Pre-release City of Dragons (spoilers Farseer, LST, TM and RWC)

[Mervi]

I know that some people consider even the summaries from the back cover of a book to be spoilers. I'm not that strict, but I was really disappointed when a reviewer posted the recurring characters from the Dragon Keeper (ie. those we knew from the LST) before the book was widely available. They were included in a short summary without any warning. That, for me, spoiled the sweet surprise of reconnecting with familiar folks while reading the story even though knowing those names didn't reveal much about the actual plot.

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Depends on how much the back cover blurb tells you. If it doesn't tell you anything, you have no idea what you're getting into. Which reminds me, I have a very old Dutch edition of The Lord of the Rings at home. The blurbs on the books spoil a lot, like:

The Two Towers spoiler

The fact that Sam leaves Frodo for dead after the fight with Shelob, only to later discover that he isn't dead.

Yes, it says that right on the back of The Two Towers itself!

On another note, I bought The Tawny Man all at once and while I was peeling off the price stickers, I was really careful not to read the blurbs. A good thing, because I'm sure you know what the first words on the back of The Golden Fool are:

Fool's Errand spoiler

"Nighteyes is dead."

I'm so glad I didn't know that going into Fool's Errand, even though I sort of expected him to die all the while. Nighteyes' death was such a powerful moment...

[Nuytsia]

Oh yeah Mervi I don't like to read the blurbs !!!!
Mainly because of the ones that are really spoilerish, like those Albertosaurus mentioned. I also noticed that Tawny Man one! It was pretty bad....!!!

[Farseer]

I think blurbs are AWFUL and I am that strict that I don't read them beyond the first book in a series or after I have begun reading a book. In this same vein, I even refuse to read pages beyond the final page of text in a story as often other books in the series are advertised with blurbs eg at the end of AA, you can go to the last couple of pages and find out what's going to happen in RA and even AQ, as well as the LST trilogy...HUGE SPOILERS when you are wondering if a character survives or not!

[redchild]

I even refuse to read pages beyond the final page of text in a story as often other books in the series are advertised with blurbs eg at the end of AA, you can go to the last couple of pages and find out what's going to happen in RA and even AQ, as well as the LST trilogy...HUGE SPOILERS when you are wondering if a character survives or not!

YES!

['thul]

Reading those spoilers is boring. These beings do not even do it when they have the next book available.

[Nuytsia]

Good to see Robin Hobb is avoiding the evil internet (ie her newsgroup) and reports she is getting some good writing done on 'the next book'
YAY!

Not that I'm complaining about the speed of her writing in general at ALL! She's amazingly fast I think.

['thul]

it is better with quality than quantity...

[Farseer]

Yes, 'thul, yes...we want quality for sure!

Most of you may have seen this already (I've been having a drama getting on to the site) but the new book is getting closer, ever closer, going on Tangle Leader's latest post!!

[Nuytsia]

Wow it's soooooo close!

Yes , there's no hurry , it must be done right!
Although some authors take forever and then the book disappoints in any case..... I guess each individual author knows how much time THEY need to do the job right, and this seems to vary a lot.