The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

[Ainulindale]

but any way has anyone read the latest release by hobb?

Halfway through wit it as of now. I didn't start reading it until, mroe out of spite, because the publisher sent it to me so late. IMHO the best so far, which probably means fans of Fitz won't like it.

it baffles me when people refuse to sit down and read with an open mind and instead they continually compare any work of fantasy to Tolkien... tolkien is ultimatly a childs book. all black and white very little grey which fails to portray life, whilst Jordan, Hobb and others successfully portray humanities greatest flaw, that of hypocrisy

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Whose doing that? Seems like a random comment. For he record I wouldn't put any of Jordan's work in my top 500 - but that's just me.

niether does the sub-genre "new wave fantasy" ect have any bareing either

The New Wave isn't a sub-genre it was a movement.

 

[nightlight]

As I've said before, I'm practically new to fantasy and I found all this very informative. thanks!

So if I were to look for more fantasy books to read, similar to Hobb's style ie. subtle magic/character development, which authors would you recommend? (perhaps I should start a new thread..)

Shaman's Crossing: I'm only up to page 50 so I can't really comment yet. Ask me next week when I'm hopefully done with it. I'm hoping this will be my reaction.

Without giving away spoilers (if that's possible..) why would Fitz fans not like Shaman's Crossing? Nevare not whiny enough?

 

[Ainulindale]

So if I were to look for more fantasy books to read, similar to Hobb's style ie. subtle magic/character development, which authors would you recommend? (perhaps I should start a new thread..)

I wouldlsay the current master of this type of work is George R.R. Martin, his A Song of Ice and Fire is IMHO the new pinnacle of epic fantasy thru 3 of a planned 7 books series. Thus far:

A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords

A Feast for Crows (later this year)
A Dance with Dragons (forthcoming)


Cannot possibly recommend an epic fantasy higher then this. The most ambitious series iMHO, i nthe history of epic fanatsy, stunning, multiple characterizations, great and hdiden subplots, highly detailed, characters die, it's just incredible.


Although different from Martin, but still excellent IMHO, is R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series a planned trilogy, with a duology following it. Thus far:

The Darkness That Comes Before
Warrior Prophet
The Thousandfold Thought (forthcoming January next year)


For some info on this seriies, I interviewed Scott here

Without giving away spoilers (if that's possible..) why would Fitz fans not like Shaman's Crossing? Nevare not whiny enough

This was just a general (and maybe slightly irresponsible) statement referring to what seems to be a lot of Fitz man-love coming from the Hobb fanbase, many of whom didi't like Liveships (although the won't admit it) simply because Fitz wasn't in it.

 

[nightlight]

This was just a general (and maybe slightly irresponsible) statement referring to what seems to be a lot of Fitz man-love coming from the Hobb fanbase, many of whom didi't like Liveships (although the won't admit it) simply because Fitz wasn't in it.

I think you may be right with that, though I couldn't blame them.

Luckily for me, I loved Liveships straight away and didn't care whether it was in the same world or not. I truly liked it as a stand alone. It's so rich in everything, colour, spice, the sea...! The fact that it linked with Fitz' world actually encouraged me to read them; read them in order to avoid spoilers in Tawny Man. I was rewarded with that BIG inkling/surprise! That just blew me away. And if that element wasn't in there, there's the Rain Wilds to wonder about; its people, its riches... wow now that's original.

But you know even if Fitz wasn't in Shaman's Crossing, fans may very well "latch" onto Nevare. I don't know this yet, but I'm hoping he'll have the same effect because there's nothing better than an endearing MC.

Thanks for the recs! I'll look up Prince of Nothing. (Everyone does recommend GRRM though! I'm afraid to say that I've shied away from those books just cause... And also I heard that the POVs of a certain character can be few and far between... That was one thing that annoyed me about Liveships -- that you favour a certain character and are just impatient to get to their part again).

 

[Ainulindale]

Everyone does recommend GRRM though! I'm afraid to say that I've shied away from those books just cause... And also I heard that the POVs of a certain character can be few and far between... That was one thing that annoyed me about Liveships -- that you favour a certain character and are just impatient to get to their part again).

I'm certainly not attempting to push any book on anyone - but I not would not use that reasoning (POV) to not read A Song of Ice and Fire, nothing Hobb has ever written is anywhere near so grand in scope, and althgouh I admrie Hobb greatly I don't really consider her in the same league with Martin as a writer.

All of Martin's characters have relevance, even if the reader doesn't understand it at the time.

 

[Ainulindale]

but any way has anyone read the latest release by hobb?

Just wanted to update my last reply on this question. At the time I was reading it, I have since completed it and put up a review of Shaman's Crossing here

 

[nightlight]

thanks for the review. I did not read all of it, just the beginning and end and skimmed through the middle to avoid spoilers, but from what I've read, it seems a promising story. Thanks for your pov!

 

[Vorian]

I'd recomend the Amtrak Wars series by Patrick Tilley... Not a fantasy but a post-apocolyptic sci-fi with both magic and suptle character development, with some nice tech thrown in to round it all off.

I'm only on the 2nd book at the moment my self but it's been a damn fine read so far with some nice plot twists and a prophesy to round things off.

 

[Aurillian]

Robin Hobb

I just finished the Farseer trilogy,and i thought that the third book was best out of the 3.The second one did drag a bit but i still liked it.
I've just started to read the Tawny man trilogy and it seems to be another good trilogy.

Besides what some people think i like Robin Hobb's novels.

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I liked the first two books in the trilogy, but I only made it halfway through the third before losing interest. I may try to read them again sometime soon.

 

[Brys]

Nicely put direstraits - pretty much exactly what I would have said, except I'd mention how absolutely awful the ending was of Assassin's Quest, and the pacing was a bit off as well. That ending - the definition of deus ex machina, and the most unoriginal revelation I've ever read in a competent fantasy series. I thought the 3rd book was the worst actually, the pacing was off, the characterisation wasn't up to the level of the first two and the conclusion was just ... ugh. I think it would have been much better if she'd ended the series after Royal Assassin, and throughout the book I was given the impression that it was just something written so that it would make up a trilogy, rather than because it should be written.

 

[GreenMonkey]

Hitting threads quite a bit tonight as this forum isn't that active, so I only hit it every few months.

Hobb is my favorite author at this date...with Martin pulling in at #2 depending on how the rest of Ice&Fire go.

Hobb writes realistic characters who don't always do the right thing - like real people. She also is focused on a character-driven story rather than action.

I think this grates on some folks who are used to novels full of action, or heroic folks. Fitz isn't a hero, doesn't do the right things frequently, and most of all, he's just a teenager. Along with how to tell a good lie (taught to him during his training), he gets into big trouble for fibbing when he wants to. Like a few characters say to him in the books, he can't really bring himself to trust people - another big character flaw that gets him into quite a bit of trouble.