Any recommendations for good SFF/speculative books that are written first person? My wife and I are really enjoying reading the Murderbot books aloud to each other. Part of that is the great writing and sparkling personality of the main character, but I think part of it is also the different vibe of first person writing, where the narrator is telling a story to the audience. I'd like to find more books like that.
@jendefer@bookstodon Robin Hobb's work, starting at Assassin's Apprentice (I think there's five trilogies set in that world now??). If you liked Murderbot I am pretty sure you'll like Robin Hobb.
She's currently #2 on my Top 10 Epic Fantasy list.
The only reason she's #2 is that I read Janny Wurtz' The Wars of Light and Shadow last. While reading Robin Hobb, she's my #1 and there can be no other.
I've read all 16 books in the Elderling saga 3x, now... and I just gotta say...
The ultimate climax in the final book? I can barely read it, because tears are running down my face like my dog just died.
I've read a LOT of Epic Fantasy. It's basically all I read, so when I say the following, you can trust...
Some authors come close to the combination of EPICNESS and sheer emotional catharsis that Hobb achieves in the last few chapters of her saga...
But nobody has reached those heights, yet.
You have multiple epic storylines converging, and Hobb keeps you in suspense until the last possible moment. You can sense the connections, the shape of the epic structure... but you can't KNOW.
Not until she does her thing in that conclusion.
Then it's like a light-bulb went on in your brain. The connections become obvious in retrospect, and you get chills and the hairs on your arms stand up.
Man, that's just the setup for the wicked catharsis. There's a WHOLE OTHER character-based level -- not plot, but character -- that doesn't become apparent until the very end.
And that's what breaks my heart every time. It's the ruthless combo of epic storytelling and unreliable narration, all being neatly resolved in a couple chapters.
Since you love Hobb... if you aren't familiar with Janny Wurtz, I highly recommend TWOLAS. She's my other #1 heheh.
TWOLAS is technically finished, in that Wurtz has written the last book. But it's not coming out until next month, I think. It's the only unfinished series on my Top 10.
I've been waiting for it for several years... but not as many years as Martin or Rothfuss!
@notroot@RubyJones@jendefer@bookstodon Yes, Robin Hobb is just incomparable as a master of prose. She can rip your heart right out of your chest- the last book…wow. 16 books sounds like a lot, but each trilogy is different yet builds out the world and clicks more puzzle pieces together. And it goes without saying…Nighteyes is probably my all time favorite animal companion from any book I have read.
"...the apocalyptic adventures of a space archaeologist and her robot mirror, piecing together the shattered clues of an undead civilisation to try and prevent an invasion of maddened machine ghosts."