First of My Name Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 25 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said: While I agree (obviously, since I said it first ) that it's frustrating Hide contents It's not something that can easily be resolved. The reunion of Kyle and Malta, bearing in mind the vastly different people each of them are by the end of the novel (Kyle and quivering, slightly mad wreck of a man because of his captivity, Malta a strong, thoughtful and intelligent young Trader) would likely take considerable time to satisfactorily resolve. And the books are already very long. Also, I happen to think a reunion of Malta and Kyle is the least important of the missed reunions - we've already seen Malta realise her faults in idolising and relying on seemingly strong male figures in her life. In that sense the lack of reunion is somewhat tragic really - a lot of Malta's motivation is in rescuing her father, and this is snatched away at the very last moment. There is a certain irony in that. I would rather have seen him confront Keffria and Wintrow. But again, length. It's not a particularly good reason for the omission of course, but I suspect that is why he was so quickly killed off. Spoiler Malta catching a glimpse of Kyle before he died would've been enough for me, she could see what has become of him. She wouldn't even have needed to be face-to-face - they were on two ships that were pretty much next to each other. Kyle and Wintrow is less interesting to me, although it would've been good. I agree about Keffria, though. She might be the one who had the most unresolved issues with Kyle. If Kyle survived the final battle and was taken back to Bingtown, we could have seen reunions between all three. It wouldn't have taken more than 25 pages. But then it's hard to figure out a way to kill him afterwards, so we lose a pretty satisfying part of the book for this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Well, slightly off topic RainWild spoilers, but Spoiler I fricking love the way Hest meets his end. I laughed for like an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 12 hours ago, Darth Richard II said: Well, slightly off topic RainWild spoilers, but Hide contents I fricking love the way Hest meets his end. I laughed for like an hour. I better dodge these spoilers for now. The general opinion is that the Rain wilds books aren't as good as the other elderling books. Is it one that is skippable to enjoy the events in Fitz and the Fool? Sort of curious why they are disliked so much when Hobb has shown she can write well in the setting. Or is it a series where her flaws are most apparent eg pacing and the dreaded OTT villain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 1 minute ago, red snow said: I better dodge these spoilers for now. The general opinion is that the Rain wilds books aren't as good as the other elderling books. Is it one that is skippable to enjoy the events in Fitz and the Fool? Sort of curious why they are disliked so much when Hobb has shown she can write well in the setting. Or is it a series where her flaws are most apparent eg pacing and the dreaded OTT villain? There are definite problems with pacing (natural, since iirc it started out as a stand alone book, then became a duology, and eventually became 4 books) and the plot is very slow too. I still enjoyed them but they are definitely the most flawed RotE books. I'd say they are still worth the read. Especially if you intend to read the new trilogy too, since events in The Rain Wilds have an impact on the current series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said: There are definite problems with pacing (natural, since iirc it started out as a stand alone book, then became a duology, and eventually became 4 books) and the plot is very slow too. I still enjoyed them but they are definitely the most flawed RotE books. I'd say they are still worth the read. Especially if you intend to read the new trilogy too, since events in The Rain Wilds have an impact on the current series It's probably a way off but I guess my plan would be liveships, break, Tawny man, break, (Rainwilds, break) and then Fitz and the fool. Which is probably a 3-4 year plan. Unless the series really clicks into place for me and I wind up on a RobinHobb year like last year turned out with Stephen King. It would benefit my "read more books by female authors" but a fairer goal would be to make it "authors" and not just "books" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 12 hours ago, Darth Richard II said: Well, slightly off topic RainWild spoilers, but Hide contents I fricking love the way Hest meets his end. I laughed for like an hour. It's probably the funniest death scene I've ever read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Just now, SeanF said: Hide contents It's probably the funniest death scene I've ever read Its so funny yet such a satisfying end for him. Chomp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 3 hours ago, red snow said: I better dodge these spoilers for now. The general opinion is that the Rain wilds books aren't as good as the other elderling books. Is it one that is skippable to enjoy the events in Fitz and the Fool? Sort of curious why they are disliked so much when Hobb has shown she can write well in the setting. Or is it a series where her flaws are most apparent eg pacing and the dreaded OTT villain? I'm reading the series now and am enjoying it so far. Personally I find it about on par with Liveships, and I know this is going to be odd, but so far I like the first book better than Liveships. But I'm one of those weird ones that thinks Liveships isn't as good as Farseer or Tawny Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 3 hours ago, red snow said: The general opinion is that the Rain wilds books aren't as good as the other elderling books. Is it one that is skippable to enjoy the events in Fitz and the Fool? Sort of curious why they are disliked so much when Hobb has shown she can write well in the setting. Or is it a series where her flaws are most apparent eg pacing and the dreaded OTT villain? I disliked the Rain Wilds books the first time I read them, I gave up after the first two, and I'm generally a fan of Hobb. As Helena said it was originally intended to be one book, a fairly slow paced one at that, and it's basically just been divided into four parts so I found it fairly irritating having to wait years to finish. Having said that they have become relevant to the latest series so I've decided to give them another go now the series is available to read in one go once I've finished my Liveships reread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I like them. As stated it's basically one book split in four so the pacing is off but I thought the last two were really great. Soldier Son gets shit on a lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 I thought The Rain Wilds had some very cliched romance elements, which made the books less interesting than the rest in the same world. Spoilers for Rain Wilds Spoiler Alise and Leftrin were interesting characters in their own right until they met and fell in love, after than I might just be reading some historical romance. I most enjoyed how Alise's situation was set up in the beginning with her late singlehood and eventual marriage; I hoped to see her develop from there in front of Hest, defying him, or at least confronting him in the end. None of the characters that mattered - Alise and Sedric - confronted Hest in the end. That was the confrontation that never happened that to me seemed much worse than Kyle not meeting any of the family before his death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 I'm enjoying Kennet as an unwitting Spartacus far more than the "making everyone's lives miserable for the sake of it" Vestrid family. It looks pretty clear how the two stories will collide but there's time for that to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Golden Fool spoilers This is much better than I remember it being, and I liked it well enough first time around. Just hit Nighteyes' death and it's hit me just as hard even knowing what was coming. Not sure why it's so impactful, but it's masterfully done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Just read the first Molta POV chapter. I guess I have to give Hobb credit for writing a character that gets under my skin so easily. She blows Sansa out of the water in terms of naive girl wanting to be a woman madness. Although it is sort of fun how she sees things and is unaware of how others/majoirity view her actions. Although I'm noticing this is a strength of Hobb's now thrat she's writing from multiple POVs - most of the characterss view reality in a very different light to how others interpret it. Kennet is another good example with his constant misunderstanding of how others view his actions and there are elements ofit with Wintro and Althea too. It's a good reflection of real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 At this stage of the story, Malta is far more obnoxious than Sansa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Yup. Sansa just tries to be a proper grown up lady and does not go out of her way to be disobedient, in fact she tries to conform to the rules she was taught and not hurt anybody. She tries to do what her family expects her to do. Malta, on the other hand, actively disregards everything her family or anybody else tells her, does not recognise any authority except her worthless father and just tries to make herself ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 8 hours ago, SeanF said: At this stage of the story, Malta is far more obnoxious than Sansa. Most definitely. 7 hours ago, Buckwheat said: Yup. Sansa just tries to be a proper grown up lady and does not go out of her way to be disobedient, in fact she tries to conform to the rules she was taught and not hurt anybody. She tries to do what her family expects her to do. Malta, on the other hand, actively disregards everything her family or anybody else tells her, does not recognise any authority except her worthless father and just tries to make herself ridiculous. That's also a good distinction - Sansa never embarasses society in her behaviour just pushes what's actually expected of her. Malta's behaviour does at least fit with the book's theme of everything essentially going Kyle's way and that those who side with him tend to be equally misguided. Although I did enjoy how Kyle's "I can't wait to sell my daughter off to a profitable suitor" shone throughout out the scenes where he was agreeing to let her go to the ball - pretty good considering he wasn't a POV in that scene and that the actual POVs didn't pick up on it. It's definitely the aspect of Hobb's writing I'm really enjoying in this book the way the characters can shine via subtext. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 In the final stretch of ship of magic. The physical abuse of several of the characters is pretty horrible and the mental abuse of Vivacia and Wintro is full on. I like how they don't shy away from the unpleasantness of slavery. At this stage Kyle has to be suffering some mental breakdown although more worrying is the possibility he sees everyone as his property from the slaves to his wife and children. I'm trying to recall if I met any characters from Chalcid in the assassin books but if Kyle is a product of their society then they are going to be an unpleasant bunch. I still have no idea what the serpents are about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 3 hours ago, red snow said: In the final stretch of ship of magic. The physical abuse of several of the characters is pretty horrible and the mental abuse of Vivacia and Wintro is full on. I like how they don't shy away from the unpleasantness of slavery. At this stage Kyle has to be suffering some mental breakdown although more worrying is the possibility he sees everyone as his property from the slaves to his wife and children. I'm trying to recall if I met any characters from Chalcid in the assassin books but if Kyle is a product of their society then they are going to be an unpleasant bunch. I still have no idea what the serpents are about. There are no Chalcedean characters in the Assassin books. They are mentioned a few time since in passing, and you get Burrich's family history of being slaves. The Chalcedeans are indeed an unpleasant lot. As with the Assassin books, I find Hobb picks up the pace massively towards the end of each book. And yeah, lots of brutality, lots of emotional trauma. Not for the faint of heart. The serpents are really interesting. I enjoyed their part in the story but also the Serpent POV, which I thought well written as clearly being an non-human POV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 I should think that being a woman in Chalced is considerably worse than being a woman in Saudi Arabia. Although things may change under the rule of Chassim. But, she may be a ruthless tyrant in other ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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