"First, let me introduce you to yourself" (Beware RotE Spoilers)

[maulkin]

Hello everyone,

my first experience of Hobb/Lindholm's writing was reading the Gernia books on the trans-Siberian railway this summer. Endless forest, strangely appropriate! I have now read the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies and I am fast approaching the end of the Liveship Traders (my favourite series so far). Like the rest of you, I love the depth of characterisation in the books and the way that the characters must overcome their flaws in order to prevail. As an evolutionary biologist, I also appreciate the level of thought that has gone into the dragons/serpents. Hobb has given these creatures enough biological detail to make them believable while maintaining their mystery and majesty, a rare achievement! Finally, I am impressed by the way that Hobb has used fantasy to highlight important issues in our society such as the clash between industrial and forest-dwelling peoples (in the Gernia books). I am also fascinated by Hobb's argument then humanity requires a rival species (such as the dragons of the Elderling books) to keep it in check. Maybe I will start a thread on this later...