'One night, a lady friend invited him over and he lied and said he was busy because he wanted to keep reading, and I've never been prouder.' It's now official. Robin Hobb's books: literally better than sex!

By far the biggest fantasy world created, the history and myths woven into this magical collection are so beautifully written, most parts of their world are explored in huge detail, these are by far the finest stories told for a crowd of fantasy lovers, I'm so gutted I discovered these when I was young, nothing has Ever come close to character development, imagining the world around, not just the protagonist but his whole world, Fitz and the fool is the greatest love story ever told, its beautiful how their destiny's are entwined, and how they develop their friendship, yes a little slow at first, but to build such a world, this was definitely needed, you start out a young ignorant boy and you learn with him along the way, I love how these stories are intertwined but each little trilogy separate, in its own way, I've always been ready for more from this world for years, I see a lot of almost plagiarism by George R R Martin with game of Thrones, I didn't read that but was surprised when I first watched it on boxset at how similar Fitz and John snow was, but I love game of Thrones so I'm not going to mess with that one lol, but Robin Hobbs books about Fitz would be so hard to televise because of his inner monologue, it would have to be done beautifully, and magical because this really builds to a magical and tragic ending, I cried and cried at the end and that's just never happened to me before, or after, if anyone is looking for anything like game of Thrones, this is next level shit. I Love it!! And I guarantee anyone that loves reading and fantasy, it doesn't get better than this!!

I’m so so glad we’re in agreement on these trilogies! Even with the bad pacing and poor ending I agree that the farseer trilogy is still worth it just for Fitz alone. I found the Fool a bit annoying in the farseer trilogy but grew to adore him in later books. I can remember being desperate for more dialogue between Fitz and the Fool and being ridiculously happy whenever we got any. I’m still on the hunt for other fantasy books that give me such amazing characters - until then I’ll just reread Hobb! Hope you enjoy the rest of the series :)

I want to read those so much! Your thumbnail creation sacrifice won't go unnoticed. I promise you.

I really enjoyed this video - I'm not usually a big fantasy reader but you've made me very excited to meet these characters!

I completely fell in love with the books and coming from being an avid reader of A Song Of Ice and Fire these books weren’t too long.

I fell in love with Fitz and his adventures. I read the Farseer and the Tawny Man series but in French. They are editied in a different way, so the Farseer trilogy is a 6 book series and the Tawny Man trilogy is a 7 book series. So it was so easy to ready them one after the other, totally addictive! I was never bored, they were too short!

Welp, my TBR just grew by 9 books today...your enthusiasm is contagious 😁

So nice to see you talk about something you clearly love so much! This genre doesn't appeal to me in the slightest but your enthusiasm intrigues me! xx Julia

At first I said nooo, you cannot say that about the distance between book covers. But I truly enjoyed your review. I read the first three books in one week, I devoured them. I can't grasp this idea of measuring books in pages. A book is captivating or not. However, your passion when talking about Hobb's books is enough to get you going through the entire series so I thank you for this. Liveship series is coming next!

This is the best video I have ever watched about the three trilogies! GOOD JOB!

Great review! I’ve just finished reading the Liveship Traders Trilogy and absolutely loved. Am looking forward to Tawny man, have heard (as you confirmed) very good things!

I've read them one after the other in chronological order all the way up to the assassins fate. It's so good. I can't express my opinion more on this fact. It is just an amazing read. It has taken me less than 6 months. I'll read the piebald prince works after and read the soldier son. I have not reflected on my read too deeply. I take everything for what it is and let the story take me where it's meant to. Robin Hobb is a gem and I will have fond memories for the rest of my life reminiscing on these series. So good.

I'm definitely one of those people who is crazy intimidated by these books, but it was really nice to hear that it's good to take a break in between the series. I think I will get to them eventually since I'm dying to meet some of these characters!

You did such a beautiful review of these books! You are eloquent and so on point!

Amazing review! I've decided to start with Liveship Traders because I find it much more intriguing. I've got myself a copy and I can't wait to start it!

Weight lifting for book tubers

Thanks for recommending the Liveship Traders trilogy. For a long time now I haven't been able to find a fantasy series that I really liked, despite trying both popular ones (GRR Martin, etc.) and critically acclaimed ones (Le Guin, etc.) This series though, despite the youth of the protagonists (another thing I tend to have problems getting into), has really hit the spot.

I know what to look out for when I am in a mood to dive into a fantasy series. Don't remember being immersed in a series post Harry Potter. It's time I guess. Thank you for this amazing wrap up, Jennifer.

Thank you for your honesty in this review.

Just started reading Assassin's Apprentice. It is delightful! Knowing there is so much more to come makes me so happy.

I’m reading The Farseer Trilogy right now so I’m coming back to this video and enjoying it so much!

Robin Hobb herself also said on reddit years ago that she thinks it is best to read them in the order they were published.

Such a Great, natural, spontaneous and detailed Review. Thks so much !!!

Awesome video I have just bought the first and the second series I am so looking forward to reading them

"That is the challenge, Companion. To take what has happened to you and learn from it, instead of being trapped by it."

Nice point about taking breaks in between. I’m desperate to read this entire series (already read The Assassin’s Apprentice) but it’s so intimidating knowing how many books there are and how dense Hobb’s writing can sometimes be. I think reading one every few months is the way to go.

What a great video! As a Patrick O'Brian fan, I'm naturally attracted to the Liveship trilogy, but I'll no doubt end up reading all of them! (Next winter's reading list = sorted.)

This is in my top 5 fantasy series and I have to compliment your analysis. I don’t agree with everything, but you really addressed some style issues I felt but disregarded because I was so vested in the story. You articulate your thoughts just brilliantly. I wish you could convince my daughters (23 & 25) to give these books a shot!! 😊

Revisiting this video for the umpteenth time now that I've just returned to Fitz's story in the Tawny Man trilogy. :) Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts.

So glad to see this review! I have only read the first series and I can't make myself to read the rest as I am still recovering from the effects of the first 3 books. I felt as if the author had gently ripped my heart, squeezed all the feelings out and left me feeling completely empty and breathless! I don't know when I will be ready to face that again. Your review has given me a tantalizing view of what I am missing. Also the non-spoilers are driving me crazy! Such a sneaky pitch.

I was intrigued to see the original format for this series, because here in France the biggest books have been split into several parts/smaller books, and numbered 1 to 12 or something which made it much more reader-friendly than what you described and I remember back in 2000-2001 I couldn't stop reading, always had to grab the next "book" in the series...

I found a break between is good because it gives you time to engage in what you just read. The stories are so complex and I think time to digest it before starting the next episode makes it a much better experience.

I've started the first book of the Liveship Traders trilogy. So far, it's a great book. I can't wait to finish it and start the second book.

I’m halfway through assassins apprentice and I 100% agree with your criticism about Hobbs pacing. Thankfully it’s picking up now ( I’m on chapter 12 )

Great review, and I agree about how great Liveship is, but, man oh man oh man, I'm kinda surprised there was no mention of how brutally Hobb tortures, in every sense, her characters in those books. I almost can't even think about Liveship without flinching.

Thankyou so much I have read assassins apprentice and now ready to read the 2nd book of the farseer trilogy and I get what you are saying but I have to read them all

I’ll come back to watch this one. I just started Assassins Apprentice and I want to read the series without knowing ANYTHING. So excited :)

"And I've never been prouder" 😂😂 This was great! I really want to read Liveship but I feel like I will be bored to death with the first trilogy so I had decided to skip it (going against my convictions about never skipping books in series, it was a hard decission). But now I hear you and really I can't, I just can't miss all the connections and subtleties that reading everything in order will bring. So I think you've convinced me to read the first trilogy and force my way through it even if I hate it haha. I should know better after following your women's prize experience, but whatever 😅

Nice, now i want to read these (when i have a lot of trilogies an and sagas unfinished). The good thing is that i never feel the new to read them one after the other. In fact i don't have a problem in reading one per year

I have only read Assasin's apprentice, and even though I own the next two in the first trilogy, I have never been that eager to pick them up. Fitz is so young in that first book, and I got tired of his lack of agency, so much gets decided for him. But I'm guessing that will improve as he gets older. This video nudges me towards a second attempt. I want to see what all of BookTube apparantly sees in Hobb.

Woa thank you for this. I own this entire series and I’m so intimidated because I have heard the the series is so hard to get through. I really want to read in the right order though so at some point I know I just have to do it!

I've read Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin and I've really enjoyed the trilogy so far, I can't wait to read the next one so I'm surprised you say The Farseer Trilogy is the weakest, it's just so good already, I adore Fitz as well x)

Who are your favourite Liveship characters? I'm in the middle of Mad Ship and my favourites at the moment are Kennit and Althea

I’m doing it the way your brother is. I read the whole of Farseer, read 2-3 other series and now have come back to LST.

Great video 👍. I just finished reading Tawny Man Trilogy and I am in dilemma whether to read Rain Wild Chronicles or not!!?? Can you please suggest me?

Despite your enthusiasm and wonderful review plus wonderful reviews elsewhere, the length of these books is still intimidating!

I haven't read anything by Robin Hobb yet, but after watching this video I want to even more than ever. Right now I'm in the middle of The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, but as soon as I feel a craving for fantasy after that, I'll be going for one of these!

I've only read the first trilogy and I agree with you! The villain is one of the weakest I've ever read and the third book is far too long. But I was devastated and full of emotions when I ended up the trilogy and it was all so worth it (heartbreakingly worth it, yes, haha). I'm about to start the second trilogy and knowing that I still have 13 books in this series to read makes me incredibly happy, haha! This was a great review, I didn't mind the lenght at all! (:

Btw for the german translation each book is divided into two books...6 books for the trilogy at all

I LOVE the whole series of the Realm of the Elderlings!! Every time a new book came out I would read ALL previous books At first I didn't like the switch of Fitz's story to the liveships, and (of course) didn't understand the connections, but the first time following the story is magical! I do still have a hard time reading the whole "tangle"/ serpent storyline, which feels dragging (rain wilds?!) so I sort of skip through those and the ending of assassins fate feels wanting in my view, like I need a new book to "complete my goodbye", if you know what I mean... But all in all, it is my all time favorite series, even more than Harry Potter, and that is saying something, I even called my cat Fitz :-)

I couldn't resist and i finally bought the first one

I read first trilogy with 2-3 mouth between books. It was a long way from October 2015 till may 2016 . now I want to start with Ships trilogy. I do not like Fool as a character, but I want know the end of story.

It's lovely to see a happy Jen. 😊 I'm glad to know that you can possibly skip the first trilogy. I suppose it might be like The Simirillion then? The Lord of the Rings universe is so vast, and it can be intimidating to know where to start. Fantasy has also been something I loved in childhood, which most probably started with Harry Potter. 😅There's such vastness, cosiness and rich social commentary that you get from fantasy and nowhere else. I love reliving that nostalgia of being curled up in school libraries with a fantasy novel. 😊

I really enjoyed this video, Jen! I am exactly where you are in this saga reading-wise. I first heard about Hobb on Mercy's channel. I wanted to read the Ships books, but because I am a completionist weirdo had to slog though the first one first. Oh, I hated that fist book - not a big fan of reading though a child's perspective. And then, the second one picked up and by the third it all felt worth it. I still love the Ships trilogy the best, although Fool's Errand made me actually cry - you can probably guess why. I do read with breaks in between as you did, even though once I start I am completely immersed in the world.

This is such a weird observation but you speak with the cadence of a professor and its captivating😂😂Love these books, i cant get enough of Hobb. I binged the entire series in a couple months WHEW what a ride.

I typically wait two or three months between Robin Hobb's books, but hearing you talk about the third in the Liveship Traders (which is the next one for me) makes me want to pick it up right away, even if it's only been one week! What will happen to my babies?

Coming at this 2 years after this is posted I feel where she is coming from but as someone who read this when the first trilogy came out, it ended with the most recent and god damn... It was a ride from beginning to end. No real complaints, the slow parts are there to really put emphasis on the slow parts of FItzs life. When he felt good for too long shit just went wrong. I feel that in my soul.

I love your videos!

❤ this! i just finished Tawny Man a few weeks ago too!

i read the assassin's apprentice books long time ago. loved the first. struggled through the second and the only reason i picked up the third was because of the second's ending that i cannot even remember at this point. had to dnf the third after reading one-third of the book with what seemed to be just walking. really could not stand being in fitz' head. my main purpose for reading this series was to get to the tawny man trilogy because i love love love the fool. but i can't make it past that last farseer book. but you've convinced me to pick up robin hobb again. i'm just going to skip straight to liveship traders

can someone tell me if reading them is worth it ? By now there are a total of 16 books in the series. I have heard good things about Fitz.

Lady Patience is the best. I love her so much. I also really love Burrich though. I really enjoyed this video. I'm currently almost done with Rain Wilds. I agree the Farseer trilogy is not the best of them, but I still really enjoy it and I see now in later books why some things were necessary in those first books that I didn't feel was necessary when I read them.

Hey, i just finished the liveship traders trilogy and came back to your video. Which were the favourite characters you were talking about and the arcs you found to he rushed / not convincing?

Any interest out there to do a zoom meeting of spoiler filled discussion on the 16 main books from the realm of the elderlings?

Hi! Currently reading Assassin's Quest and I feel that I love all the characters but tired of how long the book is. Anyway I have the next trilogy waiting for me so literally I keep trying! 👋🇺🇾😄

Ok yeah I'm starting these this summer, it's happening. Have you read the Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner? The way you describe these series they sound...well, not similar, per se, but similar. One of the smartest fantasy series I've ever read for sure.

I've only read Farseer. I loved it. I would add Robin Hobb writes beautiful prose. Some passages are Joycean in their beauty and sophistication.

Oh fun, I've been looking forward to hearing you talk about these as a whole experience. I read them as they were released starting with Royal Assassin (I eventually read Assassin's Apprentice several years later) and had been wondering how the experience of reading them closer together would feel. Looking forward to eventually hearing you talk about the other seven! :) Out of curiosity, have you read any of Robb's older books that she published under her other pen name?

Okay, i'm sold!

Are they mass market paperbacks or paperbacks?

When can we see your twin again for a book discussion?

Based on these 9 Hobb books you've read, which books would you take to a desert is., the 16 book Hobb series OR the long list books of the 2018 Women's Prize? Why?

The only epic fantasy books I've read are the first two game of thrones books, and even though I want to read the rest, it's been almost two years and I just can't get back into them. How do these books compare to TSOIF? Because I know I would want gaps of months in between them.

I could not get into the liveship traders books. I read the first one and part of the second, but realized I wasn't enjoying them but forcing myself to read them. You're right, the farseer trilogy is slow, but I didn't mind cuz they were so well written and I loved the characters. Now reading the tawny man trilogy.

A question for those who have read through several/most of the trilogies in this series. [potential spoilers for the first trilogy] Do the future books get a bit more optimistic? I just finished Assassin's Quest, and while I absolutely loved most of the trilogy, the third book left me absolutely deflated and disappointed. From start to finish the book is unrelenting, just one horrible thing after another happening to Fitz, with most of his friends being manipulative and ungrateful of all his sacrifices. By the end I really didn't feel like continuing with the rest of the series, as much I LOVED the first two books. Are the follow-up series (particularly the later Fitz books) a bit less depressing?

I strongly disagree with you're ruling about the first trilogy. I loved all of it and even that I had reservation about the ending after the first read. But after the second time I loved it. I never had the feeling, that this books could or should be shortend.

I'm currently reading The Farseer Trilogy (I'm between Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest). I took a break between those two because the third book is so big, and because I wanted, just like you, to read other things in between. I thought, reading Royal Assassin, that I would love it as much as the first book; but, if I admit it, it was very, very slow to begin, and I was a little annoyed by Fitz (I understand him, but still). Because of the slowness, and because I got caught in a reading slump, I couldn't appreciate the book as much as I wanted to; but maybe it was not just me and the book was too long. I'm now afraid of Assassin's Quest, but I will read it in June, and can't wait to go on with The Liveship Traders (after a break, of course!)! Thank you for this video!!

The Liveship Traders Trilogy was my least favorite of the bunch and I REALLY had to force my way through them. I loved Fitz and his journey so much.

Love you!!!

I LOVE patience and burrich and the fool and Nighteyes and even molly. Idk why molly gets so much hate

I missed Nighteyes so much.

I think that Assassin's Quest gets a bad rep. because it's so different from the other two Farseer books. Whereas the other two books were more about court intrigue and Fitz's coming-of-age story, this book was, as the title implies, very much about an epic quest. I agree that it has pacing issues, but on a whole, I really liked it.

Great reviews. I think I will eventually pick them up. When I’m in the mood for fantasy. You look so lovely! New haircut?

I just finished Assassin's Quest a few days ago. JFC, what a slog. I also made the mistake of not finishing it before I had to get on a plane, so I was reading about all of the mountain trudgery while in the miserable spaces of airports and airplanes. It was not the escapist fantasy I would have hoped. I was thinking of doing a solo review on the first trilogy so I can put forth my thoughts on that series alone, even though I've only ever heard that the books get better from that point. It is so tempting to order the next three books from book depository, but I am forcing myself to wait and I think the reading experience will be all the better for it. I want so many people to read these books, and they are all I wanted to talk about while I was reading them, much to my partner's chagrin. I bullied him into starting Assassin's Apprentice, but he is much less of a capital R Reader than I am, so he is taking his time and I have to be patient.

How could you ignore the fool in series one?!!!!!! Lol

I loved these that much so that my LARP character was based on Fitz

A trio of thrillogies is more to my taste.

interesting!

After I met Robin Hobb, I throw away my Harry Potter series, HAHAHA

I've read the farseer trilogy and think the world of Robin Hobb and her writing, even if the series is a bit slow paced and the books have a lot of redundancy in them. But I just don't buy a man telling a "lady friend" that he had more important things to do just so that he can keep reading them. I think I, like most men, would choice to spent time with the "lady friend: :)

I don't know if I love Fitz, but I grew tired... not of him, but of the continual amount of misery heaped on him. It just gets ridiculous, peaking at some point in mid book 3, in Jhaampe. That's where I got to, and I'm just taking a break from reading the book, because the "magic" is just kind of broken.

I liked the Assassin's Apprentice but was very disappointed in the Royal Assassin. I didn't even enjoy the ending..that's why I have had hard time convincing myself to read Assassin's Quest ..since I didn't enjoy Royal Assassin as much as many of the reviewers did and even those reviewers didn't like Assassins Quest and think it was the weakest book. So I'm pretty sure it would be hard to swallow all those pages just to get through it and move on in the series. But one day...one day..

Just finished Assassins Quest a minute ago; this is the first time for me finishing a book and going straight to KZfaq to find a review because honestly my thoughts were “I can’t be the only one who thinks this is a bit shit”. Overal definitely slow, but the ending is SO rushed and no real/ satisfying comeuppance for Regal. Think I’m gonna give Hobb a long break indeed

Why would anyone want to escape from reality in Nov 2016, lol? Hope reality is better now. :)

The third book in the first trilogy was a great disappointment for me, but nevertheless I started the second trilogy now

Mooi review #lamot

You wanted to escape this world in Nov 2016. Haha

Some spoilers in this comment!!!!!! Listened to the farseer trilogy as audiobooks at work and i took breaks at times for a day or two because of how boring some parts was. The ending had me so excited up until after the last fight, but the last few pages was written like she just wanted to finish the book already and rushed things with lame solutions. The book series made me want more and i went to listen to the liveship traders and god Anne Flosnik is a boring reader with annoying voices for things and its so difficult to keep focused on what shes talking about... and just the first book is 33h long so it will probably be 20hish if i read it on my own but im a gamer and don't want to take half my gaming time for 2 months to finish the books... this sucks x.x

you're like a normal, nice Gabbie Hanna