Shaman's Crossing

[Kitera]

Hmmm speaking of which, I just happen to grab a copy of Shaman's crossing today. Is it as good as the Fitz/Fool series? I won't be disappointed would I?

 

[digs]

I'm about 120 pages into Shaman's Crossing and I'm really enjoying it. I'm really enjoying the interaction between the Gernians, the plainsmen tribes and the Specks. I quite like Nevare too - definitely a product of his society, but I quite like his sense of honour and that certain naive stupidity about him (which Fitz seemed to possess as well). I think it makes for quite an endearing protagonist and sets up future conflict with foreign ideas and cultures really well.

My advice is - if possible - to not think about Hobb's other books at all while reading this. It's completely different to Fitz's world, and comparing the two will only make this one less enjoyable.

 

[Talysia]

After Hobbs' other books, I couldn't quite get into reading Shaman's Crossing. I might try it later, though.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Shaman's Crossing', although I'll admit it took me a while to get into as well: I think, after getting to know the six duchies and surroundings so well across nine books its hard to put the same type of writing and some of the same ideas in a whole new setting, but it's worth it. I think everyone should give it a go, I think its a great book in itself - while 'Forest Mage', while moving and quite amazingly written, sets up a brilliant trilogy (which is often the case with second books in series I suppose).

 

[sassy1]

I just finished Shaman's crossing and I think it was absolutely awesome... I mean, it did start a little bit slow, and it didn't seem to have a real 'storyline' per se, but I enjoyed reading about the other culture

and about Nevare seeming a bit dull, maybe he's supposed to be like that, seeing as he's only half himself, if you get me

Through the book, I could see opinions from all sides, I understood the plainsmen being sore about losing ther lands (obviously) and not wanting to be made 'civilised' by the others. I could also understand behind the tree-lady and the specks not wanting the land to be destroyed (i try to help protect the environment). But then, I can see why the King wants to expand... it was hard to choose sides and really want any one race to win, though I think at the end the specks just went too far and needed to be stopped.

I couldnt believe the ending... happy and sad all at the same time, but it has left me hungering for more, and as soon as I finish The Druid Of Shannara, I will be reading the next one (Soldier Son, right?)

Anyways, to those who gave up on the book, keep going, it really does get better

 

[Lenny]

The next one, Renegade something or other, is planned to be released some time this Autumn, I think.

 

[murphy]

I read July or August. Wish she'd update her website.

 

[Lenny]

My fault - haven't checked dates for a while, and last time I did, it was predicted as Autumn.

Wikipedia now reliably informs me that the publishing date (in the UK, at least) is 2nd July 2007.

 

[sassy1]

oooo only 2 months away i better get reading Forest Mage

 

[Fahim]

I haven't read any Hobb before (yeah, yeah, I know - how could I ever do that? ) and wasn't sure that I wanted to start on "Shaman's Crossing" because the book was big and these days, I read slowly. My favourite author is Terry Pratchett and I don't seem to be able to finish even his books in less than six to nine months

I must say that I found "Shaman's Crossing" engrossing from the very beginning. OK, to be honest, I did find it tough going for the first few pages but by the end of the first chapter, I was hooked and I've been reading steadily since then and have already read more than I normally read of a Pratchett novel. So I do think that Hobb is doing something right

I enjoy the story and don't really think that Nevare is boring. He's just a product of his culture and Hobb does a brilliant job of showing the prejudices and biases of Nevare's cutlure through his own eyes. Most of the time, he doesn't think there's anything wrong with the opinions that his father or his peers express and yet, you keep hoping that he'll learn to question these things as he grows up. I'm still at the stage where he's only 18 or so and so I'm waiting to see what happens when he matures a bit.

I'm also interested to see how Hobb seems to have (conciously or unconciously) modeled most of her world around the American west from the 1800s. The plainsmen are American Indians and the Kidona are probably Apache. The Gernians have the same kind of opinions about the plainsmen that most Americans had about the American Indians - either that they are "noble savages" or that they needed "civilizing". I find a lot of parallels in the story and that keeps me intersted

 

[Lenny]

If you enjoyed Shaman's Crossing so much, then the next thing to do would be read Forest Mage, obviously, and the third one, Renegade Magician, when it comes out.

But also, if you can, read her other three Trilogies - Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man. They're generally thought of as much better than her new trilogy, and you should love them.

Enjoy!

 

[Fahim]

As I mentioned (albeit briefly ) I'm still in the middle of "Shaman's Crossing" I'm still at the cavalla academy stage of the book and while I still find it interesting, I'm also beginning to see what others have been talking about ...

I find the book and the story interesting but the characters are beginning to weary me on one hand while I'm totally appreciative of Robin Hobb's writing on the other hand I can understand her reasoning for making Nevare (and most of the other characters) what they are. They are not heroic. They are not idealistic. And they certainly don't seem to have too high a moral code despite the almost puritanical world they seem to live in. But I guess that's the way normal peopel are. Unfortunately, it makes for wearying reading as a pure reader because there is no joy - just disappointment and disgust at how easily all of them give in or want to conform.

I've read a bit about "Forest Mage" on the forums here and that book seems to be even more of a disappointment (from the perspective of looking for a heroic figure) than "Shaman's Crossing" is turning out to be. Of course, it does look as if the earlier books might be the way to go - especially if they are written even better than "Shaman's Crossing". Guess I'll have to get to them once I finish this one and see

 

[Lenny]

As I mentioned (albeit briefly ) I'm still in the middle of "Shaman's Crossing" I'm still at the cavalla academy stage of the book

Haha. Sorry. I tend to skim through most posts and miss some of the facts.

It can be a bit slow in the middle, but it really does pick up again. Forest Mage gets a bit slow too (well, some people might call the whole thing slow), but it's still a good read.

 

[The Fool]

***Spoiler***
I thought that the best part was when he was at the Academy. It got boring up untill he started working at the graveyard and talking to specks, that was cool. The whole magic thing at the end was pretty nifty as well.

 

[sassy1]

As I mentioned (albeit briefly ) I'm still in the middle of "Shaman's Crossing" I'm still at the cavalla academy stage of the book and while I still find it interesting, I'm also beginning to see what others have been talking about ...

I think when I've read a bad review about a book, I can't help but notice some of the points people are making about the book, and it can spoil a good book for me.

For example, I was partway through the Earth's Children series by Jean M Auel, and a review on amazon.co.uk was ranting about how the main character, Ayla, is too 'perfect', and all through the next few books I couldnt help but notice that she is almost perfect in every way, which made the books seem more unbelievable then they had before, when I hadnt really noticed. It spoiled the books for me.

That's why I try not to read many reviews about books before i read them, as I like to judge books for myself, with what i have made of the book before i discuss it too much. I read reviews briefly, to get the gist of whether a book is very popular, or if a lot of people have said it is not worth reading. Obviously my tasted will be different to other peoples, so I try not to take what people say as gospel

 

[areader]

I didn't like it, but I got all the way through it. I don't think I'll buy the other books in the series as it just didn't have it for me. I'm such a fan of the Liveship traders and the other series linked to that and I love rereading them. This is a completely different book and kind of a cross-genre with its academy setting. I think its definitely got that something different aspect to it but didn't enthrall me.