Stan Man Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Just started Assassin's Apprentice today. Chapter 1 down. I like it better this time around. I think, last time I started it, I was too close to having read ASOIAF. It's been about a year since I finished ADwD, and I felt much better reading it now. I tried it read it slowly and really enjoy the language, and it was quite beautiful :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Of Winter Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I agree with Ace. The Farseer trilogy really is Fitz's story. I've read criticisms of Hobb's bloat and some meanderings of parts of the books, but I always found those parts added depth and substance to Fitz's maturation. They may have been light on action but his interactions with others and experiences still resonated with me. Of course you need to like Fitz as a character and empathize with him, but that is one the strongest aspects of the series. I find Fitz very relatable and extremely refreshing, albeit frustrating at times. :agree: completely. Main element of Farseer triology is Fitz, his character and relationships he forms. Story itself is, IMO, a bit less important - which is not to say it's poorly written and unenjoyable. Quite the opposite. Just started Assassin's Apprentice today. Chapter 1 down. I like it better this time around. I think, last time I started it, I was too close to having read ASOIAF. It's been about a year since I finished ADwD, and I felt much better reading it now. I tried it read it slowly and really enjoy the language, and it was quite beautiful :) I found Hobb's work in general to be full of stuff to enjoy. Have fun reading :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Due to my overly stubborn insistence on doing things 'right' from start to finish (you could call it an OCD streak), I'm having a problem that's actually preventing me from continuing with the series. You see, I read almost the entire first book in my native language and liked it quite a bit. Then I got a Kindle for birthday and, naturally, I immediately downloaded the English version. Alas, the above-mentioned OCD streak prevents me from changing languages mid-series, but the fact that I have the original version on my beautiful sweet Kindle (how I love thee!) prevents me from continuing to read in my language. What is this poor soul to do? What is your first language? If it is Slovene, then kill that thing with fire and read the entire series in English all over again. :read: Just reading the back cover text on one of the translated books was enough to convince me to buy the whole series in English. If it is not and the translation you have is good, well ... I never had problems with switching into the original from the translation (though I do have problems with switching to the translation from the original in the case of ADWD now). I would say end the first book that you already have in your language and then just continue with the English copy you already have. That is me being pragmatic and not getting why you would want to spend more money on other copies of books you already have in original. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 That is me being pragmatic and not getting why you would want to spend more money on other copies of books you already have in original. ;) Money? My sweet summer child... ;) Actually, I think I'll start from the beginning in English. That will have to do. The book is not overly long anyway. BTW, my favourite Slovene sentence? Why, glad you asked! Po občutku bi rekel izvidniško plovilo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Money? My sweet summer child... ;) Actually, I think I'll start from the beginning in English. That will have to do. The book is not overly long anyway. BTW, my favourite Slovene sentence? Why, glad you asked! Po občutku bi rekel izvidniško plovilo. Right. I do not know enough about ebooks. ;) Ehhh, where did you get that from? I googled it, and still do not get the reference ... something about Star Trek? This is the only site that I find using that phrase. :dunno: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Right. I do not know enough about ebooks. ;) Ehhh, where did you get that from? I googled it, and still do not get the reference ... something about Star Trek? This is the only site that I find using that phrase. :dunno: Yeah, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I watched Star Trek III with Slovene subtitles. For some silly reason that sentence stuck with me. I find občutek to be an adorable word. I see some people advise jumping to Hobb's third trilogy in the Farseer world, after having read the first one. Any particular reason to do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yeah, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I watched Star Trek III with Slovene subtitles. For some silly reason that sentence stuck with me. Okay. :P So, um, I am still unsure ... is Slovene then your first language or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Okay. :P So, um, I am still unsure ... is Slovene then your first language or not? Nope. Serbian. We had a great conversation in the thread on ASoIaF translations a while back, remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Nope. Serbian. We had a great conversation in the thread on ASoIaF translations a while back, remember? Oh. Sorry. :blushing: I have forgotten that. Is Serbian translation of Hobb any good then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Oh. Sorry. :blushing: I have forgotten that. Is Serbian translation of Hobb any good then? Yeah, it's solid. Nothing beats reading the original though, right? I started reading Hobb because I had multiple people around me who enjoyed her, likened her to Martin and so on. Reading about Fitz has been pretty emotional for me, I gotta admit, certain raw energy that can really make me sad. Looking forward to the other two books. In your view, what's the best trilogy? Can I expect even better things down the line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yeah, it's solid. Nothing beats reading the original though, right? I started reading Hobb because I had multiple people around me who enjoyed her, likened her to Martin and so on. Reading about Fitz has been pretty emotional for me, I gotta admit, certain raw energy that can really make me sad. Looking forward to the other two books. In your view, what's the best trilogy? Can I expect even better things down the line? Are the names there translated or left as in the original? (Sorry everybody else for the thread derail.) The Slovene edition has the "speaking names" translated, so that they sound decidedly odd against the other names (Burrich sounds very foreign in a Slovene text, for example, and I still have no idea how to pronounce it). I am all for translating names when they have a meaning, but I am sure there is a better version than FitzPravični ... :ack: ... and then they should have appropriated the other names too, so that they would not stick out that weirdly. Interestingly enough, I know exactly one other person IRL who has read Farseer. I mean, apparently people do buy those books, but I do not know anybody here who has for example read them all. I enjoyed the Liveship Traders best. They are not so centred on one figure (not narrated in first person either), so that the story shifts around with different POV characters similar to ASOIAF. It makes it more dynamic as the characters have so different personalities. Plus I just love the naval setting. Not to spoil too much, but the concept of "liveships" is a beautiful thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 That never really bothered me because for me that wasn't the central plot. For me the central plot of the story is the coming of age story of Fitz, his trials and tribulations, his relationships with those around him, and his growth and learning. The tropey quest to save the world from an ultimate evil was my least favorite part of the story and seemed more like a game of 'gotcha'.True, but if you're going to spend so much time building the Red-Ships up as a big threat, using them to drive the plot for so much of the story, then a single paragraph to conclude that all feels thin. I agree that Fitz is the most important, but you still have do the other plotlines justice. I dunno. Think I'm with First of His Name here. The Red Ships were the main driver for the entire plot. Almost everything that happened was due to a need to sort those fuckers out. And for it all to be tied up so quickly, off page, was hugely frustrating. Same with Regal. I almost stopped reading Royal Assassin because of the rage and frustration that he engendered. I mean, what an asshole. And having made us suffer through his bullshit, I felt Hobb owed us some payback. If ever a book needed an epilogue, it was Assassin's Quest.Agreed. It was a good ending that could have been great with a bit more effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 True, but if you're going to spend so much time building the Red-Ships up as a big threat, using them to drive the plot for so much of the story, then a single paragraph to conclude that all feels thin. I agree that Fitz is the most important, but you still have do the other plotlines justice. Agreed. It was a good ending that could have been great with a bit more effort. I feel like what was done to resolve that plot line was perfectly fine for a boogey man threat that was never really fleshed out through three books. If this was a story centralized around Verity I'd agree with you, but for a story about Fitz? It doesn't make sense. He is the catalyst, not the hero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Yeah, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I watched Star Trek III with Slovene subtitles. For some silly reason that sentence stuck with me. I find občutek to be an adorable word. I see some people advise jumping to Hobb's third trilogy in the Farseer world, after having read the first one. Any particular reason to do so?By third i presume you mean Tawny Man? If so, the reason is the Liveships does not follow Fitz. It is quite strongly tied into his tale, and events from that trilogy are referenced in The Tawny Man trilogy. But it still makes sende if you havent read Liveships. Liveships is multiple POVs, rather than first person POV of Fitz.I'm currently working my way through the older Megan Lindholm stuff. I'm impressed so far. The style is different to her work as Hobb, but it is still very good all the same. I'm really looking forward to getting on to the Quartet. I'm hoping to fit it in before Fool's Quest comes out, but I've far too many books to read.in the meantime. The Reindeer People was a great read too. Cant wait to finish up the story with Wolfs Brother. I've also read Alien Earth, which I enjoyed for all I am not big on sci-fi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 True, but if you're going to spend so much time building the Red-Ships up as a big threat, using them to drive the plot for so much of the story, then a single paragraph to conclude that all feels thin. I agree that Fitz is the most important, but you still have do the other plotlines justice. Here's the thing though - We knew early on in the story that the Elderlings would bring an end to the threat of the Red Ships if only they could be found and brought back to the 6 Duchies. As it turned out, the Elderlings/dragons were literal deus ex machina - thus in my mind the threat of the Red Ships was basically over once Verity-as-Dragon and girl-on-a-dragon became animate and mowed down Regal's soldiers. Certainly when Fitz and Nighteyes bumbled into animating the sleeping dragons in the swamp, it was all academic. I didn't need another 50-100 pages of detail describing the downfall of the Red Ships at that point. Thus, the resolution of the plot was in finding Verity and awakening the Elderlings (the "assassin's quest," if you will). The dragons vaporizing the Red Ships necessitated no more than a postscript, which we pretty much what we got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Are the names there translated or left as in the original? (Sorry everybody else for the thread derail.) The Slovene edition has the "speaking names" translated, so that they sound decidedly odd against the other names (Burrich sounds very foreign in a Slovene text, for example, and I still have no idea how to pronounce it). I am all for translating names when they have a meaning, but I am sure there is a better version than FitzPravični ... :ack: ... and then they should have appropriated the other names too, so that they would not stick out that weirdly. Translated yeah, I don't think you could leave them unchanged, right? So there's Plemeniti (Chivalry), Lukavi (Shrewd), Istiniti (Verity), etc. Burrich, you say? Here it's Berik. But, you know we tend to use transcription over here. Or is it transliteration? Never knew which is which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I feel like what was done to resolve that plot line was perfectly fine for a boogey man threat that was never really fleshed out through three books. If this was a story centralized around Verity I'd agree with you, but for a story about Fitz? It doesn't make sense. He is the catalyst, not the hero.Here's the thing though - We knew early on in the story that the Elderlings would bring an end to the threat of the Red Ships if only they could be found and brought back to the 6 Duchies. As it turned out, the Elderlings/dragons were literal deus ex machina - thus in my mind the threat of the Red Ships was basically over once Verity-as-Dragon and girl-on-a-dragon became animate and mowed down Regal's soldiers. Certainly when Fitz and Nighteyes bumbled into animating the sleeping dragons in the swamp, it was all academic. I didn't need another 50-100 pages of detail describing the downfall of the Red Ships at that point. Thus, the resolution of the plot was in finding Verity and awakening the Elderlings (the "assassin's quest," if you will). The dragons vaporizing the Red Ships necessitated no more than a postscript, which we pretty much what we got.You both make valid points, and while parts of the ending still felt unsatisfactory to me, I agree with most of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Translated yeah, I don't think you could leave them unchanged, right? So there's Plemeniti (Chivalry), Lukavi (Shrewd), Istiniti (Verity), etc. Burrich, you say? Here it's Berik. But, you know we tend to use transcription over here. Or is it transliteration? Never knew which is which. Well some people are strongly against changing names. But when the names are telling like here, yup, it would not make much sense. How is FitzChivalry translated? That is the most tricky one. Slavic languages do not have anything that is equal to the prefix Fitz-, at least as far as I know. Berik is okay. Much better than leaving it "Burrich", leaving all the readers wondering how it is supposed to be pronounced. And I mix up transliteration and transcription all the time too ... :leaving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Fixit Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 How is FitzChivalry translated? That is the most tricky one. Slavic languages do not have anything that is equal to the prefix Fitz-, at least as far as I know. Not an ideal solution really; Fitz was translated as knežević as in 'son of knez/prince/duke', although in this instance it also doubles as a hypocorism or a deminutive/term of endearment meaning 'little knez/prince/duke' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Not an ideal solution really; Fitz was translated as knežević as in 'son of knez/prince/duke', although in this instance it also doubles as a hypocorism or a deminutive/term of endearment meaning 'little knez/prince/duke' I see why this is not an ideal solution, the connection to the father's name goes lost in there, and the "bastard" meaning. But that is one of the hardest things to translate that I have seen. :dunno: At least it does not sound ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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