If you've read Farseer and LiveShip I've got a question

[talloakslady]

I've finished reading the Farseer series and nearly completed the Ship Of Magic, and wondered if others felt as I have.
Ship Of Magic is disconcerting me a great deal. My mind is torn by what is occuring in this book. As Vivacia states, '...I think it is what your great-great grandmother would have called a premonition...'

I am enjoying all the various characters, and love some of them, loath others, and feel ambivalance to yet others. This is, of couse, the job of a good author, and Hobb is a great author. There were times is the Farseer, I felt the same way, though not to this strong effect.

So, has anyone else felt a real sense of unsettled feelings reading the books?

[Sini]

I think we all have felt like that. And that is why we love Robin's work. She forces you to think. It isn't all black and white, which is far too common in fantasy books. The shades of grey, how you can hate a character in the first book but see the growth of them during the series and you'll come to love them in the end.

[talloakslady]

I do love the books very much. The fact I feel such emotion for the characters, and their outcomes show testament to the author's great skill. There is a part of me that dreads reading the following chapters (after Wintrow left Vivacia)for fear that things won't work well for the characters, including the ship herself; that feeling that Althea will never captain the ship she loves.
It is with great excitment that I look forward to reading the rest of the books from this world.
Thank you for your response!

[chriSchaeffer]

The complexities of emotions that arise from Hobb's works are the very reason I enjoy her stories so much.

The day I read another tale about a straight lined hero saving the day is the day I add another author to my "banned" list.

I want characters with depth and tragic flaws. Life is never simple and things never work out the say you expect it.

[talloakslady]

..."I want characters with depth and tragic flaws."... That is really true; multifaceted characterizations are what really grabbed hold of my attention when I began reading the series of books. Mervi had mentioned them to me some time ago, and only this winter, when I began public transit to work, did I have the time to read more often. The Farseer was so wonderfully amazing. Then, I went on to this series at Terie's suggestion.
Last evening I finished the first of this series; some of the discomforture I'd felt vanished, but I still am at odds with Althea and her hopes to regain Vivacia.
Hobb is truly a master writer.

[chriSchaeffer]

The Liveship series is by far the most compelling because it has so many characters with lots of personal struggles and flaws. You have a long way to go before you start losing your sense of discomfort.

[talloakslady]

Well, I hope certain events won't happen, though I expect to be surprised too!

[Mervi]

Well, I've lost count on how many times I've re-read Fool's Fate completely or in parts, but there are still sequences in it that make me laugh and cry - every time. Even when I consciously think of what is going to happen "next".

It also happens to me often when I'm reading a new (to me) story by Hobb/Lindholm that I have to put the book down for a couple of minutes ([[Cloven Hooves]]) or even for days ([[Shaman's Crossing]]) because it's affecting my mood too much and I need to get something else to think about or I'll dive too deep into the story.

It's scary.

[talloakslady]

I've just completed Mad Ship and begun reading Ship Of Destiny. Each sentence draws me in deeper to Hobb's stories.

[KoShiatar]

Actually I liked the Farseer trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy more than I did the Liveship Traders - especially the Farseer books, I just couldn't put them down and I didn't sleep well at night for wondering what might happen to Fitz now. And yes, they made me feel unsettled. Sometimes I didn't want to go on for fear that it would be something awful. But surprisingly Hobb manages to put plenty of credibility in her books without making them too dark.