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Robin Hobb

76 replies

Badqueen · 31/05/2022 20:25

I thought id start a thread to talk about the work of robin hobb (and any of her other work published under her other names if you like)

Favourite trilogy? For me it's the Liveships. Id never read anything like it. The way she weaves everything together was a cut above any fantasy id read before. Favourite book though - assassins apprentice because it's where it all started. Favourite character? Who else but the beloved fool?!

Any more fangirls here want to chat?

OP posts:
darisdet · 02/06/2022 00:19

I'll join. 👋

Funnily enough I met two Robin Hobb fans on another, unrelated, thread a few days ago. One has a Farseer-themed name you've probably seen.

MaryQueenOfSwots · 02/06/2022 00:26

Ahh my favourite books. These got me through lockdown. Such brilliant characters and so inventive.

Has anyone else read her Megan Lindholm Windsingers quartet? Nowhere near as sophisticated as her Farseer books but some good stories and I think it’s interesting to see some ideas she went on to use in later books.

Boadicea2 · 02/06/2022 00:41

Love Fitz and the fool. Love the Liveships. Slightly less keen on the Dragonwilds.
I also loved Cloven Hooves - her Pan fantasy written as Megan Lindholm.
I couldn't finish the Soldier Son trilogy - the sex scenes just gave me the ick.

Original poster
Badqueen · 02/06/2022 07:14

darisdet · 02/06/2022 00:19

I'll join. 👋

Funnily enough I met two Robin Hobb fans on another, unrelated, thread a few days ago. One has a Farseer-themed name you've probably seen.

Would that be kettrickensmiled? I met her in a thread too which is why i started this thread 😆

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EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn · 02/06/2022 07:24

I read some of the Fitz ones & I think my favourite character was Bee, but I wondered, does Robin Hobb ever explain her choice of name for Lord Thick? That really jarred but I don’t know whether ‘thick’ has the same meaning in the US.

BenchOfCompany · 02/06/2022 07:49

I have found my people! I read Assassin's Apprentice 20 years ago and have loved her books ever since and re-read them several times over. They are like a comfort blanket for me. They saved me from wallowing in self pity at times in my life, helped me stay sane.

We use the Chade quote regularly "Don't do what you can't undo, until you've considered what you can't do once you've done it" great advice for teens! I have read Farseer Trilogy to my eldest son over the summer holidays of year 10, we skipped Liveships although I read sections of it to him so that he understood for the Rain Wild stuff. I do also like Rain Wild Chronicles. Madly, he is now 19, my youngest is 16 and I am reading Assassin's Apprentice to them this summer.

I loved them all, I feel like I can't say stuff without spoiling things for anyone who hasn't read them in order. Some of the best scenes, anything with Nighteyes, yes sobbed at some, also the ice cave mentioned above with the Fool. But also Dutiful and the Narcheska, Burrich, Kettricken and who can forget Kettle? Chade in the later books is completely wonderful and Thick, so many amazing characters.

I have never been able to talk to anyone in real life about them so this feels wonderful.

BenchOfCompany · 02/06/2022 07:50

On user names, there have been several I have clocked over the years. I have also used a couple too.

Original poster
Badqueen · 02/06/2022 08:26

This is a lovely little article about hobb. I love reading about how books came to be. Its like getting a little behind the scenes glimpse. Also how she writes her various worlds to intercept without it always being totally obvious, like a little mention here and there and you think "oh that was mentioned in the Liveships too". Little cultural references.

www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/28/robin-hobb-books-interview-assassins-fate

I don't recall ever reading anything about how lord thick was named. He's one of my favourites too, such a complex character. I basically love any character that comes into conflict with fitz, who is quite vain and selfish most of the time. But even then she really does know how to write a well rounded character because he's not always vain and selfish and you can always understand his motivations.

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IamEarthymama · 02/06/2022 08:42

Robin Hobb is my favourite author and I have been reading for many, many years.
Luckily my family like her too, my DD and SIL have seen her speak a couple of times.

DW and I listened to all the Fitz books through lockdown, one after the other. I had Covid early on and then long covid. Being able to enter the world that we already knew (many previous rereads) and immerse ourselves was a wonderful if sometimes tear filled experience. When I was really poorly it was such a comfort.

So what else could our Bedlington Poodle cross pup be called by FitzChivalry Farseer?
he is known as Fitz and is as wilful as can be expected!

No other author I know creates such complex characters or builds a world so much like our own but yet so different.

if I didn’t have the latest Phil Rickman to listen to as it is release day today I would start another reread on the back of this thread. Thank you OP *for starting it.

*excellent writer! A series of crime novels with a Cristian/Pagan theme and standalone novels that are seriously spooky in the best of ways.

EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn · 02/06/2022 09:51

I don't recall ever reading anything about how lord thick was named. He's one of my favourites too, such a complex character.

It bothered me because of him having learning disabilities and Thick being slang for stupid. But I thought that must be a regional thing.

Original poster
Badqueen · 02/06/2022 10:55

Oh yes i should say the name never sat right with me.

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HeyHeyer · 02/06/2022 11:14

I assumed that it was a name that sort of grew on him. An insult from childhood - what the bullies called him - that became his name just because it was what he was generally known as and what he called himself (because he didn't know it was meant as an insult). To him, it was his name?

PipsM · 02/06/2022 11:20

I haven’t read these for years- I devoured them all and this has inspired me to re-read them all again- thanks!!

EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn · 02/06/2022 12:50

HeyHeyer · 02/06/2022 11:14

I assumed that it was a name that sort of grew on him. An insult from childhood - what the bullies called him - that became his name just because it was what he was generally known as and what he called himself (because he didn't know it was meant as an insult). To him, it was his name?

That sounds possible. Badqueen, I’m glad it’s not just me!

Marmite27 · 02/06/2022 19:07

I vaguely remember that Thick was fond of sugar and as a result was rather thick around the middle. But I think ultimately it alluded to his learning difficulties (being lost in the ‘skill river’ most of the time - wasn’t he one of the strongest practitioners?)

Original poster
Badqueen · 03/06/2022 20:16

Yes he was. I do like how he literally had hidden depths that nobody knew about. He was really complex and a full character in his own right.

I am restarting assassins apprentice tonight 😄

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UrsulaPandress · 03/06/2022 20:20

Adored them all. But tried to restart and couldn’t.

🤷‍♀️

darisdet · 04/06/2022 12:56

Would that be kettrickensmiled? I met her in a thread too which is why i started this thread

It was!
I'm sure she'll find the thread eventually. I'd tag her, but some find that irritating.

darisdet · 04/06/2022 13:05

UrsulaPandress · 03/06/2022 20:20

Adored them all. But tried to restart and couldn’t.

🤷‍♀️

I tried a few years ago but couldn't get into it again. Though I'd be prepared to try again if people here were interested in starting an Assassin's Apprentice read along thread.

I definitely wouldn't read the Soldier Son books again, and I've no idea how I managed to finish the trilogy. I also don't think I could go back to the Rain Wilds or Liveship Traders books.

JustTheOneSwan · 04/06/2022 13:08

This thread's inspired me to rebuy!
I didn't read all of them last time and read out of order, very confusing.

Belovedfool · 04/06/2022 13:17

I'm a Hobbling too.
Favourite series is the Rain Wild Chronicles, but honestly, I love them all. I've just reread Soldiers Son trilogy and am reading the final book again as I lost a lot of the detail.

Favourite character of all books is Patience. She stole my heart, claiming Fitz as her own.

darisdet · 04/06/2022 13:24

What other fantasy authors, and books, have people here liked?

I think part of why I found it difficult to reread is that I stopped reading books in the fantasy genre, (I must have been a teenager when I read AA), the exception being buying anything new by Robin Hobb (and my annual reread of Lord of the Rings).

Belovedfool · 04/06/2022 16:53

Have you tried any Tad Williams? I'd go for his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series first. Otherland is also good, but took a while to get into, for me.

Natsku · 04/06/2022 17:20

Love Robin Hobb's books! Haven't read them all (still need to read the tawny man ones) and read in wrong order, starting with the final trilogy (as my local library had it, but none of the others)

Natsku · 04/06/2022 17:20

Love Robin Hobb's books! Haven't read them all (still need to read the tawny man ones) and read in wrong order, starting with the final trilogy (as my local library had it, but none of the others)