I just started book one Assasins Apprentice. I needed something to read after my last WOT re Read. I just read the first chapter and so far it hasn't grabbed me. I like the grandiose names of the Royalty though so that might be enough to hold me.

 

Any thoughts on this series?

 

I'm a fast reader so if it picks up I should finish it quickly.

I personally think the farseer trilogy and it's successor series the tawny man trilogy are some of the best fantasy books ever written! They may take a while to get into as at first fitz is too young for the first person perspective to really work. However once he's a bit older the books just take off. I became so attached to those characters that it was rather jarring when the series ended.

Anyways, hope you like them!

I read the Farseer trilogy a few years ago, but I have to say I wasn't impressed. At first I really enjoyed reading Assassin's Apprentice, and thought the 1st person narration was a clever idea, not often seen and fairly well done. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there. The main character, Fitz, kept getting on my nerves more and more as I went on (basically, he's both superhero and martyr - seems to have every talent in the world but to fail every time anyway - and that got really annonying). Whine whine whine. Other characters (such as Regal, the antagonist) tended to be one dimensional, stereotypical, boring in the end. Plot and plot devices seemed simplistic, not always very believable, and the end of the trilogy was the most gobsmacking deus ex machina ever.

I personally enjoyed this series and the tawny man trilogy quiet a bit. i have only read the first book in the live ship trilogy and wasn't to impressed.

It's actually a pretty good series, in my opinion. It's a lot different from The Wheel of Time, and in my opinion is a lot sadder, but it's well-written and has memorable characters.

Robin Hobb is definitley one of my favourite fantasy authors. Most of her characters are much more realistic than the gengre in general. Also her plots are often more "humble" it's not always the end of the world hanging on a thin thread, but still a big issue for the characters involved.

 

The "trilogy of trilogies" is a nice storyline and the "Soldier son" series is also well worth reading imo.

 

Also, if you haven't read Tad Williams his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogi is something I would recommend.

I loved the Farseer series as well as the related Liveship Traders and Tawny Man followups. Very grand feel to the series, and another one that didn't have cutesy, everyone survives too-pat ending. It rivals the WOT for me, not as intricate in world-building (though fairly well thought out) but the characterizations are so much better than Jordan's- In My Opinion...

I Haven't picked up the Rain Wild book(s?) yet, but they are on my short list.

Oh I like them. The Soldier Son Trilogy was really good and the magical system was really interesting. Although I read about people being grossed out, I didn´t think it was anything bad...

I read the whole Farseer Trilogy too, and I found it hard to get hooked into the first book for a while (considering I was 13 when I did, maybe that's not so surprising) but I found it hard to put down when the mystery begann! I think they're very good books that are definitely worth trying to read.

 

Also, if you haven't read Tad Williams his Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogi is something I would recommend.

 

YESS!!! It's amazing, one (if not the) of my favs after tWoT!!!

I find Hobb's writing style extremely hard to cope with. I find it gives the impression of nothing happening even when something is.

 

Saying that, I find the story and elements of it so compelling that it didn't matter the first time I read it. The magic system is interesting. However, I simply cant read it again. I've tried, but to no avail.

 

Unfortunately the ending of the Tawny Man trilogy is a let down (particularly, Fitz has what could have been a crowning moment of awesome in a decision he makes which is suddenly and inexplicably ignored simply because Hobb seemed to want him to end up a certain way, even though the whole series has been leading up to the decision)

The thing about Robin Hobbs books is that they are fairly unpredictable. I loved the The Farseer trilogy, but thought the ending was a bit crap - not because it was "bad" as such, it was probably the right way to do things, but because it wasn't what I expected. Then I read the Tawny man trilogy, which is kinda like parts 4,5 and 6 of the Farseer books, and again, the ending wasn't so great. The Liveship trilogy is part of the series, but like a side story in many ways. In retrospect, I should have read them in order lol, and I have to say the Liveship was probably my favorite of the series.

 

Saying that, they are fantastic books, well written and interesting, and they don't follow the usual tropes of fantasy. The characters are usually very well written (with the exception of Regal), and the stories unique - they are not "boy of prophecy gets sword of magic and kills the evil warlock" type books. Definitely more adult. I put them pretty high up on my list of favorite fantasy books. Not as good as WoT, or The Thomas Covenant books, but certainly worth the read and reread.

 

I found the Soldier Boy books very hard to get into, but worth the effort, even if, like the Farseer books, it doesn't really turn out how you would expect.

 

All Robin Hobb books have a thread of melancholy running through them, and the characters are conflicted and can be annoying to read, because they make mistakes and change their minds and loyalties - exactly like a lot of real people.