Fantasy Aficionados discussion

Where is a good place to start with Robin Hobb?

I've only read her Farseer Trilogy and the first two books of her Rain Wild Chronicles. But, of the two, I would recommend the Farseer Trilogy.

I would have a really hard time picking between the Farseer, Liveship, and Fool's trilogies if someone asked me which was my favorite. They were all brilliant, and I won't pick up one without reading them all.

Despite the Rain Wild Chronicles taking place in the same world, I tend to separate it in my mind. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it feels very young adult to me, rather than epic. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the Rain Wild Chronicles books, but I wouldn't put them on a level with the Farseer/Liveship/Fool's books.

I've read the Soldier's Son trilogy. While I have to admit there were certain aspects I enjoyed and appreciated, I didn't fall in love with these books. I really kind of ended up loathing the main character, and it made the whole thing difficult to get through. It's not that I couldn't sympathize with him and his lot, but right up until the last few pages of the final book I really couldn't stand him. I plan on going back and trying to re-read them at some point to see if I might have a difference experience of them if I give them another go.

I'm not sure any of that offers any particular starting off point. I was just excited to see Robin Hobb's name. ^.^

I would definitely recommend starting off with the Farseer trilogy. All of her books are great, but in general many people seem to prefer the Realm Of The Elderling books(although my personal favorites were the Soldier's Son trilogy). There is a chronology to the RotE stuff, and it starts with the Farseer trilogy, followed by the Liveship Traders trilogy, then the Tawny Man trilogy, and finally the Rain Wild Chronicles quartet.

I didn't connect them until we did the group read, then you start noticing the links. So, I'd say,read in order but probably skip over Soldier Son which isn't connected.

Definitely start with the Farseer/Assassin trilogy. I also agree with Bryan that if you liked that one and want to read the Tawny Man trilogy, read the Liveship Traders trilogy first. I didn't, and wished afterwards that I had.

Strangely enough, while the Farseer books are among my absolute all-time favourites, I couldn't even finish Shaman's Crossing. I couldn't get into it because the protagonist left me completely cold. He was way too much of a goody-two-shoes for me, especially after such a contrary character as Fitz.

As for the Rain Wild Chronicles, I read the first one and enjoyed it, but have not yet felt the urge to continue even though part two is waiting on my shelf...

Start at the start. The Farseer Trilogy.

I really recommend reading all her related series in order:
Farseer
Liveship
Tawny Man
Rain Wilds
You could probably read the different series out of order as separate stories, but you'll get a lot more out of it if you read them in order.

The Soldier Son trilogy is a separate series, unrelated to the world of Hobb's other books. IMO it's also the weakest of her series.

One that I was always interested in was the Liveship series. I never got further with her than the Farsee trilogy, which I really liked. Something about those ships on the covers always appealed to me with Liveship, though.

I've read the Farseer Trilogy which I loved. I've just started Liveships and I'm enjoying the first book very much. It feels like it has even more depth than the Farseer Trilogy. Ships that absorb the souls of their owners when they die to eventually become fully sentient.

I absolutely loved Farseer (Assassin) and Tawny Man (Fools). Those are some of my favorite fantasy novels of all time. I agree with KevinB, though. I enjoy reading any series in order--even when the different trilogies do really stand on their own, but are in the same world. I like to learn new facts about the world in the order intended by the author.

I guess I'm alone in thinking Soldier Son was much better, albeit different, than her other series.
If I could be allowed to defend it, I would do so thusly: Navarre (main character) seems to be a one-sided character because (view spoiler)[ his soul was divided in two, on two separate spiritual planes. The ambition, drive, and cunning were split off into his alter ego by a strong magic woman (hide spoiler)], and that is why some people have trouble relating to his character. It was, IMHO, intentional on Hobb's part, and it was a writing challenge, that I felt she triumphantly won. It does require one to read all three books for this to become clear.
I think the world created in Soldier's Son is one of the more unique and richly varied worlds created in fantasy, and whereas Farseer is an excellent example of the classic epic fantasy, Soldier's Son is something in a world of it's own, literally, and um literally.
I value the creativity and sheer talent it took to pull Soldier's Son off, and therefore its my favorite of her series. I would recommend reading them ALL, but don't put Soldier's Son in the pigeonhole of traditional fantasy. If you take it for what it is, and finish it, it does a neat resettling of the story in your mind that explains all and makes everything in the past a step that leads you to the next, all the while not realizing you're on a staircase.

of course, maybe that's just me.

John wrote: "I guess I'm alone in thinking Soldier Son was much better, albeit different, than her other series.
If I could be allowed to defend it, I would do so thusly: Navarre (main character) seems to be a ..."

There's no denying that Soldier Son is highly original and creative. But characters like Navarre just don't work for me. He's so passive. I know that was part of the plot, but he just rubbed me the wrong way and that made me less invested in his story.

Shadow from Neil Gaiman's American Gods is also such a passive character (for similar reasons) and I had the same problem with that book.

Just to be clear: by "weakest of her series" I did not by any means intended to say that they are bad books. Just that I enjoyed them less than her other works.