An airship crash which wipes out an Emperor and his immediate heirs propels an unprepared and uneducated and largely despised half-goblin onto the throne of the Elflands. Luck and decisive action secure his position, barely, but he is alone and ignorant and has had to survive years of abuse at the hands of a resentful guardian. Nonetheless Maia struggles to put aside thoughts of hatred and revenge and strive to to do the right thing and take control of his life and his new, thankless, role, assuming he can survive.
This is, I think, the best epic fantasy novel I've read in a long time. A cross between CJ Cherryh and Lois McMaster Bujold, with the sudden immersion into a alien and hostile world of language and protocol and politics of the former, and the slow battle of a despised and powerless but decent person to forge relationships with those around him as a bulwark against the actions of the cruel and malicious of the latter. It's a terrific, delightful, heartfelt, and at times bewildering read. There's a glossary of names at the back, you should definitely consider skipping ahead to use it when another confusing name pops up out of seemingly nowhere.