SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I have become more and more interested in reading Robin Hobb but not sure where to start. Any recommendations

I started with the Liveship Traders trilogy and it seemed to work well for me. It ties in with the Farseer and Tawny Man series, but I saw no reason to read those before. I had been told in another forum by other members that doing it that way was possibly best. You do have to read the Farseer series before Tawny Man though since it's the same main character and is in chronological order.

I thought the Liveship Traders was an excellent fantasy series. I liked the very nautical approach. I think the character development was great. I found myself caring about the "villain" because he was human and had depth. And one particular character really grows before your eyes and it is so natural.

I must say to stay away from the Forest Mage trilogy unless you like it dark and depressing. The Farseer's trilogy is much better! I am on the 3rd one Assassin's Quest now.

Farseer's absolutely. I love the character of Fitz and his friendship with the wolf and the fool. Forest Mage is despite it darkness also great but not as a starter.

A.C wrote: "Farseer's absolutely. I love the character of Fitz and his friendship with the wolf and the fool. Forest Mage is despite it darkness also great but not as a starter."

I agree with those who are saying don't start with Forest Mage. I started with Farseer and liked doing it that way.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. The Farseer trilogy us on the way.

I read Assassin's Apprentice from the Farseer Trilogy recently. I liked it so much that I bought the rest of the trilogy, but I haven't read either of the next two yet. The Farseer trilogy seems like a good place to start to me.

Question: I have read the Farseer trilogy, and found myself sorely dissapointed. I am simply not a fan.

However, these forums very often praise Hobb for her works, and I am curious enough to tempt disspaointment again sometime in the future. Given that I have read the Farseer Trilogy and did not like it (especially the 3rd book) what other series of hers should I attempt?

Or perhaps Farseer is her best and I should give up now since I didn't like it?

Personally, I loved all the Farseer/Liveship trilogies. I can't decide which one I loved most, every time I finished one I was sure it was my new favorite. I just got done rereading all of them, and I think I loved them even more the second time around!

You should definitely read the Farseer trilogy first. Then do Liveship (I skipped it the first time around but regretted it after I went back and read it), and then the Tawny Man trilogy. And now there are the Rain Wild Chronicles that just came out, those come last of all.

As for what to read if you didn't like the Farseer trilogy? Liveship. If you don't like that, give up.

I agree with Farseer disappointment as the series progressed, but I have just completed the 1st novel of the Tawny Man series and enjoyed it. We will see if the next volumes hold up.

Farseer has its issues, but was a pretty good series IMO. I found Liveship really hard to get into, particularly at the beginning, because every character was pretty selfish and unempathetic. Got a little better as it got deeper in. Tawny Man is a follow-up to Farseer and the new series (Rainwind Chronicles?) is a follow-up to Liveship.

Dawn wrote: "Personally, I loved all the Farseer/Liveship trilogies. I can't decide which one I loved most, every time I finished one I was sure it was my new favorite. I just got done rereading all of them, an..."

Dawn,
Did you read the Soldier's Son books?

I've really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy - I only have about 200 pages left of the last one. I did NOT care for the Soldier's Son series...

Erick wrote: "Dawn,
Did you read the Soldier's Son books? "

I did. I liked them, but not until I was done with all of them. I only kept at them because I love Hobb so much, I figured it was going to eventually get good. And it did.. Sort of. I have mixed feelings about those ones. I don't know what it was exactly, the just didn't click with me. I probably only even liked them a little because they were by Hobb! But yeah, not my favorite books ever, but not my least favorite either.

Gregory wrote: "Question: I have read the Farseer trilogy, and found myself sorely dissapointed. I am simply not a fan.

However, these forums very often praise Hobb for her works, and I am curious enough to tem..."

Well, since many of those who loved the Farseer books didn't care for her Soldier Son trilogy, I would work off the principle that if you don't like what 'everyone else' does (just a generalization for the sake of the saying), then check out the stuff that 'everyone else' didn't like - if you don't like those, then this is probably just not an author for you.

Have to put my two cents in though, that I loved the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies, but did not care for Soldier Son at all. I'm going to read the Liveship series next, and I'm really looking forward to the Rainwild series (but making myself read the Liveship ones first.)

HTH

Carolyn wrote: "I'm going to read the Liveship series next, and I'm really looking forward to the Rainwild series (but making myself read the Liveship ones first.)"


Definitely read the Liveship ones first, without them the Rainwild ones wouldn't have made much sense. And if you find that the first book of the Liveship series proceeds really slowly at first, keep with it! The first time I read it I was bored for a good portion of the book, but I stuck with it and was very glad I did. It's a slow starter, but more than worth it to keep reading!

Dawn wrote: "Erick wrote: "Dawn,
Did you read the Soldier's Son books? "

I did. I liked them, but not until I was done with all of them. I only kept at them because I love Hobb so much, I figured it was going ..."

I was the same way; I read through them because I like Hobb so much. they were a tough read though.

I didn't like Farseer neither. If u don't mind switching Authors i would suggest Brandon Sanderson
Elantris or Mistborn: The Final Empire from Mistborn Trilogy.

PD:Sorry for my English

Originally, I started with the Farseer Trilogy and then went straight into the Tawny Man Trilogy. It was OK to do that, but then my husband read the Liveship Trilogy and informed me that there was a key character of the other two series hidden within this one. I then read Liveship and was quite disappointed that I'd not read the books in order of publishing. Liveship occurs in the time beyond Farseer in a different location, but its happenings are key to the story line as a whole. I am not a fan of the Liveship Trilogy, but I found that it should be read directly after Farseer to give you a full understanding of the story. I am, also, not a big fan of her other books outside of this set. They are good reads, but the characters in the Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies were so well written that they came alive for me, and I haven't found that to be the same in her other series'. I am currently rereading Farseer and Tawny Man for the 3rd, 4th or 5th time, and each time I get more from the story that I missed before. I am so attached to Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes. I cry like a baby each time I read parts of it, and even knowing where the story goes, I cannot help but hope a happy ending one day as I finish reading it again.

So is Hobb at the level of Lynch, Abraham, Weeks etc in terms of excellent fantasy?

And what's the final word n the order in which to read them?

I have not read the 3 authors you mentioned so not sure what you taste is. Start with the farseer trilogy first, then liveship, then Tawny Man. The first trilogy by far is the best. Liveship is a bit different. I just grew attached to Fitz and Nighteyes, not so much Liveship but you need the Liveship if you will continue with the Dragon trilogy.

I plan on rereading the first trilogy to revisit.

MadProfessah wrote: "So is Hobb at the level of Lynch, Abraham, Weeks etc in terms of excellent fantasy?

And what's the final word n the order in which to read them?"

In my opinion, not even close. As all books, everyone has different opinions but having read all of farseer and one of liveship I have permanently dropped Hobb.

You gave it a good shot. Now, knowing I like Hobb, which of the 3 authors you mentioned would be the best shot for me to like. They are all in my tbr file and come recommended to me by friends.

MadProfessah wrote: "So is Hobb at the level of Lynch, Abraham, Weeks etc in terms of excellent fantasy?

Hobb, like any author, will appeal to some readers and not to others. As you can probably tell from the responses so far. :) I’d recommend trying the first book to decide for yourself. If you’re going to like her, you’ll probably know before the end of the first book. I’ve read her first three trilogies and they’re among my all-time favorite books, but not everybody likes her. I greatly enjoyed Abraham’s Long Price Quartet, and I vaguely remember enjoying Weeks’ Night Angel series, but Hobb’s books were the ones that took over my life while I was reading them, and they’ve stuck with me longer in terms of both the story and the characters.

I think her biggest strength is how well she writes characters. However, she does like to torture them. I’ve seen some people say her books were too dark and depressing for them and I can understand how that might be so. Out of the three trilogies I’ve read, I thought two of them had rather bittersweet endings. One of them left me in a funk for weeks, and I’m normally the kind of person who can cry over a book then put the book down, reintegrate myself into real life, and move on.

MadProfessah wrote: "And what's the final word n the order in which to read them?"

The typical reading order is as follows:
1. Start with the first book in the Farseer Trilogy, Assassin's Apprentice, followed by the remainder of that trilogy.

2. The Liveship Traders series. Set in the same world, but with different characters and a different story line. There’s one subtle tie-in to the Tawny Man series so it’s worthwhile (but not mandatory) to read it before Tawny Man.

3. The Tawny Man trilogy. Features the same characters as the Farseer Trilogy.

4. The Rain Wild Chronicles. I haven’t read this one yet, but I believe it takes place simultaneously with the Tawny Man trilogy and follows up on a plot thread introduced in the Liveship Traders. It was written after Tawny Man but, when I re-read her books, I plan to read this series directly after Liveship Traders.

5. The Fitz and the Fool. This is her newest trilogy with two books published so far. I believe the third is expected to come out next August. It follows up with the same characters from the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies.

There are also a few short stories mixed in, but I haven’t read them yet. You can get the entire list of related books and short stories here: https://www.goodreads.com/series/54099.

Marilyn wrote: "You gave it a good shot. Now, knowing I like Hobb, which of the 3 authors you mentioned would be the best shot for me to like. They are all in my tbr file and come recommended to me by friends."

If you like Hobb, try Abraham's Dagger and Coin.

Thanks.

YouKneeK wrote: "a lot of stuff.."

4) It's mostly after Tawney man.

5) I believe book 3 has been pushed to 2017.

I really love the Rain Wild series! And the Liveship ones. They are her best, as far as I'm concerned. I didn't care for The Tawny Man. I liked the Farseer trilogy, but not as much as the others, above.

I've only read the Farseer trilogy, and the first book was my favorite novel of 2014. Plan to continue the series maybe next year.

YouKneeK wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "So is Hobb at the level of Lynch, Abraham, Weeks etc in terms of excellent fantasy?

Hobb, like any author, will appeal to some readers and not to others. As you can probably ..."

Thanks for the replies. I am definitely adding Hobb to my TBR pile.

YouKneeK wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "So is Hobb at the level of Lynch, Abraham, Weeks etc in terms of excellent fantasy?

Hobb, like any author, will appeal to some readers and not to others. As you can probably t..."

Thank you for the typical read order. I've totally botched it (just started Assassin's Fool for my first book by Hobb) but, it's good to know where i am, in case there was any doubt.

Another +1 here for the Liveship Traders trilogy.

Read the farseer trilogy way back, liked it and then forgot who the author was. Recently started reading the Fitz and the Fool trilogy by accident, which left me scratching my head, as I didn't remember certain events. There's a disconnect. So started re reading the last book of farseer trilogy to figure out about lord golden and bingtown 'king and queen'. I wonder if those characters appeared and were developed to the current state in a different series. BTW, have tawny man, liveship and Rain wilds ready to read after the current re read. (Now that I know what the reading order is, and not another Terry Pratchett nightmare)

Where does Fitz and the Fool trilogy fit into the Farseer world in general? Without giving away spoilers certain events in Farseer and Tawny Man negate the story thread of this latest series.

You need to read all the other books in the Realm of the Elderling world before you attempt the Fitz and the Fool trilogy- this is the last trilogy and brings all the threads of all the other trilogies together.
Farseer trilogy
Liveships trilogy
Tawny Man trilogy
Rainwilds
Fitz and the fool