The Inheritance (short story collection)

[Lady Laura]

Haha no problem!! I've gotten mixed up with characters names lots of times before.

[finella]

Here are my two cent:

As Robin Hobb is my favorite writer, I startet with „Homecoming“. I loved it, because I was all at once torn into the Rain Wilds again, which was great. The whole time reading I had a sort of stupid smile on my face, cause for me it was a form of homecoming too .

The inheritance intrigued me, simply because it dealt with the familiar and beloved setting of Bingtown traders world. And I knew on the first page, that it was wizardwood, the pendant was made of. Which simply made me feel, hm, a way of cosy and satisfied.

Cat’s meat I also really liked. Yeah, Pell was a complete a…whole. Could anybody please tell me - was it Marmelade who killed Meddalee or Pell ? I didn’t really get that.

I loved those three stories. Like leaning back in my favorite chair, cuddled in my favorite blanket, feeling absolutely safe and sound and coming home to my favorite worlds. Puh, I hope, you understand, what I mean .

A touch of Lavendar: After some initial problems I quite liked the story, although it somehow left me sad and a bit empty.

Silver lady and the fortyish man: I liked it. And I liked the message, that magic never seems to be the way you expect it to be.

The fifth squashed cat: Strange story. I felt a bit disgusted about the thought of boiling a cat to get the bones. And I didn’t really understand it.

Strays: Touched me in a very special way.I love animals and I like people who are friendly to animals and care for them. Lonnie is a great character. The story really hit me and left me with tears in my eyes.

Finis: A vampire story very different to all the others. But too short indeed.

Drum machine: Hm, not my sort of story, although quite interesting.

Although I'm not a great fan of shortstories I enjoyed the book and needed only a weekend for it. The idea of writing a preface to every story I really liked. It made me feel closer to Robin or Megan and the story itself.
I still prefer Robin Hobb. Funny enough I had some decent language problems with the Megan Lindholm stories and needed my dictionnary quite often. That doesn’t happen with Robin Hobb. Perhaps because I’m more familiar with her writing ?!

[joost]

Cat’s meat I also really liked. Yeah, Pell was a complete a…whole. Could anybody please tell me - was it Marmelade who killed Meddalee or Pell ? I didn’t really get that.

It's not said explicitly, but I'm certain that it was Marmelade.

What did you think of Cut?

[finella]

It's not said explicitly, but I'm certain that it was Marmelade.

What did you think of Cut?

Hallo Joost,

thanks for your answer. (Sorry, that I was silent for 2 weeks or so. I had some days off, and I never use the computer, unless the wheather is really bad. Had a good time on Perm with Anne McCaffrey .)

Yes, I also thought, it was Marmelade. Only the description of her injuries "... her throat cut, neat as a pie." irritated me a bit.I had to think of Pell's knife. But Marmelade fits much better to the whole story.

Help me, who is Cut ?

['thul]

not who. What.

It is a short story. [[Cut]].

[joost]

Help me, who is Cut ?

The story about female circumcision in The inheritance. You missed it in your review.

About BME: I have a few friends who are into this kind of thing, mostly scarification, extreme piercing and stretching. They're all adults, and I'm of the opinion 'it's their body'. I'm not sure what I'd think if it were my child however.

[finella]

Ups, Cuts was the story, I’ve simply forgotten.
Hm, strange story. The decision to go and possibly kill the midwife was hard to follow for me. As you say - it's her own body and should be somehow her own decision Specially, as there is no harm to others but to herself. And not to forget, the grandmother did allow the cicumcision with her own son without thinking about. O.k., other times, other rules, but still … In my eyes it's not the right proportionality (can I say that ? Do you know, what I mean ?)

[Albertosaurus Rex]

I finished The Inheritance yesterday. On the whole, I enjoyed the stories, the Hobb stories more so than the Lindholm ones. I liked the idea behind the magic in The Fifth Squashed Cat - you could have power and vitality, but you would have to give up a normal life to have it. Cut was really disturbing and left me thinking "What the hell did I just read?"

One thing really bothered me about the title story though: Cerise not only ruins Howarth's life but also that of his granddaughters. Surely the granddaughters weren't guilty of anything? I that regard it reminded me a little of The Count of Monte Christo, in which the Count is perfectly willing to let the children of his victims die so they will suffer more. (Of course the Count did spend fourteenyears in jail, so he might not be entirely sane anymore...)

You know, going over the list of Lindholm stories, I realized that not all stories have been collected yet. So how's this for the next collection?

The Triumph by Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm

Lindholm:

Bones for Duluth
The Small One
Shadow Box
The Beholder
Faunsdown Cottage
Superior Graphics
The Unicorn in the Maze
Grace Notes
Mother of Fey

Hobb:

The Triumph
Words Like Coins
Blue Boots

Are you paying attention, Voyager?

[Farseer]

Has Hobb many other short stories set in the RotE, which are not included in The Inheritance?

I can't see an answer to this (?) so sorry if I'm repeating something!

Lady Laura, 'Words Like Coins' and 'Blue Boots' are RotE-related short stories that aren't included in 'The Inheritance'. Along with 'Homecoming', WLC is my favourite Hobb short story so I find that I rather like Albertosaurus Rex's suggestion of including it in a second short story anthology. EDIT: I like the title suggestion, too!

[joost]

I'd prefer 'Grace notes' as the title .