Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy... (good or bad choice?)

Xav_rock

Xav_rock

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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?
 
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:)
 
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! :)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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I thought the Farseer trilogy was really good as well as the Tawny Man trilogy. Obviously Robin Hobb's strength lies in her characterization. I was at one point almost emotionally attached to Fitz, in my opinion he is one of the best characters (I'd say top 5) that I have read in any fantasy novel. He just seems like a truly real character, same with a lot of the supporting characters. I specifically found his relationship with the Fool, Burrich, Night Eyes, and some minor characters to be very interesting. Robin Hobb also has a good writing style.

Not that often was both of these trilogies a page turner though it picks up at certain areas. A lot of the time I would read a couple of chapters and nothing concerning the plot had happened, basically to sum it up it was character development. I didn't find the story to be large in scope, to me the plot was good but nothing special. I would of enjoyed it more most likely if there was a bit more action, though that could of hurt the book more then making it better.

To sum it up I think Robin Hobb is a great writer, she is definitely in my top 10 favourite fantasy authors. Give her a good chance, don't give up after 50-100 pages like some people tend to do with her works.
 
for some reason opinion on hobb is much more divided than on some of the other top fantasy writers. personally i'd recommend both the farseer trilogy and the liveship traders in the strongest possible terms, as these are probably my two favourite series. the story telling is incredibly powerful and the characterisation is superb: Kennit from the liveship traders is my favourite fictional character of all time.
 
Almost finished myself...

I definately reccomend Farseer, Liveships and Tawny Man. I started the former in May I think and am about half way through 'Fool's Fate' which is the last book in the tree trilogies. I should have finished it weeks ago but i'm doing that terrible thing of reading really really slowly as I can't bare it to end!

I remember being a bit uncomfortable at the beginng of Farseer, it all seemed a bit gloomy and Fits was very young. But as everyone above me has pointed out the characters really draw you in (epecially Burrich and the Fool in Assasin's Apprentice) and when the wit apears it adds a new dimention to everything and it is wonderful.

There are parts which are slow but you enjoy the characters so much by then you don't mind just passing time with them. It was my first real fatasy read after LotRs and I'm really hooked to the genre now.

Enjoy - I'm a bit gealous!;)
 
I have read Farseer but not anything else. I did like it and would recommend it.
Do you think the ending was a little depressing? I know what you mean but I don't think so.
How can you call what happened to Regal (the younger prince - I hope I have the right name) depressing?
She does constantly kick her protagonist in the guts. I read the first book of The Sword of Shadows (JV Jones) but did not continue with the series because she did the same thing.

I would like to hear some comparisons of Hobb's other series to Farseer.
 
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I disagree strongly with the negative criticism. I guess it depends what you're looking for in a book. For me, the Farseer trilogy has pretty much everything I'm looking for (To be fair, Hobb is always rather low on the action, but IMO she more than makes up for it with her superb characterization and prose). I'm re-reading the series right now, and loving every page.

To cgw, you want a comparison of Farseer with Hobb's other series? Here you go:

1. The Farseer trilogy - written in 1st person POV, about the early life of FitzChivalry Farseer. Very emotional, some would say depressing at times.

2. The Liveship Traders trilogy - written in very different style, 3rd person, from multiple POVs of several different characters. Takes place far to the south of the Six Duchies, but still the same world as Farseer. A good series, but most people seem to think it has a very slow start, and could definitely be a bit shorter. In my opinion, each book had a little too much material that might be called "filler". However, the series includes such cool things as ships, sea voyages, pirates, sea monsters, and dragons. And it ties in very nicely with both of the Fitz trilogies (although it's not 100% essential reading).

3. The Tawny Man trilogy - Once more it's the story of Fitz, taken up 15 years later. Essentially the same style as Farseer.

4. The Soldier Son trilogy - The newest work. Written in a similar style as the Fitz books, it's 1st person from the POV of the main character Nevare. There are many parallels with Farseer (Nevare doesn't exactly have an easy life). However, the setting is very different, much more like America in the early colonial times (with some magic thrown in).
 
I've read all of Hobb but for the second book in the Soldier Son trilogy..I second that on the prose..It's all but unmatched in today's literature...As far as the lack of action..goes..true....however I think the 3rd book in Tawny Man (Fool's Fate)has plenty action..That book has a real adventure feel to it.
 
You should definitly take a chance and read it. I did and it ended up being one of my favourites.
 
Thanks for all of these advices. Maybe I'll ask the whole series for Christmas
 
Just started book #1 Assassin's Apprentice....based on a recommendation ... looking forward to the whole she-bang! I Love character (driven) stories!
 
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