gunther , to bookstodon group
@gunther@fosstodon.org avatar

Reading through the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb, and it's really, really good. Better than her Farseer trilogy in my opinion. I'd love to see a television adaptation of it one day, I think it'd be ripe for one.

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MichaelWhelan , to random
@MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art avatar

ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE (1995)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 28" X 20"

Painted almost 3 decades ago, the cover for the first book of the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb remains a personal favorite. 1/3

Framed by an arched buttress and castle wall, a boy kneels next to a white bearded man who rests a hand upon his head. Saturated blue with the background, a castle keep rises with mountain peaks visible farther in the distance. The boy wraps his arms around a dog. The man wears white robes and holds a candlestick. The wax is melted nearly down to its base. A book lies fanned on the ground, and a ferret emerges from the tent of its pages. On the left, obscured from their view by the castle wall, a hand emerges with a finger raised (perhaps in caution or rebuke). The fabric on the exposed arm is a motley checkered pattern.
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    • projektmyra , to bookstodon group German
    @projektmyra@rollenspiel.social avatar

    Beim Gehen, Kochen und wenn ich meine Hände anderweitig brauche, höre ich . Zuletzt beendet: Robin Hobb "Royal Assassin" (Farseer Trilogy #2). gehört, wie Bujold, zu den Autorinnen die höfische Intrige können weil sie Gefühle verstehen. @buchstodon @bookstodon

    jendefer , to bookstodon group
    @jendefer@dice.camp avatar

    @bookstodon

    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.

    notroot ,

    @RubyJones @jendefer @bookstodon Ohhhhh you beat me to it!!!!

    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.

    Breaks my heart every time. Every time.

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