Shaman's Crossing

[the_faery_queen]

for me, it's not the lack of action that's a problem, i actually like slow starting books. it's the hero. he's so atrociously dull. he talks dull, he thinks dull, he's so boring! i listened to hobb giving a reading and THAT was dull. ok she was probably bored of reading the same first chapter over and over, but i was desperate for it to end so i could get my book signed and escape. i've never been more bored reading a book. granted i usually stop if the first few pages don't grip me, but i read 100 of this. i dunno, but it's the style, it's the character that's not gripping me, and as a character reader, that's a BIG problem. if i don't like the hero, or at least not hate him, i can't read it. i mean, i never liked fitz that much, but i didn't hate him. he was just ok, the other characters were more interesting to me, so i stuck with it. and at least he was readable. but this dude was SO boring to me. i didn't hate him, but i certainly had too many negative feelings to stick with it and i couldn't stand to read what he thought. he thinks too slowly, talks too slowly, everything is too slow. build up is one thing, but when the character is slow and dull it's hard to cope with.

to me he was like that boring teacher in ferris buler's day off (either that or it was the wonder years) the one with the monotonous voice. that's how i felt about him.

[the_faery_queen]

and i hav to say, i think it's kinda daft of hobb to make a character like this. i mean, her liveship characters THEY could go either way. i hated them all (except paragon) but i know poele who loved malta and althea and so on (after a while) and even though i thought they were whiney and self invovled, i could read her book because the style was interesting. but now she has a character that, to me, is really dull, and as we're in his head, we're kinda stuck with him. i dunno, but i don't think it's that wise to have a hero that people could love or hate, when it's first person, because if you hate him, you don't read it. im not reading it any further and i know a fair few fans who have also quit. i think its a mistake to make a main character that we're stuck with so wooden and so unlikeable. i mean, i've heard people say they like this book, they like the difference in what's going on, that they like the female character (cousin i think) and so on, but no one seems to like the main dude! and i just think about how many fans she could have kept with the same plot if only the hero had been a little more inspired.

that's just me

[A1ien]

I loved this book. Couldn't stop reading it. I loved the interplay between the two cultures. However I must admit, I am not a character reader for the most part, I love the culture details and back history and how that affects their decisions. I think the best thing about Robin Hobbs characters is that they are never two dimensional, even the characters with a smaller part. You can always tell there's an interesting back story there. None of her characters are wholly good or wholly evil, even the Treewoman.

[nixie]

I think I've mentioned it before but I found Shaman's Crossing very enjoyable.Nevare is a product of the society he was raised in.Yes he's a bit off a stuffed shirt but as the book went on he did start to question his beliefs.I do have high hopes for Forest Mage.

[Allanon]

i just finished it, really good!

[ScottSF]

I recenty Finnished Shaman's Crossing. The very first chapter or maybe it was a prologue had me right away. It was nice to have that hook because the first few chapters felt a bit like work but knowing Hobb I was happy to keep reading. For me the story really took off at the Academy. I think I was actually more interested the Academy and struggle between old and new nobles than I was with any of the magic stuff. I also liked the tension between Navare and his cousin Epiny. I like the way Hobb built Navare's assumptions about women upon the culture he grew up in. It so easy to make the villians the ones with backward ideas but to show the protagonist as sexist and closed minded on some things made room for lots of growth. It was a nice read. I think I'll wait for the next one to come out on paperback since my to read list is getting out of control.

[devilsgrin]

i loved Epiny, she was so normal from our perspective (but still wierdish) yet so bizarre for her own culture.
the culture annoyed me alot, but i actually liked Nevarre... indeed more than Fitz... can't say why... but i just did...
its odd for me to like a character for their reliability, but that may indeed be why i like Nevarre. He's reliable and fair.

[ScottSF]

Yeah, I can relate to the fact that he just wants to be an honorable guy and make his family proud. He's going through that difficult period of learing that there is a lot more grey area to life than he grew up thinking.

[wolvepaw]

Am currently reading this book as i post and after reading all the other posts i do hope it reads better then it is now

I'm up too the part where Nevare returns from Dewara and whilst it has been okay reading im yet to be convinced that Hobb has written another classic!

[Lenny]

I read the book in September I think, and I loved it!

It's so much different from the Farseer Trilogy (that's the only other Hobb I've read... don't hurt me! I'm trying to get Liveship and Tawny Man from the library... honest!) and, although it does take 300 pages to get started proper, it's a great read. Nevare is a great character - similar to Fitz, yet at the same time, a whole world apart.

I got Forest Mage from the library a day or two after it came out, and although it wasn't as good as SC, I loved that also. I just hate how it leaves us on such a cliffhanger - at least SC could pass as a stand-alone book.

I can't wait for #3. Anyone know the title, or a predicted release date?

EDIT: Keep reading, wolvepaw. It does become better.

[Kitera]

Hmmm speaking of which, I just happen to grab a copy of Shaman's crossing today. Is it as good as the Fitz/Fool series? I won't be disappointed would I?

[digs]

I'm about 120 pages into Shaman's Crossing and I'm really enjoying it. I'm really enjoying the interaction between the Gernians, the plainsmen tribes and the Specks. I quite like Nevare too - definitely a product of his society, but I quite like his sense of honour and that certain naive stupidity about him (which Fitz seemed to possess as well). I think it makes for quite an endearing protagonist and sets up future conflict with foreign ideas and cultures really well.

My advice is - if possible - to not think about Hobb's other books at all while reading this. It's completely different to Fitz's world, and comparing the two will only make this one less enjoyable.

[Talysia]

After Hobbs' other books, I couldn't quite get into reading Shaman's Crossing. I might try it later, though.

[Hilarious Joke]

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Shaman's Crossing', although I'll admit it took me a while to get into as well: I think, after getting to know the six duchies and surroundings so well across nine books its hard to put the same type of writing and some of the same ideas in a whole new setting, but it's worth it. I think everyone should give it a go, I think its a great book in itself - while 'Forest Mage', while moving and quite amazingly written, sets up a brilliant trilogy (which is often the case with second books in series I suppose).

[sassy1]

I just finished Shaman's crossing and I think it was absolutely awesome... I mean, it did start a little bit slow, and it didn't seem to have a real 'storyline' per se, but I enjoyed reading about the other culture

and about Nevare seeming a bit dull, maybe he's supposed to be like that, seeing as he's only half himself, if you get me

Through the book, I could see opinions from all sides, I understood the plainsmen being sore about losing ther lands (obviously) and not wanting to be made 'civilised' by the others. I could also understand behind the tree-lady and the specks not wanting the land to be destroyed (i try to help protect the environment). But then, I can see why the King wants to expand... it was hard to choose sides and really want any one race to win, though I think at the end the specks just went too far and needed to be stopped.

I couldnt believe the ending... happy and sad all at the same time, but it has left me hungering for more, and as soon as I finish The Druid Of Shannara, I will be reading the next one (Soldier Son, right?)

Anyways, to those who gave up on the book, keep going, it really does get better