Imagine a writer who is so gifted at spinning tales that when you start reading their work, you can feel yourself being pulled fully into the pages of the book. Their talent is so great that when you are forced to stop reading, you almost feel a bit of whiplash. You may wonder what sorcery dragged you so painfully from that world and back to your own with such a force that you’re left dizzy and confused. Imagine, if you will, that this same writer uses their gift to not only craft vivid, believable landscapes, but characters that are so well crafted that you develop serious feelings about them, whether you genuinely love them or hate them enough that you are inspired to real, actual anger at their actions.
Surely, this writer must be well-renowned. Surely, this person must win awards, or at the very least make the ballots in recognition for their work.
Unfortunately, Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, or Robin Hobb as she is more commonly known, doesn’t seem to get that kind of attention. And yet, she regularly published installments in her epic Realm of the Elderlings saga starting in 1995. The entire series is up to sixteen full novels, plus numerous pieces of short fiction. Her novels require genuine time investments; the shortest comes in at a mere 416 pages, while the longest is more than twice that length at a whopping 960 pages (US mass market editions). In a cover quote for the mass market edition of Fool’s Assassin (originally published in 2014), George R.R. Martin himself declared that Hobb’s work is “Fantasy as it ought to be written.” (Martin further states in the full blurb that her books are “diamonds in a sea of zircons.”)
A quick glance through Hobb’s Wikipedia page seems to confirm that, while she has received award nominations for her short fiction written under another pen name, Megan Lindholm, as far as I can tell¹ she has never been recognized on the Hugo or Nebula ballots for any of her epic fantasy.
I’m curious about this. Why haven’t more people wandered into this complicated, fascinating series? Is it too intimidating, what with the aforementioned sixteen novels? Is she just not getting the same kind of press that other writers are? Are the covers not attracting any attention? Are people just not that into epic fantasy right now? This last one is a hard pill to swallow, considering the massive popularity of Game of Thrones. (Fun fact! Hobb published the first in her saga, Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995, a full year before Martin first published A Game of Thrones! She’s also published nineteen full novels since then — sixteen in the Realm of the Elderlings Saga and the stand-alone Soldier Son trilogy.)
If you aren’t familiar with Hobb, and if you’re ready to lose many hours of your time (and potentially experience the full spectrum of emotion — I wasn’t kidding about that villain that induced actual rage in my poor, confused brain), then please allow me to offer a few reasons to consider picking up her books.
I’ve already mentioned this more than once, but it bears repeating: there are sixteen full novels already published and waiting for you, the happy reader. What does that mean for you? No waiting! You can, if your heart and soul can bear it, binge through the entire series as quickly as you wish. Yes, I said the entire series. As of this writing, the story is finished, though there is room for Hobb to return here in the future if she wishes and the publishers allow her to. This is an incredibly attractive thing for readers who may have a sour taste in their mouths over other epic fantasy series that are currently in limbo (not naming names, but there are at least three that I can think of off the top of my head).
Happily, to allow for breaks in the story (and recovery time for the poor, emotionally beaten reader), the series is divided into three trilogies and a quartet. I recommend reading them in order, beginning with the 
Farseer Trilogy:
- Assassin’s Apprentice
- Royal Assassin
- Assassin’s Quest
Followed by the Liveship Traders Trilogy:
- Ship of Magic
- Mad Ship
- Ship of Destiny
(Note that you actually can read this trilogy as a stand-alone, if you really wanted to.)
Next is the Tawny Man Trilogy:
- Fool’s Errand
- The Golden Fool
- Fool’s Fate
Then we have the Rain Wilds Chronicles:
- Dragon Keeper
- Dragon Haven
- City of Dragons
- Blood of Dragons
And finally, The Fitz and the Fool trilogy:
- Fool’s Assassin
- Fool’s Quest
- Assassin’s Fate
Are you tired of waiting for Certain Other Epic Series to have more volumes?
Again, not naming any names here, but if you’re tired of waiting for the latest installment in whatever epic series that you’ve started reading, you’ll find plenty to occupy your reading time right here waiting for you. Hobb successfully kept up with her promised publication dates and behold! A big, long, epic saga is already waiting for you at your nearest library or bookshop.
Do you like women being included as interesting, complicated characters? You’ll find plenty of badass ladies here, from the matriarchs of the Bingtown trader families (in the Liveship Traders trilogy) to nine-year-old Bee Badgerlock (introduced in the final trilogy). This doesn’t even take into account the Liveship Vivacia (yes, a ship that is alive, thus a “liveship”) or the dragon Tintaglia, both determined females in their own right who each have their own agendas outside of what the clearly inferior humans might want from them. Women even exist as side characters, and not just as nannies, cooks, or maids. In the Farseer Trilogy, the weapons master is actually a woman named Hod. She commands great respect and teaches the would-be warriors of the Farseer kingdom.
How do you feel about character-driven fiction? When I began reading Fool’s Assassin, I happily read well over half of the 704 page novel while being able to count major plot points on a single hand (four). The rest of that time, hundreds of pages, allowed the reader to spend a quiet period of time just existing with the characters. I’d read nine books about these particular characters already, and it was comforting to spend time with them again, even while I knew that Something Terrible Was Coming. Speaking of which…
Do you enjoy having your heart broken? Because Hobb’s going to do that. I’ll warn you right here and now that if you get invested in this series, you will get angry, you will become sad, and Terrible Things will happen to the characters that you have fallen in love with. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll just keep coming back for more. As I started reading the last trilogy recently, I wondered idly to myself why I keep letting Hobb hurt me like this. Other writers may have a higher kill count, but Hobb is very, very good at making you actually mourn for fictional beings.
Do you need a target for a large, mental kettle full of simmering anger and frustration over things that you have no control over?
Just me? If not, I am pleased to tell you that there are plenty of villains to utterly and completely despise here. I typically find villains to be the more fascinating characters in fiction, and Hobb’s villains are certainly interesting, but more in a horrific, “what in the hell are they going to do next, oh god, why no not that WHY” kind of way. You will feel visceral, actual anger, and I am happy to report that here, at least most of the time, the villains earn their just rewards.
If you’re looking for a long, epic, layered, COMPLETE series, you could do no better than wandering into Hobb’s world and setting up camp. You’ll laugh, cry, throw things, and then probably cry again. At least, that was my experience.
A year after leaving Seton Hill, I stumbled onto Hobb’s Liveship series in 2007, and it put me on a fantasy binge. I read the Liveship, Assassin, and the Fool series almost back-to-back. (Didn’t care for the Soldier’s Son series altho it started great.) On Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist circa 2012, I saw mention and sample pages of a French graphic novel version of the first assassin book but have yet to find it in either French or English.
I’m really fascinated by the idea of this story being told in graphic novel format! I think it would work well.
Honestly, some of your reasons for liking these books are the exact reasons I stopped reading them. I found the very first book in the library long ago and devoured it and HAD to have the rest of the series … which end up being more and more disappointing. The Tawny Man trilogy just left me so infuriated and angry I can’t even think about reading the other series. Everything about the way the Fitz/Molly relationship was handled makes me feel faintly disgusted, and the later treatment of Fitz and the Fool just screams ‘no homo!!’. If I wanted to feel this depressed and angry after reading something, i’d just read the news. The comparison to Martin seems apt, though, as his books tend to make me feel the same way. Sometimes it seems as though ‘complex’ get confused with ‘everyone is horrible to each other and everything is grey morality’.
Also her stance on fanfiction bothers me a LOT.
Fair enough. Not every book or author is for everyone. I do agree with you on the Fitz/Molly relationship, though she does attempt to rectify that in the final trilogy.
As far as fanfic, well, authors can think and feel about it however they wish, but I’m not sure there’s much they can do to stop it these days. It seems as if it’s too far out of the box to be able to be stuffed back in.
Thank you for reading, however!
Granted, I am somewhat new to the fantasy genre, but I have never even heard of Robin Hobb. She is going on my to-read list.
Welcome to the party!
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