Robin Hobbs Opinions?

[DiapDealer]

BTW, you've probably already seen this, but in case you missed it, freebie vintage MZB backlist book in the Deals forum, being offered as a holiday gift from the MZB Literary Works Trust.

Are her brother Paul's books being sold in ebook form anywhere? I'd be interested in copies of The Lost Prince and King Chondos' Ride.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Are her brother Paul's books being sold in ebook form anywhere? I'd be interested in copies of The Lost Prince and King Chondos' Ride.

Not that I know of, but the MZBLWT may well bring them out, as it's a family-oriented trust which extends the "family" to short story releases of authors who wrote for the various Darkover anthologies and the old MZB Fantasy Magazine and they handle Mercedes Lackey's newly-written short story releases in e-book as well.

It might be worth it to ask Elisabeth Waters over at the official website if there are any plans, and if there aren't then put in an "I'd really love to see this and I'm sure many people would too". I can't imagine they'd have much difficulty securing the heirs' permission*.

* Prying the rights from any lingering claiming publishers, on the other hand, may be a problem as this HarperCollins case shows.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

If you think you might want recs for which of the nuDarkover books were more enjoyable (IMHO), and that you might want to start with first, the following is spoiler-texted in case you don't. No plot spoilers or giving away the story, I promise.

Thanks.

BTW, you've probably already seen this, but in case you missed it, freebie vintage MZB backlist book in the Deals forum, being offered as a holiday gift from the MZB Literary Works Trust.

* Context is for the weak.

Yup, saw that. Got that.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd put her in the "good but not great" category. Not on a par with David Eddings, to my mind, but up there with the likes of Terry Brooks.

Interesting how opinions of writers differ. I would say that Terry Brooks is a far superior writer to either Hobb or Eddings, although I would not classify him as one of the all-time greats. I think Hobb, Eddings, Jordan (Robert, that is), and Feist are all mediocre writers whose books can usually be enjoyed but often drag. Generally, I have found these authors start on a high note (first volume in a series) and then steadily deteriorate.

[BlackVoid]

She is on my AVOID list (together with C J Cherryh and L M Bujold). I found it unimaginative and boring, the main character is a very annoying loser type.
I pretty much agree with the 1 star reviews on Amazon.

Try one book before you buy a whole series.

If you want exciting, imaginative fantasy then try Joe Abercrombie or Brandon Sanderson.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Interesting how opinions of writers differ. I would say that Terry Brooks is a far superior writer to either Hobb or Eddings, although I would not classify him as one of the all-time greats.

We certainly do differ. The only one of Mr. Brooks's books that I've read is "The Sword of Shannara", and I can honestly say that never have I ever read a fantasy novel that's so blatant a rip-off of LOTR. If that's the standard of his writing I really have no wish to read any more of his work.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

She is on my AVOID list (together with C J Cherryh and L M Bujold). I found it unimaginative and boring, the main character is a very annoying loser type.
I pretty much agree with the 1 star reviews on Amazon.

Try one book before you buy a whole series.

If you want exciting, imaginative fantasy then try Joe Abercrombie or Brandon Sanderson.

Well, since I started this out by saying I like the Vorkosigan books and Bujold in general, and I also happen to like CJ Cherryh, that actually ends up as a recommendation. But I will certainly try one before I buy, especially since it's available from the library.

[cearbhallain]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We certainly do differ. The only one of Mr. Brooks's books that I've read is "The Sword of Shannara", and I can honestly say that never have I ever read a fantasy novel that's so blatant a rip-off of LOTR. If that's the standard of his writing I really have no wish to read any more of his work.

I agree with you. He's written books that aren't LOTR rip offs but they're so cliche ridden and bereft of imagination that it hardly matters. Robin Hobb may meander through her stories, but she has at least built an interesting world - even if it is populated by a lot of standard tropes. I just finished a short story collection that was split between the Lindholm and Hobb personas. I found the Lindholm stories to have a lot more punch than the Hobb stories. Interesting to see how one person can write with such distinctly different voices.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

We certainly do differ. The only one of Mr. Brooks's books that I've read is "The Sword of Shannara", and I can honestly say that never have I ever read a fantasy novel that's so blatant a rip-off of LOTR. If that's the standard of his writing I really have no wish to read any more of his work.

Harry, many of these epic fantasy series are unimaginative ripoffs of LOTR, including Jordan and Eddings. I don't see how being less blatant a ripoff makes them any less of a ripoff.

[DiapDealer]

Harry, many of these epic fantasy series are unimaginative ripoffs of LOTR, including Jordan and Eddings. I don't see how being less blatant a ripoff makes them any less of a ripoff.

Plus at least Brooks had the guts to admit that his very first attempt at writing a novel resulted in a blatant LOTR ripoff. He owned it and quickly moved on to his own style of writing. How many of the other rip-off artists from the early eighties can say the same? Whether you choose to like Brooks' writing style or not is, of course, completely up to you (and fair game). But holding a grudge against an author for writing one LOTR clone back in 1977 seems a bit petty. Especially in light of the 22 (or so) fairly successful, completely non-LOTR ripoffs he's written since that early first attempt. And whether we like them or not... Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson and Del Rey are a huge part of the reason that we are now able to walk into any book store and buy a fantasy book (that isn't in the children's section or on the comic book rack).

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Interesting how opinions of writers differ. I would say that Terry Brooks is a far superior writer to either Hobb or Eddings, although I would not classify him as one of the all-time greats. I think Hobb, Eddings, Jordan (Robert, that is), and Feist are all mediocre writers whose books can usually be enjoyed but often drag. Generally, I have found these authors start on a high note (first volume in a series) and then steadily deteriorate.

Hobb is my favorite author. Strong characterization is her strength IMO. She doesn't write in the traditional fantasy archetypal style which I think gets to people. Her people are not superheroes or super villains. A lot of gray. My opinion though. I understand how the style of storytelling can turn people off. Funny thing is, first time I read the Farseer in high school, I didn't really like it that much. I think I expected a "heroes win and villains lose" sort of typical fantasy back then and the final wrap-up was NOT what I expected from that kind of book.

I like Brooks and Eddings...but Brooks is hit and miss.

First trilogy and Scions of Shannara series...good...High Druid and the Jerle Shannara...huge meh.

Word and void - very cool. Genesis of Shannara - OK.

He just gets over-typical and has a few too many happy/cop out endings lately. High Druid had an ending I felt was a big cop out for example.

Eddings...man...I dunno. While I love the Belgariad (and the Mallorean, which is like the Belgariad repeated again), it's like they write the same series over and over again. The Sparhawk books are almost carbon copies by character of the the Belgariad/Mallorean, the Dreamers books were the same, etc.

Feist has his ups and downs. I LOVE the Empire Trilogy, Magician was very good, but it goes downhill in the middle. I think he's been doing better lately and he's drawing things to a close, so it's been feeling less like filler and more like stuff is actually happening. I feel like he wrote himself into a corner with too many powerful characters.

Don't start me on Jordan. I can't stand Jordan.

Originally Posted by HarryT

We certainly do differ. The only one of Mr. Brooks's books that I've read is "The Sword of Shannara", and I can honestly say that never have I ever read a fantasy novel that's so blatant a rip-off of LOTR. If that's the standard of his writing I really have no wish to read any more of his work.

Harry, yes Shannara felt too much like a LOTR ripoff. He fesses up to too much LOTR influence in the 70s. Give Elftstones of Shannara a try. He really establishes his own style from book 2 on. Elfstones/Wishsong and the following Scions 4-book series are really very good and very different in tone from Sword.

[ebusinesstutor]

I hated Hobb's Soldier Son series but I really enjoyed the Assassin and LiveShip trader series.

If I had read soldier son first, I would never have read the rest. Fortunately, I started off with the Assassin ones.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

If I had read soldier son first, I would never have read the rest. Fortunately, I started off with the Assassin ones.

I did read Soldier Son first. It was touch and go there for a while whether or not I was going to give her another chance. But then I read a short-story of hers I really liked and that convinced me to go back and give Assassin's Apprentice a try. I'm really glad I didn't give up.