Robin Hobbs Opinions?

[CRussel]

Amazon keeps recommending books by Robin Hobbs for me, but I'm having a hard time deciding which, if any, I might possibly enjoy. I tried one a couple of years ago (from the public library), and it was so memorable that I never got past the first couple of chapters and I can't even remember its name. So before I plunk down actual money for another, I'd really appreciate some recommendations on which series to start with.

To set context, I enjoy some fantasy, including McCaffrey's Pern, Vonda McIntyre's Dreamsnake, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover, and even Kriten Britain's Green Rider series (though it was a stretch.) I'm much more generally a science fiction reader, everything from Lee and Miller's Liaden Universe to Weber's Honorverse to Flint's 1632 to classic Heinlein to Bujold's Vorkosigan. I can tolerate some military SF, but get quickly bored or annoyed if the political crap gets too right wing and persistent.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,

[CRussel]

Oh, and to be clear - I really have no interest in vampires or other such things that seem to be so prevalent these days.

[volwrath]

Personally I loved most all of her books. Definitely the series that got me hooked was the Farseer Trilogy. She has had some of the most memorable characters out there. But If you want to give her a shot, start at Assassin's Apprentice.

[ATDrake]

I've never read her works, either under this penname or as Megan Lindholm.

But if you're looking to try an e-version on the cheap, HarperCollins has discounted Shaman's Crossing, 1st in her "Second Son" epic fantasy/coming-of-age-looking trilogy to only $1.99 until early January (along with a bunch of other sf/fantasy 1st in series works by other authors which they say will be mostly good until the beginning of February). The deals are available to Canadians.

At the very least, if you get this book and end up deciding her writing style is simply Not For You despite what the Amazon reccos say (they give me really screwy stuff which I've previously tried and know I don't like, sometimes) you won't be out much money finding that out.

And hopefully good sales will happen to encourage HC to put early series titles down to a good price to counterbalance the $8+ they want for all the rest. So, win-win!

[rhadin]

I've read all her books. They are OK. They are not exceptional but they are a good read.

[DiapDealer]

HarperCollins has discounted Shaman's Crossing, 1st in her "Second Son" epic fantasy/coming-of-age-looking trilogy to only $1.99 until early January (along with a bunch of other sf/fantasy 1st in series works by other authors which they say will be mostly good until the beginning of February).

Unfortunately, her Soldier Son trilogy is at the very, very bottom of my personal Hobbs favorites list.

If you're bound and determined to read Hobbs... by all means, start with the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice). You'll probably either love it or, hate it. And if you do happen to hate it... there's really no point in reading any of her other works.

[frostschutz]

I've read the 6 Farseer books (I skipped the dragon boat books), and liked them.

Although the title is about assassins, the main character is not a born killer; and the story/plot is slow at times in general. But still, I enjoyed the books a great deal; it's solid fantasy that doesn't rely on elves/dwarves and provides a lot of detail about the world it's set in.

[CRussel]

Thanks for the opinions. Exactly what I was looking for. I think I'll try Assassin's Apprentice, but I'll download it from the public library rather than spend good money on it when it appears to be an iffy possibility. They have 14(!) copies in the BC Library site, though they are all out right now. Singapore has only one. But for the BC Library, I'd have to take something off of hold.

[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.

[CRussel]

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.

Right. A good candidate for a library read, then. I've got it on hold, so it can wait until I get a chance at it. Meanwhile, I discovered most of the MZB Darkover are now in the library, so that should get my TBR up there for the start of the challenge. I haven't read most of them in at least 20 years, so it will be interesting to see if they still work for me, or if I am no longer interested.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Meanwhile, I discovered most of the MZB Darkover are now in the library, so that should get my TBR up there for the start of the challenge.

My ghod, are they? /goes to check.

Oh, you meant in Singapore. But at least DAW/Penguin are finally putting some more of the older ones in digital, and in the omnibus editions, which makes the $8-9 they're asking for them seem somewhat more reasonable than setting that price for solo novels.

Although they did pair together for that amount Darkover Landfall and Two to Conquer, which are respectively one of the shortest and one of the stupidest books in the series.

Originally Posted by CRussel

I haven't read most of them in at least 20 years, so it will be interesting to see if they still work for me, or if I am no longer interested.

Be warned that most of the available Darkover e-books are the new posthumously written ones done "from her notes" by other authors and some are simply glorified fanfic (which ignore character and setting history and the established timeline, just like real fanfic, whee!).

They, too, are good candidates for a library read.

[CRussel]

Looks like the MZB Trust folks are working to get her stuff back in print, and in eBook format. So there are a few starting to show up of the original ones, and then the newer "fanfic" ones that I just grabbed from the Singapore library. Though that may be a bit harsh of a description, since even though she was quite ill for many of her last years, MZB did have editorial input into even those later day Darkover books.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Though that may be a bit harsh of a description, since even though she was quite ill for many of her last years, MZB did have editorial input into even those later day Darkover books.

The "glorified fanfic"* ones I'm talking about are the ones written and released many years after her death, which include the latest "Hastur Lord" which came out last year or so, a good decade after her decease.

Whatever initial editorial input MZB may have had in planning even those before she died, it's thoroughly gotten lost in the mess of contradictions that appear in the finished volumes unless she was planning to do a universe-wide reboot of the series.

And I say this as someone who's read all and mildly liked parts of them.

* Though frankly, the Mercedes Lackey and Adrienne Martine-Barnes co-writes weren't all that great in the continuity department, either.

[CRussel]

Fair enough. Though even some of hers had some continuity issues over the years. And yes, I've managed to read pretty much all of her Darkover books at one point or another.

All of which has little to do with where this topic started , but that's OK. I'm even more glad I asked the question in the first place!

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by CRussel

All of which has little to do with where this topic started , but that's OK. I'm even more glad I asked the question in the first place!

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.

Spoiler:

The "Clingfire Trilogy" by Deborah J. Ross is probably the most fun to read. It's set in the Ages of Chaos and tells the tale of Varzil the Good, and it kind of mangles what we know about the Ages of Chaos and Varzil the Good, but that really wasn't all that much to begin with, so it doesn't work out too badly.

So it's a reasonably entertaining read with some nifty bits, as long as you go into it like you were diving into an interesting looking Darkover AU you happened to find over at The Pit of Voles* and not expecting a serious filling-in of the gaps.

The first book or two are actually a bit boring and draggy, but the 3rd one makes up for that with some slightly more interesting background characters getting a bigger part in some better plots.

Whether or not you'll like "The Alton Gift" and "Hastur Lord", also by Ross, kind of depends on whether or not you liked the new status quo set at the end of the Adrienne Martine-Barnes books about Lew Alton's daughter Marguerida.

Those completely turned over a lot of what had been previously established about Darkover itself, and some of the characters were acting in uncharacteristic ways, which is something which tends to continue in these sequels which go a generation further.

I found them more annoying because they took the much more established characters and interactions in a way that IMHO wasn't particularly congruent with what had been long since established about the setting and personalities, and so they were more irritating because there was more of the backstory to mangle than there was in the Clingfire books.

But your mileage may vary if you happen to like the retro-continuity inserts and "everything you know is different/nothing will ever be the same" All-New All-Different Darkover sort of sweeping changes.

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.