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I read The Farseer Trilogy after getting the first volume free for the Kindle. To put it mildly, I was very disappointed with that series. It had great potential, but the overarching plot was capped with a deus ex machina which rendered most of the major actions and sacrifices of the primary characters irrelevant. The characters then lived unhappily ever after.

However, I frequently see authors I respect and enjoy reading speak favorably of Robin Hobb, and it is not uncommon to see fantasy fans declare Robin Hobb their favorite author. Thus my question: Would Robin Hobb fans hold up The Farseer Trilogy as representative of Hobb's other novels?

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  • Having read the whole series, I will say that about the seemingly out-of-left field 'dragons' stuff at the end: she's going somewhere with it, but where exactly develops slowly over the whole series.
    – Lexible
    Jun 5, 2019 at 15:11

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I really enjoyed the Farseer trilogy because I found Fitz such a sympathetic character. I agree the plot gets a bit wayward towards the end, but this didn't spoil the books for me. Have you read any of David Eddings' books (not the Dreamer series!)? I find these similar in that the finales are always rubbish but I like the characters so much I enjoy the books anyway.

I've read the second Fitz trilogy (the Tawny Man series) and found them very similar to Farseer, and likewise the Soldier Son series. So for these books at least the Farseer trilogy is pretty typical. I started, then gave up, on the Liveship and Dragons series because I couldn't empathise with the characters, so I can't comment on them.

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I would say that the Farseer Trilogy is definitely representative of Robin Hobb's work. In particular, she seems to have a penchant for making her lead protagonists suffer and/or be misunderstood by their peers, though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The Farseer Trilogy is in fact my favourite of Robin Hobb's work and I have read it may times. I am not aware of any deus ex machina but I'll agree that some of the characters' sacrifices turn out to be in vain. I think that fact that the characters are fallible makes them more compelling. They do not, however, live unhappily ever after. There is better and worse for many of them in the Liveship Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy. But if you didn't like Farseer, you're really not going to like those.

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  • SPOILER: I guess you could call that whole dragon thing deus ex machina. I know I did not like that ending, either.
    – Raphael
    May 21, 2012 at 9:13
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The Liveship trilogy sets up much of the Tawny Man series. It explains why Fitz's face appears on the liveship that Amber redid. If you're paying attention, you figure out that Amber is the Fool. Jek also shows up in the Tawny Man series and recognizes Fitz because of Amber's carving. Every series that follows Fitz is excellent. My favorite series of all time.

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  • The question was more if OP can judge the style and tone of the rest of Hobb's work from the Farseer trilogy. You talk about the Liveship and Tawny Man trilogies, but don't explain if they're substantially different in style.
    – DavidW
    Apr 26, 2022 at 18:06

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