Where do I start?

[Walker]

Hey guys,

I think I am going to start reading Robin Hobb, thing is I have no clue which book I start with. My dad has read them all and raves about them, and what entices me is that there are so many and it wont end for a good while hehe.

Can anyone list me the books in order? or even just tell me the very first book I start with as im anxious to order it from amazon!

Thanks!

[Ella]

You'll have a wonderful experience reading these, I finished them all in June in the following trilogy order:

The Farseer trilogy
The Liveship trilogy
The Tawny Man trilogy

You can read the first and third trilogies on their own but the experience is more worthwhile if you do them in the above order as there's a connection between the Liveships and Tawny man. These books have given me more tears than any others I have read, they are quite simply superb.

The next trilogy is the Soldier Son series, which generally, imho, are not as good.

Then this year it was Dragon Keeper and I can't wait for Dragon Haven out in March.

Happy reading, you won't be able to put these down!!!

[jordy_3491]

Yeah, I highly recommend reading the Liveship Trader series before the Tawny Man series. I skipped the Liveship Traders the first time and finally went back to read it and some things made more sense.

[Grimward]

Yeah, definitely don't pick up Tawny Man first like I did.

[Overread]

Follow Ella's advice - the order there is the best to read them in for certain - start with Assassin's Apprentice (first book of the Fareer Trillogy) and go from there.

The Soldier Son series is not conncted with the worldset of the others and is not a bad series by any means, but when measured up against her others it falls short (which is more to say how good her other works are!).

She has also written under the name of Megan Lindholm - though her style of writing for these books is very different to Robin Hobbs style (which is why she changed her penname - a totally different style - a different name).

[Alexa]

And be sure that you order them in English. In French they are 4x more expensive.

[ser4]

i was wondering it her latest novels i mean the one after the Fareseer trilogy feature Fitz or does Hobb change protagonists

[Overread]

The Farseer trilogy - features Fitz
The Liveship trilogy - a whole new line of characters and 3rd person narrator (I think) writing style - so quite a change. However its the same world (different countries though) and there are appearances by characters from teh first as well as events that affect the first series characters
The Tawny Man trilogy - back to Fitz and the Fool and all the rest

[ser4]

what about the dragon...thingy i think it is her last 2 books?

[Overread]

I have to admit I have yet to properly read through those two - its heading back to the Liveship Traders area of the worldset and as far as I know only involves some of the characters from that series whilst introducing new ones as well.

[El Dirko]

Originally Posted by Overread

The Farseer trilogy - features Fitz
The Liveship trilogy - a whole new line of characters and 3rd person narrator (I think) writing style - so quite a change. However its the same world (different countries though) and there are appearances by characters from teh first as well as events that affect the first series characters
The Tawny Man trilogy - back to Fitz and the Fool and all the rest

And that is definitely the order in which these books should be read. It was such a pleasure to revisit the old protagonists after learning about a different part of the same world.

Best wishes,
Dirk

[Triffids]

Originally Posted by jordy_3491

Yeah, I highly recommend reading the Liveship Trader series before the Tawny Man series. I skipped the Liveship Traders the first time and finally went back to read it and some things made more sense.

I made the same mistake as yourself. I have the Liveship and Soldier Son books on my shelf waiting to read. Still deciding what to start on next after 'Game of Thrones'.

[digs]

I actually read The Liveship Traders before the others and I still found it fantastic. But yes, you will definitely get more enjoyment out of reading them in the suggest order - and little things will make way more sense.

[Vertigo]

I'm just about to start into these myself - never read any of hers before but picked them up on recommendation and just now about to start on them.

The order specified above certainly matches the publication order.

Just as an aside I use fantasticfiction co uk (sorry haven't made enough posts yet to do a proper link - hope doing it like that isn't considered an abuse) a lot for checking series, reading order etc. I find they are pretty good and often have an interesting bit showing author's recommendations of other books which I use a lot to get into new authors.

[Vertigo]

Well read the first one now - Assassins Apprentice - and whilst I enjoyed it I can appreciate some the criticisms that I have seen around.

I have been getting pretty dissappointed of late by many of the fantasy books I have read - there is an awful lot of same old same old out there (since joining here recently I have picked up some new authors to try out so hopefully you folk may be alleviating my jaded view).

Bearing in mind it is her first book (at least under this name) I certainly enjoyed it enough to go and try the others.