New trilogy featuring Fitz and the Fool by Robin Hobb

[red snow]

You can ignore The Liveship trilogy, it really doesn't have much relevance for the Fitz narrated books.

I would however start with Assassin's Apprentice, then read the second trilogy, and then read this new one, Fool's Assassin. You will love the backstory.

The books sound like a safe bet as far as fantasy reads go and I've been meaning to give Hobb a try for a while. I can always come back to the liveship books if the world appeals.

[Pliskin]

The books sound like a safe bet as far as fantasy reads go and I've been meaning to give Hobb a try for a while. I can always come back to the liveship books if the world appeals.

I would not advise you to do so. There are important changes to the world after each trilogy. Reading the second Fitz trilogy would spoil the outcome and twists of The Liveship Traders even if they're not set in the same place. They're meant to be read in that order.

And I don't see the point of Calibander. The Liveship Traders books are part of the world building. And I have to point out again that for an ASoIaF fan, they're way better than the Fitz books.

[HexMachina]

I would not advise you to do so. There are important changes to the world after each trilogy. Reading the second Fitz trilogy would spoil the outcome and twists of The Liveship Traders even if they're not set in the same place. They're meant to be read in that order.

And I don't see the point of Calibander. The Liveship Traders books are part of the world building. And I have to point out again that for an ASoIaF fan, they're way better than the Fitz books.

I read the Liveships after the Tawny Man and it didn't affect my enjoyment of them at all. You are only really spoiled on a few of the broader outcomes, and of course the minor spoiler that

Amber = the Fool

but that is fairly obvious anyway.

ETA: Calibander said:

...but one of the specific things that does interest me is how much time Hobb gives to the Witted people and their bonds, and for Fitz especially of course. I'm also interested in seeing what she does with the younger generation, Dutiful, Ellania, Nettle, Thick etc. Likewise I am also expecting that after the Rain Wild chronicles, there should or could be some interaction with the dragons. Obnviusly I have no idea about the book's plot at this point so can't say if that will be on the cards.

Hmm, rather vague and general spoilers for the book then:

None of this is really included. Though we learn a little about Ellania's position as Queen, which is interesting. Nettle is featured quite a bit, and Riddle too. Very little mention of the Wit. So far no dragons as such. The plot...well, I would not have guessed it before I read the book. So far, Rain Wild Chronicles doesn't appear to be a "must read" before this book, as there are only vague mentions of dragons, and one mention of Kelsingra. But we'll see where the rest of the trilogy takes us I guess. Oh, and interestingly enough, this is the first Fitz book with more than one POV.

[Pliskin]

I read the Liveships after the Tawny Man and it didn't affect my enjoyment of them at all. You are only really spoiled on a few of the broader outcomes, and of course the minor spoiler that

Amber = the Fool

but that is fairly obvious anyway.

I didn't care about the

Amber = the Fool.

thing. I knew that from the start.

It's the outcome of the story that I was talking about.

The snakes being baby dragons, the fate of the characters, all that stuff.

It would be the same as reading The Liveship traders before the first Fitz trilogy. It would spoil the

twist with the dragons

in the first Fitz trilogy. Because in each subsequent trilogy, they obviously talk about the current state of the world.

[HexMachina]

Well I can honestly say it didn't bother me.at all reading in the order I did. Enjoyed it perfectly well even though I'd already read the Tawny Man trilogy, and didn't feel too spoiled

[Underfoot]

The books sound like a safe bet as far as fantasy reads go and I've been meaning to give Hobb a try for a while. I can always come back to the liveship books if the world appeals.

I would strongly recommend reading Farseer - Liveship - Tawny Man. There are quite a few things that wouldn't make a lot of sense in the Tawny Man trilogy (second Fitz/Fool trilogy) if you hadn't read the Liveship Trilogy. They are all minor things, but IMO Tawny Man is definitely more enjoyable having read the Liveship trilogy.

Liveship is just as good as the Fitz/Fool stuff, but the trilogies are quite different (tone-wise, story-wise, and setting-wise), so everybody has different answers on which are better.

[peterbound]

Amber being the fool wasn't that much of a surprise, and the Dragons in the LIveship books are entirely different than those in the first FitzFool novels, so I don't know how that would fuck up the reading experience.

[Pliskin]

You should put some spoiler tags...

And again, this is not the problem. The problem is that at the beginning of each trilogy, there are talks about what happened in the previous one.
For example, in The Liveship Traders, there are rumors about

dragons in the Six Duchies.

In the Tawny Man,

first, there are rumors about dragons in Bingtown (or whatever the region is, I forgot about it), and later on the events are told by the characters of The Liveship traders themselves, which ruins everything: the true nature of the liveships, of the snakes, the outcome of the characters, the story, everything.

[peterbound]

I don't agree. I think you could read them in any order you want, and still find enjoyment in the books. I realize that you have terrified spoiler mind syndrome, but she does a pretty good job of writing the books so that you can read them a little out of order.

Ya, you could could skip straight to tawny man, and not get that wrecked if you went back and read liveship. Don't get me wrong, I dug the books, and think it adds to the over all story, but if you just wanted to read about fitz, it wouldn't take that much away.

[red snow]

Thanks for the info everyone. I had thought the liveship trilogy was independent but it clearly seems to have an effect or embellish the world from the first trilogy. I'll probably play it safe and plow through the whole lot as long as I'm enjoying them. No-one seems to have a problem with the liveship trilogy so I'll give it a go when I get there. Could be a while before I get onto the new series if there's 9 books to read prior.

[HexMachina]

Thanks for the info everyone. I had thought the liveship trilogy was independent but it clearly seems to have an effect or embellish the world from the first trilogy. I'll probably play it safe and plow through the whole lot as long as I'm enjoying them. No-one seems to have a problem with the liveship trilogy so I'll give it a go when I get there. Could be a while before I get onto the new series if there's 9 books to read prior.

Well if you are going the whole hog, then you should read the Rain Wild Chronicles too. So there are 13 books to read

[red snow]

Well if you are going the whole hog, then you should read the Rain Wild Chronicles too. So there are 13 books to read

Bloody hell - the slog of slogs :) All good if the books are good but I'll have to take some breaks in between series at least or i'll go stir-crazy and think i live in the world.

[Pliskin]

Ya, you could could skip straight to tawny man, and not get that wrecked if you went back and read liveship. Don't get me wrong, I dug the books, and think it adds to the over all story, but if you just wanted to read about fitz, it wouldn't take that much away.

I'm not saying that it takes away from the Fitz books. I don't care about the Fitz books actually. I'm saying that it takes away from the Liveship books, which is a pity since I consider them to be great.

If you want to read only about Fitz, yes, you can ignore the Liveship books. But if you intend to read them in the future, you should read them before the Tawny Man, unless you want to be spoiled. That's my point. You can call that a spoiler syndrome or anything you'd like. But I'm glad I didn't know the outcome of the story and the twists I enjoyed, and I wouldn't want anyone to lose that when reading those books I love.

[Prue]

I would recommend reading the Farseer trilogy, Liveships and then Tawny Man. The Dragonwild books aren't that important for the new book. None of the characters have appeared so far in the new trilogy. I suppose you could still go back to them to fill the time till the next Fitz book comes out, just in case that the dragon wild books play a more important role in the next book.

[Calibandar]

These discussions about whether or not one should read the Liveship trilogy always pop up every time someone asks for a recommendation or says that he or she intends to read Farseer.

My opinion is completely in line with Peterbound's, and I have read all 9 books. If red Snow is interested in reading the Fitz books, start with Assassin's Apprentice. You can skip right ahead to Fool's Errand after the first trilogy, there is no need to read the Liveship trilogy.

However if you *want* to read the Liveship trilogy, by all means go ahead and read it in the order of publication. Just know that Liveship is a different kettle of fish and that if you find it a slog to get through ( as I did) , you can drop it and just move on to the second Fitz trilogy. It's a different settimg, different characters, and like her later Rain Wild Chronicles books it barely touches on the Fitz narrated Six Duchies stories.

[Underfoot]

Amber being the fool wasn't that much of a surprise, and the Dragons in the LIveship books are entirely different than those in the first FitzFool novels, so I don't know how that would fuck up the reading experience.

Well, to be fair, events and characters from the Liveship books DO show up in the Tawny Man books:

Selden and a bunch of Rain Wilders show up at Kettricken's court to ask for money to feed the new dragons. That would be completely random for someone who hasn't read the Liveship books. Tintaglia shows up at the end to help Icefyre get free from the Pale Woman's dragon/men. Lord Golden interacts with Jek, and she talks about Althea and Brashen's child. The Fool/Lord Golden is suddenly rich (from Igrot's buried treasure), and that would also not be explained without having read the Liveship trilogy.

So yeah, nothing major, but some of those things would seem random to someone who hadn't read Liveship. The books are still readable and very enjoyable, but I feel that you'd get more out of Tawny Man having already read the Liveship trilogy.

[aceluby]

Well if you are going the whole hog, then you should read the Rain Wild Chronicles too. So there are 13 books to read

I'd be depressed for a year if I read that much Hobb at once. I love her writing, but she can be really bleak at times.

[peterbound]

Well, to be fair, events and characters from the Liveship books DO show up in the Tawny Man books:

Selden and a bunch of Rain Wilders show up at Kettricken's court to ask for money to feed the new dragons. That would be completely random for someone who hasn't read the Liveship books. Tintaglia shows up at the end to help Icefyre get free from the Pale Woman's dragon/men. Lord Golden interacts with Jek, and she talks about Althea and Brashen's child. The Fool/Lord Golden is suddenly rich (from Igrot's buried treasure), and that would also not be explained without having read the Liveship trilogy.

So yeah, nothing major, but some of those things would seem random to someone who hadn't read Liveship. The books are still readable and very enjoyable, but I feel that you'd get more out of Tawny Man having already read the Liveship trilogy.

Icefyre showing up to help might create some interest in reading liveship, but isn't integral to enjoying fitz's story.

[peterbound]

I'd be depressed for a year if I read that much Hobb at once. I love her writing, but she can be really bleak at times.

and ya, this. She's pretty fucking dark at times.

Throw in some solider son and you'll want to eat a bullet.

[HexMachina]

I'd be depressed for a year if I read that much Hobb at once. I love her writing, but she can be really bleak at times.

I didn't recommend reading them all at once :p