli lead you on a rowdy adventure with some surprising and chaotic turns! 

Comedic fantasy, ones that are tongue in cheek and offer a light hearted tone are becoming increasingly popular at the moment and I feel this book nestles right into that. Knight’s playful narration is present from the onset and it easily draws readers into what is essentially a wacky story about these goblins on a highly disastrous quest. Our lead goblin is Oli and every time I talk about him I describe him as adorable and you only have to look at the fantastic chapter heading illustrations that Knight includes to see that I’m right! There’s such an innocence to Oli, he’s so eager to please and impress, and he just wants to be helpful, particularly to his “big boss”, the Dark Lord. At first it took me a while to get used to Oli’s speech, being a goblin he doesn’t really speak in full sentences, but after a while I stopped noticing that and Oli just stole my heart. In fact when Knight introduces Oli’s goblin cousins, Hob, Gob. Lin One, Lin Two, Robert and Man their banter and their misunderstandings is such a funny element to the story and they all become charming in their own way.

“Goblins haven’t really figured out the full range of emotions yet. While other folk experience passion, and wonderment, and are free to ponder the great mysteries of life, goblins mainly get by in one of three states: panicked, hungry, or looking to set something on fire. Oli and his cousins felt all three as the sand collapsed inward and dragged them into the desert’s depths.”

The story begins as a Lord of the Rings parody but soon enough Knight moves away from this, which I was grateful for. Don’t get me wrong I loved the parody, I loved seeing the smallest hero being a swamp-dwelling goblin, ever perceived as the villain in fantasy novels such as LotR itself and to see the Dark Lord actually get the Ring was pretty fun too. Yet I was hoping for more from the story than a retelling and that’s just what I got. As Oli and co become more of a delivery service, things really start to get wild! I also appreciated the nods to other fantasy and literature works which became such fun to spot. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King’s The Shining and a mention of Pet Sematary and then we have nods to Sherlock Holmes, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Along the way we also meet some fantasy staples such as a dragon, orcs, a golem and even a genie. It’s clear throughout that Knight enjoys playing with familiar fantasy tropes and likes to turn them around to make his readers see them in different, humorous lights.

As the novel progressed I began to think about some of the deeper themes Knight illustrated. The notion that goblins were disgusting, unimportant and often overlooked was a significant viewpoint that was explored and one that made me feel quite sad because at every turn Oli and the gang proved this to be utterly wrong. Sure everything that could go wrong for them does go wrong and they’re not exactly highly intelligent or organised but goblins could indeed be courageous, daring, loyal, and most of all kind. There were other themes too such as free will, good vs evil and the importance of leaving a review! You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean here! I wholly appreciated that by the end of the book these goblins are no longer ignored, they have friends, granted unusual ones but friends all the same, and they also learn much about themselves. They learn their worth. I was not expecting to feel so incredibly proud of Oli, but I was.

“Even though he was perched atop the wagon, he felt small. It wasn’t unusual for goblins to feel small seeing as, well, they were among the smallest of sentient species. But the city made him feel a new kind of small. The kind of small that wasn’t a bad thing. The kind of small that opened his eyes to how big the world could be and how much potential could be found in it.”

ARC provided by Alex in exchange for an honest review.

Wriggly Little Hands is now available in paperback, you can order your copy HERE