The Robin Hobb Collection discussion

Hello! Four days late but I am now ready to read Shaman's Crossing and hoping some will join.

As I mentioned in the other thread, we will read each book of the Soldier's Son trilogy every six weeks. Let's see if we can finish this first book before Jan 1st. I am flexible with schedule.

You can give updates on where you are in the book and comment but for security reason please mark spoilery things with spoiler tags.

I'll be a little late in joining in - finishing up some other books in progress. Look forward to joining soon!

Excited to have you joining :)
I too am finishing another group read but cannot wait to read Hobb's work again.

Am reading it now. After a slow start, it's pretty good.

Silvana wrote: "...but for security reason please mark spoilery things with spoiler tags. "

Ha, you're getting into the mindset - "for security reason". Not coincidentally, the book's about a boy in military school.

Finished last night.

Parker wrote: "Finished last night."

...And the general impression is...?

Alfred wrote: "Parker wrote: "Finished last night."

...And the general impression is...?"

Overall, I enjoyed it. Love Spink and Epiny. Wanted to kick Navare at times.

Thank you! And glad to hear.

Argh, I am still at chapter 2.
How do you all think about the first person narrative?
The world is easy to be immersed in.

I'm a very fast reader, Silvana. First person narrative doesn't bother me at all (English major).

Oh bugger. Forgot I wanted to do this. Well, the book I'm reading at the moment is fairly short, so I'll be along in a while...

Wastrel wrote: "Oh bugger. Forgot I wanted to do this. Well, the book I'm reading at the moment is fairly short, so I'll be along in a while..."
Oh good!

26%. It is rather slow going but I am enjoying it. Hobb is always immerse even though I wish she cut some of the travelogue a bit. I am intrigued with the Plains magic and also these Landsingers people who were said to bottle up the Grenians.

I finished it finally. It was not that bad but I do not want to continue. The middle part, starting from the Academy, was so dreary and the class politics were repetitive. The magic part was uninteresting either. I don't like the main character either, he is so insufferable when it comes to gender roles. Maybe the novel would be more interesting if written from his cousin's POV.

Well, I hope everyone likes it more than I did!

I'm the worst - this other book I'm reading is taking longer than I anticipated. Still haven't started!

I'm curious how many of you participating are reading for the first time, or a reread?

First read but hovering between not-started and non-starter for me.

First read for me. My overall impression is 'meh'. I'm not sure I care about Navare enough to read the other two books.

Parker wrote: "First read for me. My overall impression is 'meh'. I'm not sure I care about Navare enough to read the other two books."

It was a read... but I have to admit it was ho-hum.

I usually enjoy the school trope but the Academy parts (which take the majority of the book) were just not really interesting. Can't help to compare it with Anthony Ryan's Blood Song and Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. The segregation politics angle was rather too simple for making an exciting story/plot.

Silvana wrote: "I usually enjoy the school trope but the Academy parts (which take the majority of the book) were just not really interesting. Can't help to compare it with Anthony Ryan's Blood Song and Patrick Ro..."

However, I think they could have been made interesting. I was comparing them to the Harry Potter series, Tamora Pierce's "Protector of the Small" series, which seem to be written so much better.

Reread for me. Thought it was very 'meh' the first time, and it looks like I won't be changing my mind any time soon... ;) I just finished one of the other books I'm reading, so I'll be giving Shaman's Crossing my full attention now.... But will it be worth it? ;)

Hi Parker, I have not read Tamora Pierce works but I agree it could have been more interesting.

We already have the stock characters in place, right? The handsome popular one, the geeky, fat one, and so on. I wished they had more lessons (as in what actually are being taught in that OCS) instead of Navare thinking about his betrothed or the bullies.

Silvana, go forth and read Tamora Pierce😊 She writes Young Adult, but I discovered her when I was in my late 30s (I'm 60 now).She writes kick-ass female characters. She actually shows the training a knight would go through. None of her characters are the least bit stock (which is amazing.); they are fully fleshed -out people.

That's what disappointed me so much about Shaman's Crossing. She could have wriiten it so much better.

I'm stuck. And not even at the Academy yet. At this point, I'm just arguing with myself about continuing.

Alfred wrote: "I'm stuck. And not even at the Academy yet. At this point, I'm just arguing with myself about continuing."

As we used to say when I was a Civil War (American) reenactor 'Endeavour to persevere'. To me, Spink and Epiny are quite worth it. Navare, not so much.

Parker wrote: "Alfred wrote: "As we used to say when I was a Civil War (American) reenactor "'Endeavour to persevere'"

Tx. For Spink and Epiny, whom I shall meet in good time, onward then, with endeavoring to persevere.

I've finally started! This is a re-read for me. I'm shocked that it's been twelve years since this came out, but it's showing as I read and find how little I remember of it. Pleasantly surprised - it's nice to sink back into Hobb's prose like the first time again. :)

The first chapter drew me in right away. I find the setting very refreshing. I'm honestly not a huge fantasy reader, and most of what I encounter is your typical medieval fair. I love this sort of colonial setting - I imagine it being set in a time period much like the Civil War. This may not be uncommon - I just haven't read much in a setting like that.

Chapter two and three have been kind of ho-hum so far, but I'll power through. :)

Oh, good, I'll be powering through along too. I've passed chapter 3, and things did improve a bit above ho-hum.

Hey, I'll start a spoiler thread for anyone willing to wade through this miserable affair.

Others who've read: Hope it's alright I peeked in at some of your ratings just to get a gauge from other Hobb fans - 1 to 4 stars! Quite a swing there...

'Wade through this miserable affair.' That's funny 😆
Oh gosh I forgot most of the book already. Will check it out just in case something jogs my memory

Silvana wrote: "'Oh gosh I forgot most of the book already. Will check it out just in case something jogs my memory "

For fun: spot quiz to see how much you remember (no checking):
-Name of Nevare's first horse
-Name of town Nevare and father visited in chapter one
-What is Nevare's new family crest

(Pardon my having fun, it's been a long two days this week so far.)

But more seriously, I will say this to be fair, this book is still much, much better than Piebald Prince and most of the short stories in Hobb's The Inheritance.

I am a complete failure as those things have never stuck in my head. :))

I wonder why you said this is better than Piebald Prince. I remember liking that tragic tale.

I'm with Alfred on Piebald Prince... what a disappointing sojourn. :(

Looks like I'll be happily chirping to myself in a corner for this read. I'm among the minority that loved Soldier's Son. The first two were originally only three star books for me, but the last book blew me away and left me wanting to read them all again in a new light.

It's just a shame I waited ten years to start a reread. My memory of specific details is pretty fuzzy at this point. Still, I'm picking up on some foreshadowing and really enjoying the subtle setup she's doing.

Silvana wrote: "I am a complete failure as those things have never stuck in my head. :))

I wonder why you said this is better than Piebald Prince. I remember liking that tragic tale."

Ha, no worries, coz even I who just read the first 1/4 of story can't remember the answer to 2 of the 3 questions (when I usually remember these things pretty well).

Reading Piebald is like hearing about a fatal accident in the news. Tragic, but emotionally distant. Glad Jeremy here thinks it's a doozy too! Generally, I think it goes to show that Hobb writes for her vision (which means some people will like it, and some will not) as opposed to writing for the general masses (where everyone will like it, but perhaps against her own vision). We see that with F/F...

Jeremy: Your enthusiasm for Shaman's Crossing is very encouraging! I am definitely sticking with it on a book-by-book basis but nice to know the last book is worth shooting for.

This went from three stars to five for me, upon re-read. I posted my thoughts over in the spoiler thread, but the tl;dr is that I loved it and really appreciate the ambition of it.

The original schedule started Forest Mage today, going through February 14th. I know Silvana doesn't intend to continue (and a fair amount of others), so I'm just curious who's still in for the next book, and if you need more time before continuing?

I still haven't started this, and now I'm thinking I want something short and enjoyable to start the year with instead. However, I'm still hoping to get to it by the end of the month.

In terms of the second book - not having read the first, I can't promise I'll continue, though I probably will, eventually. Not between now and February 14th, though.

I'm going to go ahead with it, but extend the reading dates through the end of February for any stragglers. Renegade's Magic for March/April. Shoould be plenty of time for everyone to get some light buffer between books.

I'll start spoiler discussions spanning every three chapters for immediate impressions/thoughts/kicking and screaming in the appropriate folder. :)

Hey, that Mod tag looks good on you! You're on a roll here.

Thanks for steering this along and making accommodations for the stragglers. Which at this point, looks like it's just me. Since Wastrel hasn't started on book #1 with only a "maybe" for book #2, Silvana & Parker seem not inclined to continue on, and there's Astrid and Lucy up above but no indication on progress?

Here's hoping for momentum and word-of-mouth to pick up as we all read along.

I'm up for Forest Mage. Have a couple of books to finish first, though. Should be through with those this week.

Phew! Glad I won't be talking to myself. :)

I'll have to step up my game, with Parker coming up behind me. I don't have a dream of reading as fast as you...

Ah, but with the two books (actually, just discovered two more I checked out) you've got a chance to surpass me.

I'll also be continuing with Forest Mage. I'm reading another book at the moment, and then I'll be with you guys... Also hope to be a bit more involved in the actual book discussion this time around... was a bit busier than I'd expected to be in December. ;)

Yay! Look forward to you joining us. :)

No hurry at all. I'm probably going to take my time with it, going in three chapter bursts for discussion, and breaking for other reads in between.