do I need to read liveship traders

[HiddenTiger]

Thanks for the quick reply and welcome. Amber what a surprise that is to me!
Now I'm really going to have to re-read that series, although I think I remember Amber's earring which was Burrichs', Chivalry’s' then Fitz's Am I right? - I always thought the Fool a male and Amber a female though....

[nixie]

Don't worry too much about it, I didn't make the connection till I started the Tawny Man series.As for the fool I don't think he/she really has gender but can project whatever gender he/she wants to be at the time

[Adasunshine]

I did catch onto it rather quickly but I read the books in very quick succession and in record time (for me anyway) so all the events and little titbits from the Farseer trilogy were still very fresh in my mind when I started Liveships!

I have seen on other forums that people didn't catch onto it until Tawny Man though so neither of you are alone, I think maybe I'm the one that's alone in these stakes, I do tend to be good at working things out though - I get hunches more than anything else and I tend to follow those hunches...

BTW HiddenTiger - I LOVE your avatar! Am a big Tiger fan myself!

xx

[the_faery_queen]

i read liveships after tawny man, so i already knew in fact i ONLY read them because of amber/fool and even that didn't make me like them

[HiddenTiger]

I enjoyed the liveship series, however, some of the characters were quite insufferable to me, A lot of them needed a good kick up the butt. I guess that is what made it so realistic.

[Teir]

Originally Posted by the_faery_queen

i in fact i ONLY read them because of amber/fool

hehee, yeah, i did a bit of that

[the_faery_queen]

well the fool is the bst i liked paragon as well, when i read liveships, but i don't think i would have gotten anywhere in the book (to have met him) if it wans't for wanting to read about amber.

not sure they were realistic, hidden tiger. ok everyone can be selfish and annoying in their own way, that's just people for you. but to have so many really annoying people in one place at the same time? if people were like that that often, i wouldn't talk to anyone!

i only like paragon and amber, and he was a ship and he/she was well, special

[ScottSF]

I most people give the same advice. You don't need to read liveships but it makes tawnyman more fun and you have a deeper understanding of some of the passages. I would say read Liveships because I feel it is her best work. I really enjoyed the farseer books and I'm glad, because if I hadn't I might have never read liveships. At first it felt a bit of a pain because I was already familiar with the farseers and had to get to know new people. Also, unlike farseers which follows a single narative, Liveships jumps from character to character. However, when I was less than halfway through Ship of Magic I was HOOKED. Out of all the trilogies, Tawnyman was my least favortite but I liked it plenty. Just the way things ended up seemed to convenient and tidy. I was ready to say goodbye to the farseers but I really wish she would write more on the LiveShip Traders someday.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by the_faery_queen

i read liveships after tawny man, so i already knew in fact i ONLY read them because of amber/fool and even that didn't make me like them

I'm with you on this one Faery Queen....

[the_faery_queen]

it seemed like a good reason

[Teir]

Originally Posted by ScottSF

I was ready to say goodbye to the farseers but I really wish she would write more on the LiveShip Traders someday.

*GASP!*



LOL, fair enough, to each their own *nod*

[the_faery_queen]

personally im ready for something new entirely. i didn't like the liveship characters so i can't care less if the dragon gets mad and eats them alll! the end of tawny man annoyed me, and pretty much told me what their lieves will be like, and i like thefool to have his mystery. so i hope it all stays dead

unfortunatly, i don't really like her shaman's crossing stuff at all. so i have a good few years until even the prospect of her writing something new.

[manephelien]

I really liked the Liveship Trader books. Almost more than I liked the Tawny Man and the Farseer trilogies.

[KiwiBird]

Found it

[papercut]

Well, it's certainly interesting to hear some different opinions on this. I myself was never interested in reading the Liveship books for the simple fact that live ships never interested me. In fact, after inhaling the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies, I was very disappointed to learn that I would have nothing else to read from Robin Hobb.

I loved the plots of the Farseers and Tawny Man trilogies, but most of all, I loved her characterizations. I think that's Hobb's strong suit. I've never seen fantasy characters approached with such depth and realism. Fitz was fleshed out, hangups and all. Hobb took such time to understand her character that he seemed real, even more so in Tawny Man, where action took a backseat to character interaction- I understand if not everybody liked that as much as me.

That said, I understood that trilogy perfectly without Liveships, so unless you want to read more on the Fool, I think you're fine without. I was hoping for a different ending myself, but Hobb pulled off that ending beautifully, so I can't complain. As for useless characters, I couldn't see that there were any in the two Farseer trilogies, especially as characterization was so important. I always considered Starling a mirror to Fitz's loneliness and isolation. That was her purpose, to highlight that for the reader.