[tiam]

Hello all i need help again. After being told i should branchout on what fantasy i read i have now read the early Drenai novels (up to waylander) and have read the first Troy book Lord of the Silver Bow. All good books bt heres the problem.

I have 3 robin hobb books called fools something of the tawny man series (whether its a trilogy or not i dont know.) However if i start reading them im fairly sure i wont be able to do a reread of MT and BH by april. They look lik sizeable books. So my question is this. what should i do? rely on remembering all the malaz info and try something new?

Basicly is it worth me reading Robin Hobb when a good reread is in order?

As always thanks for the help

[ChrisW]

Well if your going to read Hobb, those three books arn't the ones you want to start with. The Tawny Man trilogy is a follow up to her Farseer trilogy. You should read that first. So imo reread if you don't want buy more books.

[Reborn]

Yes, Hobb is one of my favourite authors when it comes to prose and characters, but you should begin with The Farseer Trilogy and not The Tawny Man. Read Fool's Errand now and I can guarantee that you will come to regret it. : )

I can't recommend the author enough, though.

[Set'alahd Crool]

ChrisW;166918 said:

Well if your going to read Hobb, those three books arn't the ones you want to start with. The Tawny Man trilogy is a follow up to her Farseer trilogy. You should read that first. So imo reread if you don't want buy more books.

This is good advice, since The Tawny Man is actually Hobb's 3rd trilogy set on the same world. After the Farseer trilogy there's the Liveship Traders, THEN The Tawny Man. So unless you want to buy 6 new books and read 9 before Reaper's Gale you should probably wait.

Hobb is worth reading though. Not mind blowing like SE, but good enough that you won't feel cheated of the time spent.

[Tif the Barber Boy]

Read the Farseer trilogy: 'Assassin's Apprentice', 'Royal Assassin' and err... some other Assassin (can't recall the name) before you read the Tawny Man trilogy.

The books don't have sprawling plots and numberless places and characters the way other series do, and the first is relatively self-contained in that it doesn't end on a cliff-hanger. So you can read that and come back to the series if you want to take a break in the middle to read the MBOTF books.

[Set'alahd Crool]

Tif the Barber Boy;167046 said:

Read the Farseer trilogy: 'Assassin's Apprentice', 'Royal Assassin' and err... some other Assassin (can't recall the name) before you read the Tawny Man trilogy.

The books don't have sprawling plots and numberless places and characters the way other series do, and the first is relatively self-contained in that it doesn't end on a cliff-hanger. So you can read that and come back to the series if you want to take a break in the middle to read the MBOTF books.

'Assassin's Quest' is book three.

I maintain that The Liveship Traders trilogy should be read after the Farseer trilogy and before the Tawny Man. It's a departure fom the former, but it kinda sets up the main theme of the latter.

[Dr Trouble]

Read the first trilogy, then avoid the last trilogy.

Seriously ruined Fitz for my that Tawny man bs. Worst. Ending. Ever.

[Imperial Historian]

Oh come on they weren't THAT bad, the ending of fool's fate was a disappointment and about a couple of hundred pages too long, but up until then I thought they were good books, not Erikson but up there.

Reading the liveship traders before the tawny man isn't entirely necessary, you can miss them out, I did, but I think after reading the liveship traders that if you have time you'll probably get more out of the tawny man series after reading them.

[tiam]

So to sum up a good author but that on par with erikson and i should read the far seer trilogy then the err 2nd one then this one. Not the other way round. So ill probably reread Mt and BH then RG then possibly by shield of thunder (gemmel) then start with this series.

Thanks again all

[polishgenius]

I don't think you have to read the Liveship Traders trilogy, I didn't and fully enjoyed the Tawny Man. But yeah, less you read fast a reread is probably a safer bet. Though you could always take a break between books for RG.

[tiam]

A break?! u shock me man. what would i do on the toilet!!!

anyway since it seems RG is going o be delayed i have more time than i thought. Ive had my eye on the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden for quite a while and seen as theres only 4 books i would be able to read them all by RG. I dont like breaking a series and would be forcoed to read all 9 Hobb books.

So has any one read these and if so are they good?

Thanks for the help as always. Again

[Aztiel]

I love the Hobb books. She's got great characters, and while at first the second trilogy didn't connect for me, it turns out to be the most epic of the three (I felt), and the conclusion was real great. Its definitely worth reading.

[Obdigore]

Ok, so I just picked up the first one in this series, havn't read any robin hobb, and was only able to read about 30 pages over lunch... Interesting so far, but not to the standard of Erikson... although Erikson isn't to the standard of Erikson in GOTM.

Thoughts on this series? Use spoiler tags please if you discuss spoilers

PS... I went back a couple pages and didn't see a topic on this series, if there is one, be so kind as to merge it for me, or linky it. WTB computer that works with forums search.

[Optimus Prime]

I didn't like the first person narrative.

The story is somewhat interesting but I guess after hearing GRRM rave about it, it didn't live up to expectations.

[Imperial Historian]

There are a couple of Hobb threads still around, this one and here, I've merged it with the one which covers similar ground.

If you want to use the forum search, obscure vbulletin code means you generally can only get it to work if you click on it from the main page.

please continue any discussion here.

[Obdigore]

Ty IH.

[Werthead]

Necrothread!

Robin Hobb's new novel, The Dragon Keeper, Book 1 of the Rain Wilds Chronicles duology, is now available in the UK (or at least it was in my local bookshop today). This is one novel divided in half due to length, with Book 2 to follow next year.

American fans have an eye-wateringly long wait though as the book is not due to be published in the USA until 26 January 2010. In this case, fans who do not want to wait may find an online trip to the Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping) of interest. I think it comes to about $19-20.

[Salt-Man Z]

"Rain Wilds"? Is this the same setting from the Liveship books?

[Tarcanus]

I can't say I'm thrilled. I only read her Assassin's trilogy, and that was enough. I don't understand when people say she has impressive prose or that the characters are great or the plot is almost as good as Erikson's.

For me, there was too much description of unnecessary details, and there were far too many times where the plot went no where while the characters traveled.

SPOILERS

For instance,

Spoiler

Fitz meets other people actively using the Wit and bonded with animals, but that never comes back around to be of any use. We only see a bonded dog with the hunters chasing Fitz in the snow, and the crazy ferret.

Of course, maybe that comes around in another trilogy.

Sure, lots of 'interesting' things happen during all of the traveling, but the hints given weren't enough to make me glad at what I was reading. It suffered from

Spoiler

the old, seemingly wise character with-holding all of the information that Fitz would need to know, but if she told him it would invalidate the rest of the book's events

and that is just poor writing, imo.

The only parts I thoroughly enjoyed reading were about the Fool. That's where the best prose was hidden

Spoiler

even if the whole 'I was sent to find the person I was Fated to find'

thing is ludicrous, to me.

Either way, Hobb's thick descriptions, bland characters, and slow plot made me have to force myself to finish. I definitely wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Gratzy for her fans though, I guess.

[Werthead]

Salt-Man Z, on Jun 24 2009, 04:22 PM, said:

"Rain Wilds"? Is this the same setting from the Liveship books?

Yup, the duology picks up on that dragon Tintager or whatever her name was from the Liveship Traders, and what she and the sea serpents have been getting up to in the Rain Wilds. The main character is another Liveship captain, I believe.