[Xav_rock]

One of my friend suggest me to read this trilogy but I don't nothing about it. I would like to know what are your comments on this trilogy and if it's a good or a bad idea to start reading it?

[ChrisW]

Without spoiling it, if ya don't mind not having a really happy ending or the main character endlessly being kicked in the guts by the author and the fact you know the main character can't die cuase it's written in the first person then sure it's a great read:D .

Highly recommended:)

[Evil Agent]

Bad choice? Never.

You may or may not love it, but there's no way it's a "bad" choice. It's personally one of my favorite fantasy series of all time, right after The Lord of the Ring and A Song of Ice and Fire.

It's written in the first person point-of-view, which gives it a different style from your typical epic fantasy. Robin Hobb is a fabulous author, I love everything she's written; but her strengths are not action or battles. Her strengths are character development, and emotional impact.

As ChrisW mentioned, some people find the series a tad gloomy... it's definitely not "happy". But I think it's one of the most emotionally moving series I've ever read.

That's about all you need to know. Now go buy it, and read it! :)

[SteveF]

I prefered Liveship Traders, though I'd still heartily recomend the Farseer trilogy. Sometimes I find Hobb easier to admire than actually love as not all of her characters engage me fully. The pace can also occasionally be rather slow and certain aspects of Farseer were tied up to quickly and neatly for me. Despite these complaints, I still think she is one of the best fantasy authors out there. I'm just about to start the follow up Farseer trilogy and looking forward to it very much.

[JBI]

I've only read the first one so far. I found it about a 6/10, nothing really special. I like the use of the first person point of view, but the story itself was a little bit weak. I ofcourse will move on to the next one simply because I already baught it, and don't want to have wasted my money.

[Physics Knight]

Go for it, definatly. Now, it did leave me depressed to finish it and the ending was not traditionally "happily ever after", but that was simply because I was so involved in her characters that the book affected me so much. Robin Hobb is probably one of best authors (in and out of fantasy) out there in terms of prose and character development and making her books realistic. Maybe the story is not for everyone, but like the books or not her abilities as a writer are undenable. Giving Hobb a chance is a very good idea.

[sic's mom]

I read Hobb and The Farseer Trilogy on recommendations from people here and am so glad I did. Fitz is one of those characters you will always remember and so is the Fool. Hobb does such a wonderful job with these two ( and with the others in the three trilogies, which I recommend reading all) that you will never forget them. If you want something to read that will hit you on an emotional level then these are a must read.

[Werthead]

Rambling, overwritten and a very slight story given its huge length. There is an excellent story struggling to be told here, along with interesting characters, but Hobb buries them under tons and tons of filler. Her worldbuilding also leaves something to be desired. Essentially, she has the right ingredients but fails to bring them together satisfactorily.

The Liveship Traders suffers from some of the same problems, but the concept is more original, the characters more compelling and the story doesn't flag until the first third or so of the third volume (unlike Farseer, which runs into considerably pacing problems halfway through the second), by which time you should have enough momentum to finish it off.

I would like to see Hobb work with shorter fiction more. Her Liveship short story in Legends II is a very fine piece of work.

[Stark Direwolf]

double post

[Stark Direwolf]

Have to agree with Werthead - it can be a slog to get though at times. But the characterization is second to none which creates attachments to the protaganists and central characters - leaving you with a touch of sentimentality towards them which for me had a quite profound effect.

Then when you go on to read the tawny man trilogy Fitz turns absolutely badass which only makes the said afflection stronger.

And it's also one of if not the best ending to a story ive ever read. Makes up for the bitterness many of us felt at the end of farseer..

Gooood Choice.