How highly do you rate Hobb?

Rahl Windsong said:
Even my dog skulked around with her tail between her legs the day I finished Fool's Errand cause she obviously felt my saddness.

Rahl
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I tried reading Assassin's Apprentice but the dog scenes are just not what I want in a book, I guess I probably won't read anymore of her books unless I am blowing things out of proportion. What does RH have against dogs anyway? Just because she off's them in some way or another does not really appeal to me. Does she do it often in her books?
 
I am trying to read Ship of Magic and finding it so ... dull.

Chapter 3 was 29 pages about:

- thinking about her husband's poor health
- a short meeting with a business partner

Most of which should have been short, but instead was heavily padded with:

- a full background story on a slave who makes a brief appearance
- the history of Bing!Town

This is so ploddy I've lost the will to read any more.

I don't expect action, but I also don't expect a 10,000 word scene that is 80% empty padding.

Sorry to be negative. :)
 
I just finished Ship of Destiny, and the Liveship Traders has become one of my favorite trilogies.

I also thought Ship of Magic was a bit slow. I gave it 3 stars, where I think the next two books are 4 1/2 or 5 stars. There is a lot more action in them, and a lot more going on. When I finished Ship of Magic, it took me 3 years to pick up Mad Ship, but I am so glad I did. :)
 
I said:
I am trying to read Ship of Magic and finding it so ... dull.

Chapter 3 was 29 pages about:

- thinking about her husband's poor health
- a short meeting with a business partner

Most of which should have been short, but instead was heavily padded with:

- a full background story on a slave who makes a brief appearance
- the history of Bing!Town

This is so ploddy I've lost the will to read any more.

I don't expect action, but I also don't expect a 10,000 word scene that is 80% empty padding.

Sorry to be negative. :)
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I found Ship of Magic to start really slowly, and only just managed to forge through the first third or so. After that I was engrossed, and as Lady of Winterfell says, the second and third books are exceptional.
 
I have only read "Fool's Errand", the first volume in the Tawny Man trilogy. It seemed rather long, and reading the first part, in which not a lot happens, was rather a struggle. However once the action starts, about half way through, it was hard to put down. Even if I wasn't told that Robin Hobb was a woman, it would be easy to guess that from the outset, as all the main male characters are more sensitive than macho.
On the basis of this sample, I might read another of Hobb's books, but for the present I'll carry on reading other authors.
 
Don't you feel like it'd be a nightmare being the main character in one of her books though? I mean, I know the protagonist always tends to have a rough time of things, or it'd be a pretty dull protagonist, but her's seem to just have crap heaped upon them constantly at times!
I'm part way through the Tawny Man series now, and I've read the Farseer and the Soldier Son Trilogy.
I felt especially sorry for Nevare in the Soldier Son books, (very vague possible minor spoiler ahead :p ) he didn't even seem to get that much of a happy ending if I'm remembering correctly?
I have really enjoyed her books so far though :)
 
Robin Hobb is one of my favourite authors of all time, I've loved all of her books and reread most of them, though I do find most of her trilogies/series' do start off very slowly. I mean, most books have to have a slow-ish start to get you used to the characters and environment, but Hobb seems to tread particularly slowly.

If I had to choose one favourite series, it would either be the Liveship Traders, or the Rain Wild Chronicles.

The one series I didn't enjoy so much was the Soldier Son trilogy. Though there were some good bits in it, I found myself (from about halfway through the second book I think) getting bored of it being the same thing over and over and over. I think those books could have been shortened considerably to be made more readable (and I'm a reader who tends to like the over-extended bits that give you a peep into peoples normal lives, even if it does slow the story down)

I do wish Hobb would write another series with the Fool in it, maybe before it came to the six duchies, because the Fool is my favourite character of all time =)
 
The Farseer Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy turned out to be
pertty entertaining, despite Fitz being somewhat annoying. I have to say,
he seemed more capable as an assassin when he was a little boy.

But I like How Hobb saw no need to prolong her series beyond the value of the story itself.
So many of the fantasy authors I read these days have a problem ending things when they should be ended.
 
I enjoyed the Farseer books, but more in spite of Fitz than because of him, though. I really enjoyed the Liveship Traders trilogy, it's my favorite among Hobb's work. The Tawny Man trilogy was okay, I was happy to see a conclusion to Fitz's story, but I never liked the Fool much, and he only became more annoying as time went on. I've only read the first two books in the Soldier Son trilogy. I enjoyed the first two books in the Rain Wilds Chronicles, but have yet to finish the third and fourth...
 
Thus far I've read only the Farseer trilogy and the Liveship Traders trilogy. In my opinion every one of those books has been masterful. She puts on a novel writing clinic with each of them. I'll start Tawny Man soon.
 
I've read nine Robin Hobbs. I like Janny Wurts and Ursla leGuin better. Sort of David Eddings & Anne McCaffery level of liking for me, though not at all the same sort of stuff. I read one George RR Martin Novel (the 1st Game of Thrones ages before the TV) and one Collection and I'd never read any more. IMO Robin Hobbs far far better.

I find "The Soldier Son" trilogy is more than a little odd. I preferred the other series, but it's OK.

Quite separately I had very strange sense of Deja vu reading last volume just last Autumn. Perhaps I'd read it on loan from someone back in 2007 without reading the earlier ones.

at times the pacing can be so slow
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Racy compared to Jordan's "Wheel of Time". It would be much better as 6 books. I have all the original 11 as wheel as the posthumous 12 & 13, but I gave up half way through 12.
Robin Hobbs FAR better than Jordan was, IMO.
 
I think the Liveship books are my favourites, the characterisation (particularly Kennet) is superb.
 
I really like Hobb's work and since I'm in the middle of re-reading the Fitz books I now appreciate it even more. I have started to read with writing in mind and hers impresses me a lot.

I will agree that the characterization in the Liveship books is great. Hobb does a nice job moving from first person in her other ones to this. It's funny because I did spot some issues in the first Farseer books. Then she wrote the liveship in 3rd and pulled it off very well. Now that I'm reading the Tawny man again, I can see a vast improvement in her writing in first. So she is an author who grows as she writes for sure.

I hope to revisit the Liveship someday. The first time I read Fool's Errand, I hadn't read the Liveship and it was cool to put some pieces of the puzzle together...the beach with trinkets and the feathers. Cool stuff.
 
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