Release Date: 12/08/14
Publisher: Harper Collins/Voyager
SYNOPSIS:
'Fantasy as it ought to be written' GEORGE R.R. MARTIN Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown. But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more...On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing. Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the messenger? Suddenly Fitz's violent old life erupts into the peace of his new world, and nothing and no one is safe.
REVIEW:
The latest Robin Hobb story and one that I absolutely loved, especially after feeling a bit disappointed with other recent releases from the author. As with Robin’s other Fool books, it has great storytelling, a familiar feel for fans and for me was a real pleasure to dive back into her familiar world that has given me so much pleasure over the years.
Add to this great characters, wonderful prose and a mystery or two to uncover and I was hooked from start to finish. If you haven’t read any of her various Fool books then please do, they are so much fun and for me a great series to introduce young readers to on their journey into adult fiction. Magical.
Release Date: 23/04/12
SYNOPSIS:
Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in the third instalment of high adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy. Kelsingra awaits for those brave enough to enter! The dragons and their keepers have discovered Kelsingra but so far only Heeby has succeeded in flying over the river to enter the fabled city. The other dragons, with their deformed wings and feeble muscles, are afraid to risk failure and humiliation. But wondrous things await in Kelsingra, a city built for dragons and their Elderling keepers. Alise, overwhelmed by the treasures she finds there, records her finds for posterity. Once the rest of the world knows about the riches the city contains, nothing will ever be the same again. Already, rumours of the city's discovery have floated down the Rain Wild River and reached envious ears in Bingtown and beyond. Adventurers, pirates and fortune hunters are coming in droves to pillage what they can from the city. As is Hest Finbok, Alise's husband! Meanwhile, Selden Vestrit finds himself a prisoner of the ailing Duke of Chalced, who believes him to be some sort of dragon-man whose flesh and blood may work miracle cures. Where is Tintaglia, the great sapphire-blue dragon, when all have such need of her? Has she really abandoned her beloved Selden and the fledgling dragons forever? Or will she too return to seek the wonders of Kelsingra?
REVIEW:
Whilst in the past I have enjoyed Robin Hobb books, the more recent ones have left me feeling more Meh, than compelled to keep going as, for me, they feel more like writing by numbers than with passion. Don’t get me wrong, there will be people that love this series but when it feels like more of the same with very little resolved in one form or another and all in as a reader you’ll end up wondering it was left feeling incomplete.
Add to this predictable patterns which when backed with simplistic twists and a predictable pattern and for me I’ll be sticking with her earlier books which are still favourites of mine. All in a great shame and whilst the prose are sharp it just feels like there is a lot of repetition with no resolution in not only the arcs but the characters.
Release Date: 01/04/11
SYNOPSIS:
A collection of novellas and stories from one of the most critically acclaimed authors in the fantasy genre, Robin Hobb. Including work written under her pseudonym, Megan Lindholm. Bingtown heiresses rub shoulders in this wonderful collection with vampires and alien musicians, tramps and feral cats. In The Homecoming, Lady Carillion Carrock and a number of other Jamaillian nobles are sailing to the Cursed Shores. Their journey is not by choice: for plotting against the Satrap, their wealth has been confiscated and they have been exiled. Until now, Carillion has done nothing but lead a life of privilege. She believes they are bound for wondrous cities, cities where ancient kings and queens dusted their skin with gold and wore jewels above their eyes. But when she is marooned by the ship's unscrupulous captain, she will soon discover the grim reality of what survival in the Rain Wilds entails. The Silver Lady is a would-be writer, ekeing out a dull existence by working in a Sears store. The one day a man comes in: fortyish, pleasant-looking. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except he says his name is Merlin, and he's about to change her life. Rosemary got involved with the wrong man. Pell is lazy, good for nothing, a bully. Her best friend Hilia knew it and so did her tom cat, Marmalade. But love is blind: Rosemary had Pell's baby, renovated the cottage his grandfather left in his will, turned its land to good use; and then he left her for another woman. Now he's back, and something must be done!
REVIEW:
Compendiums are a great way to get a whole host of stories and are ideal for readers who have short journeys and want a title that they can dip into when their time allows. Alas, the problem with this is that it can feel at times like the author and publisher are looking for a way to cash in on previously released titles allowing them to essentially get money for old rope. Within this new release from Robin Hobb are ten short stories that will more than please the fans, alas the major downside to this is that seven of them have been previously released in various compendiums. If however you don’t already own any it’s not a bad title.
The writing as you would expect is starting to show its age but with Robin/Megan’s writing style you get a story that takes you on a journey, it gives the reader great pace, decent plot line and characters that you can understand and like. All in its acceptable although I do think a number of fans may feel that it’s quite a high price for a very limited amount of never released titles who may well decide to rent from the library rather than pay the purchase price.
BOOK BLURB:
Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in the second instalment of high adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy. The dragon keepers and the fledgling dragons are forging a passage up the treacherous Rain Wild River. They are in search of the mythical Elderling city of Kelsingra, and are accompanied by the liveship Tarman, its captain, Leftrin, and a group of hunters who must search the forests for game with which to keep the dragons fed. With them are Alise, who has escaped her cold marriage to the cruel libertine Hest Finbok in order to continue her study of dragons, and Hest's amanuensis, Bingtown dandy, Sedric. Rivalries and romances are already threatening to disrupt the band of explorers: but external forces may prove to be even more dangerous. Chalcedean merchants are keen to lay hands on dragon blood and organs to turn them to medicines and profit. Their traitor has infiltrated the expeditionand will stop at nothing to obtain the coveted body parts. And then there are the Rain Wilds themselves: mysterious, unstable and ever perilous, its mighty river running with acid, its jungle impenetrable and its waterways uncharted. Will the expedition reach their destination unscathed? Does the city of Kelsingra even exist? Only one thing is certain: the journey will leave none of the dragons nor their human companions unchanged by the experience.
REVIEW:
Robin Hobb used to be a name of quality, of a guarantee for a great read but above all an author of vision. Her latest releases however seem to have fallen sadly short of what I, as a long time reader, has come to expect. Whilst her usual style is present, this title really will only sell purely because of the authors name as the characters are pretty two dimensional, the dialogue pretty patchy but above all there is no real threat to help keep the plot alive. Its not only flat-lined but been buried for a couple of weeks by the end of the novel. Add to the mix that this is the second novel in the trilogy (and for me Robin’s second books aren’t her strongest) and you really do get the feeling that there was a lot of stalling to keep the goods for the final part. Overall, you’ll find it on the best seller list purely because of her die hard army of fans but if you’ve yet to pick this up, either rent it from your local library or wait for the paperback. I suspect that this will not only lose her a number of fans but could also begin a serious downturn in her career. A shame as I really did used to love her work.
BOOK BLURB:
Return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in this standalone adventure from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy. Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wilds River, the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in generations. Many have died along the way. With its acid waters and impenetrable forest, it is a hard place for any to survive. People are changed by the Rain Wilds, subtly or otherwise. One such is Thymara. Born with black claws and other aberrations, she should have been exposed at birth. But her father saved her and her mother has never forgiven him. Like everyone else, Thymara is fascinated by the return of dragons: it is as if they symbolise the return of hope to their war-torn world. Leftrin, captain of the liveship Tarman, also has an interest in the hatching; as does Bingtown newlywed, Alise Finbok, who has made it her life's work to study all there is to know of dragons. But the creatures which emerge from the cocoons are a travesty of the powerful, shining dragons of old. Stunted and deformed, they cannot fly; some seem witless and bestial. Soon, they become a danger and a burden to the Rain Wilders: something must be done. The dragons claim an ancestral memory of a fabled Elderling city far upriver: perhaps there the dragons will find their true home. But Kelsingra appears on no maps and they cannot get there on their own: a band of dragon keepers, hunters and chroniclers must attend them. To be a dragon keeper is a dangerous job: their charges are vicious and unpredictable, and there are many unknown perils on the journey to a city which may not even exist...
REVIEW:
As a long time Robin Hobb fan, I’ve always looked forward to her latest release but recent releases have had one major flaw in my opinion, that of their predictability. That said however, what you really get with Robin’s books are tales that are well told, have characters that you feel you’ve known for a while and allow you to escape to a world of her imagination for a number of hours. One of the bright sides of this being a new series is that you don’t have to have read any other of her novels to jump right in.
For an initiate of Fantasy looking for someone to try, that consistently releases a book that is in the upper eschelon of that year’s releases, then she’s a pretty good name to start with and whilst, as I’ve mentioned above, I did have problems with the predictability it is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
