Robin Hobb

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BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR


Title: Fool's Errand (tawny Man S.): Description:
Fifteen years have passed since the end of the Red Ship War, when the Outislanders' threat to the Six Duchies was crushed. For many, the memory of dragons passing high overhead has faded, becoming the stuff of dream - or legend. But for Fitz the past cannot be so easily laid to rest. Since he helped his King, Verity, raise a Skill-dragon with which to defeat the Outislander Raiders, Fitz has wandered the Six Duchies - from the Trader port of Bingtown in the south to the frozen lands of Bearns in the north - accompanied only by his wolf and Wit-partner, Nighteyes. Asuming the name of Tom Badgerlock, Fitz now lives in a small cottage as far from the demands of Buckkeep and the cares of the world as possible. His responsibilities extend only as far as the chickens he keeps, his ageing wolf and Hap, the orphan boy he has adopted. But for the ever-present gnawing of his Skill-hunger, Fitz is content in his new life. But this peace and contentment cannot last. Visitors bring the outside world crashing back into his life. The minstrel, Starling, brings news of how the Witted are being persecuted throughout the Six Duchies because of their magical bond with animals; and Fitz old mentor, the assassin Chade, begs him to come back to Buckkeep to train the young Prince Dutiful in the ways of the Skill. Yet it is only with the appearance of his third visitor, and the news that Prince Dutiful - fathered by Fitz's body - has gone missing does he decide to rejoin the world of the Farseers. With the young Prince's bride-to-be on her way from her Outisland home, Fitz's assignment to get him back in time for the ceremony seems very much like a fool's errand, but the dangers ahead could signal the end of the Farseer reign. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Title: The Golden Fool (tawny Man S.): Description:
Book two in The Tawny Man series

Title: Fool's Fate (tawny Man S.): Description:
Book three in the Tawny Man series

Title: The Liveship Traders 1: Ship Of Magic: Description:
Gripping first instalment of a new series from the author of The Farseer Trilogy. Wizardwood -- a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many other legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds. But how can one trade with the Rain River Traders when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? A liveship is a difficult ship to come by. Rare and valuable, it will quicken only when three family members, from succesive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit's father is carried to her deck in his death-throes. Althea waits with awe and anticipation for the ship that she loves more than anything in the world to awaken. Only to find that her family has other plans for her...And dark, charming Kennit, aspiring pirate king, also lusts after such a ship: he well knows the power of wizardwood, and has plans of his own...

Title: The Mad Ship (liveship Traders S.): Description:
The magic and mayhem continue in this thrilling second instalment of Hobb's new series. Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but she lives only to reclaim the Vivacia as her rightful inheritance. However, the Vivacia has been captured by the pirate, 'King' Kennit, and is acquiring a keen bloodlust. Meanwhile in Bingtown, the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the mysterious Rain Wilds Traders. And just outside Bingtown, Amber dreams of relaunching the Paragon, The Mad Ship...The second volume in this superb trilogy from the author of THE FARSEER TRILOGY continues the dramatic tale of piracy, serpents, love and magic.

Title: Ship Of Destiny (liveship Traders S.): Description:
The dragon, Tintaglia, released from her wizardwood coffin, flies high over the Rain Wild River. Below her, Reyn and Selden have been left to drown; while Malta and the Satrap attempt to navigate the acid flow of the river in a decomposing boat. Althea and Brashen are finally at sea together, sailing the liveship Paragon into pirate waters to rescue the Vestrit family liveship, Vivacia, stolen by the pirate king, Kennit; but there is mutiny brewing in their ragtag crew; and in the mind of the mad ship itself. And all the while the waters around the Vivacia are seething with giant serpents, following the liveship as it sails to its destiny. Robin Hobb's books combine heroic adventures by land and sea with a passionate urgency about the morality which underlies her character's deeds. Ship of Destiny, the third in The Liveship Traders trilogy, involves us further with the efforts of the Vestrit family to reclaim the fortunes which war and piracy have cost them, raising interesting questions about the sources of even an attractive family's wealth. It is clear that the liveships Vivacia and Paragon were carved from husks which should have hatched dragons; that the attractive personalities of the figureheads are only pale shadows of the autonomous beings they might have been. Malta Vestrit has freed the last of the real dragons from an underground prison, and he is not especially grateful. The slave-liberating pirate Kennit, one of Hobb's richest creations, is ever more drawn to the darker side of his flawed nature in an attempt to hide from the secrets of his past. This is one of the most satisfying heroic fantasies of recent years, simply because it is about difficult choices and complex emotions, while Hobb's tight plotting and fast-moving storytelling are fascinating in their own right.--Roz Kaveney

Title: Assassin's Apprentice (farseer S.): Description:
Fitz starts life as a royal bastard cast onto the streets, with only animals and street children for company - but soon he will hold the power over life and death in his hands as the Assassin's apprentice.

Title: Royal Assassin (farseer S.): Description:
The second book in "The Farseer" trilogy. The Six Duchies are once again being raided and plundered by the Red-Ship Raiders with horrible consequences. Then the old King falls dangerously ill - of poison? Fitz finds himself in a curious alliance with the Fool, Burrich, Molly and Patience.

Title: Assassin's Quest: The Farseer Iii (the Farseer): Description:
Fitz must begin the process of learning the ways of a man again. He must learn to cast off the wild but carefree ways of the wolf and enter the human world once more: a world beset ever more by the relentless Red Ship Raiders who are now left free to plunder any coastal town they please.

Title: Fool's Errand (tawny Man S.): Description:
In Fool's Errand, first of the "Tawny Man" trilogy, Robin Hobb brings back Fitz, hero of her emotionally powerful and intrigue-filled Assassin trilogy, from 15 years of self-imposed exile from his royal relations and from the world of power. Hobb is particularly good at the passage of time and the things it does not change; Fitz plausibly thinks of himself as older and more settled than he actually is. She is also good on the actual changes--Fitz's mentor Chade is teetering on the brink of old age and his androgynous ally the Fool has returned to court as the fop Lord Gallant; these are characters we cared about before and she makes it matter that they have aged or altered. Fitz is bonded by Wit to a wolf; the heir, Prince Dutiful, the son he never saw, is adrift with his own Wit in a world where people get lynched for it. Hobb's leisurely story-telling never lacks urgency and menace; this is a humane book which includes nightmarish touches along the way. Her sense of the world of magic and the world of political power is acute--she makes us see more than her flawed hero, even though we share his eyes.--Roz Kaveney

Title: Renegades Magic (the Soldier Son Trilogy): Description:
Book Three of Soldier Son trilogy Hardback

Title: Shamans Crossing (soldier Son Trilogy): Description:
Book One of Soldier Son trilogy Hardcover

Title: Forest Mage (the Soldier Son Trilogy): Description:
Book Two of the Soldier Son trilogy Hardcover

Title: Fool's Errand: Description:
Book One of the Tawny Man trilogy which follows on from the Assassin trilogy.

Title: The Golden Fool (tawny Man): Description:
Book Two of the Tawny Man trilogy which follows on the assassin trilogy.

Title: Fool's Fate: Description:
Book Three in the Tawny Man trilogy which follows on from the assassin trilogy

Title: Fool's Fate (tawny Man): Description:
Hard back with dustcover

Title: The Mad Ship : Book 2 Of The Liveship Traders: Description:
The magic and mayhem continue in this thrilling second instalment of Hobb's new series. Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but she lives only to reclaim the Vivacia as her rightful inheritance. However, the Vivacia has been captured by the pirate, 'King' Kennit, and is acquiring a keen bloodlust. Meanwhile in Bingtown, the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the mysterious Rain Wilds Traders. And just outside Bingtown, Amber dreams of relaunching the Paragon, The Mad Ship...The second volume in this superb trilogy from the author of THE FARSEER TRILOGY continues the dramatic tale of piracy, serpents, love and, above all, magic.

Title: Dragon Keeper (the Rain Wild Chronicles): Description:
Book One of The Rain Wild Chronicles. 17 Damaged Dragons, 13 Misfits and 1 Impossible. Quest - return to the world of the Liveships Traders and journey along the Rain Wild River in this new series from the author of the internationally acclaimed Farseer trilogy.