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Submitted by Anonymous 
(Jan 19, 2003)

None of my friends had heard of Robin Hobb or her books. I found out from websites that said she was comparable or better than George RR Martin and decided to give it a go since I enjoy his books as well.
I must admit that at first I was a bit dubious, since the beginning of the first book (and second) starts off with the main character's musings, and at the time it seemed a bit melodramatic. But once the plot kicks in it's great. The character development is realistic. Many events are unpredictable, and the tragedies the characters (especially Fitz) go through are heart-rending.
I can't wait to start reading more of her novels.

This series is in my all time top five favourite reads.
Hobbs manages to convey so many emotions through Fitz and his travails that it beggars belief. By the end of the books I was stunned, sad, profoundly moved and in no doubts whatsoever that I was in the presence of a master storyteller.
The flashes of history that we see give hints of what may come, and not since Jordan (very good early on, weaker later), and Martin (all good), have i seen such a vivid and enticing world.
Yes! Read it, books don't often get much better than this. It's a good book no matter what you're into.

I picked up assassins app. in 98 and although it sounds a cliche I bless the day I did.It is the best fantasy I have red barring Rings and the Recluce books.Some folk do not like the ending....me, I will never forget that night on the tube on the way home from work when I got there.To me it was wholly appropriate to the rest of the novel.Looking forward to the sequel in sept,with some fear lest it not carry the same mood.

I became interested in these books by the subject matter - a young man raised as an assassin. I picked them up with the expectation of something different and was instantly impressed with Hobb's writing. The first person perspective suits it perfectly, and provides many opportunities for some beautiful writing. I won't go into plot details, everyone else has done that. I will just say that, as a budding writer, Hobb has inspired me with her weaving of a very believable world. The characters are rich and interesting, the mystery of Forging is original and the ending to the series is inspiring. I was sick of happy fantasy where the main characters never get a scratch (although Fitz seems to be on the extreme opposite end of that scale). I have not yet read the Liveship Traders but I intend to. Robin Hobb definitely joins my list of favourite authors, alongside Martin, Feist and Jordan. Great read.

I had passed this series up a few times on my trips to the library not really sure if I wanted to give it a shot. Then one day I decided to go for it. Take the plunge I said to myself. Well let me just say that I didn't regret it...up until the end of the third book. Those of you who have read it know what I'm talking about. The fact that Robin Hobb has chosen to write the entire series in 1st person is unusual I think. Its hard to carry something this big with such a limited point of view but she does it wonderfully. Not once was I bored with it. But the downside is that after you spend days inside of a characters head like that you can't help but feel empathy for him/her. And this is the downfall of this series in my opinion. The ending is completely unsatisfying. After reading of how much crap Fitz had to go through in these books much of my time when I wasn't reading the books was spent on trying to figure out what kind of reward did Robin Hobb have in store for him that makes all his suffering worth while. Call me old fashioned but I like a happy ending. Or at least something resembling a happy ending. The ending upset me so much that it scared me away from her other books. I don't think I can handle the Raiders series. I don't want to take the chance that it could end like this one. Not since Orson Scott Card has an author been able to evoke such emotions from me while reading a book. I was actually depressed for a few days after finishing this series. All in all the series is very good. If you can handle an incredibly sad ending then by all means pick it up you won't be sorry.