Ok dopers. I love fantasy books but I have serious gaps in my reading.
Would you please give me your opinion of this series and, if possible, recommend me which I should read first?
The choices are:
Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb.
Liveship series by Robin Hobb.
Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkin.
Fionovar series by Guy Gabriel Kay.
Chronicles of Prydian by Lloyd Alexander.
Please tell me if any of these “preselections” are not worth my time. I would also apreciate the reasons why you like, hate or love any of these. No spoilers please
Chronicles of Prydain is brilliant but it is written for children. It might not have the same impact for an adult.
Fionavar is a lot of fun, but it is very derivative. Kay threw all the elements from Extruded Fantasy Product into a pot and stirred. Since he is a good writer, the end result is still pretty good. His later stuff is much less derivative, by the way.
Sword of Truth series–I only read the first one and had no desire to read the rest. I heard that he rides his hobby-horses pretty hard in the later ones.
The Robin Hobb serieses–I read some of her first series, which I think is the Tawny Man. I liked it well enough to finish the series, but not, I guess, well enough to seek out the Liveship series.
So, of the ones you mentioned, I would recommend Fionavar, Prydain with the notation “for children,” and Robin Hobbs. I would recommend avoiding Sword of Truth.
For the Robin Hobb series, read the Assassin series first, then the Liveship series, and then the Tawny Man. That’s the chronological order, and if you read them out of order, then you will be somewhat confused.
I would avoid all Terry Goodkind books, and have no opinion on the other books, as I haven’t read them.
The Fionavar series is one of the few things I’ve reread many times.
I read parts of the Liveship series while sitting in Borders waiting for my husband, but didn’t like them well enough to actually buy them. Haven’t read any of the others.
Don’t bother with the sword of truth series, its not very good. I’ve read the assassin series from Robin Hobb and it was very good, if you haven’t read that you should before you pick up any of his other works.
Finovar really isn’t derivative, in my opinion–it’s an homage to the tradition, especially Tolkien, and an attempt to show that you can do something new while staying withing the traditional confines of the genre. He elevates the Tolkien mythos to the same level as the other great mythical traditions of the world–Norse, Greek, Christian, and Arthurian.
A professor once told me that derivative is when you are hoping like hell they won’t notice, and an homage is when you are hoping like hell that they will.
That said, I always start people on Tigana for Kay.
Another vote against the Sword of Truth series. I haven’t read any of the other series but liked the Farseer series by Robin Hobb. I read Tigana by Kay and was mostly bored.
Of those the only series that I thought went to the level of “passable” is Fionovar but it’s pretty heavy handed with its allegory (what people are apparently calling “derivative”). Personally I’d keep away from any of those; there’s better things to spend your time with.
Prydain is a work of genius. I loved it as a kid (it and Narnia are what got me hooked on fantasy), and I’ve reread it as an adult and I find it surprisingly deep. Recognize that it has a child’s sense of humor, and enjoy it.
Fionavar was, in my opinion, a piece of crap. I read all three books, kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It never did. I really like most of Guy Gavriel Kay’s works; this was the only one that I steer people away from. It was like Tolkien meets the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. Sailing to Sarantium is my favorite work by him.
And I just finished book 2 of the Liveship series, and am going upstairs now to begin book 3. They’re quite good, I think. Similar to Song of Ice and Fire, chapters are written from different characters’ viewpoints. Also similar, there are utterly repellent characters who, when you’re reading their chapters, suddenly become understandable–if still repellent. It’s a good read.
I am also reading the Liveship series. Robin Hobb is unusual in that her characters have some depth and some level of believable growth throughout the series. I really am enjoying the Liveship series and actually like it much better than the Assassin ones. The Assasin ones were wonderful save for my periodic ennui with the main character. I also think the ideas and the conceits behind Liveship are more interesting.
I wanted to add that there is nothing like having a Kindle for instant satisfaction when reading a series of books like this. I don’t even have to pause between the last page of book two and the first page of book three. I really really love the Kindle.
A lot of this is just going to be an echo, but here’s my two cents:
The Pyrdain Chronicles are absolute classics. If you’ve never read them, you must, even if they are written for kids.
I’ve read the Assassin series and Liveship series by Robin Hobb. I enjoyed them, though they were a little different. If I were still reading as much as I used to, I’d read the rest.
Guy Gavriel Kay is one of my all time favorite authors, but the first of the Fionavir trilogy is one of the very few books I wasn’t able to get through. It was just so similar to other works that every few pages I was dragged out of the story by thoughts of, “Oh, like in Lord of the Rings”. It turned into too much of a slog for me. Everything else of his I’ve loved, though. My absolute favorite is Sailing to Sarantium. Brilliant.
That leaves the Goodkind series. Don’t. Just don’t. I actually liked the first one or two, but they went very downhill very quickly, and in retrospect, even the first couple were pretty awful.
I’ve never read Sword of Truth, and based on what people have said, I probably never should. I haven’t been able to get into any of Kay’s books that I’ve picked up to try.
I agree with the others, you should read the Assassin series first, then Liveships, otherwise you will be somewhat lost. They’re all really, really good.
Prydian is youth-oriented, but still interesting and deep enough for adult reading. They are based somewhat on Welsh mythology.
Prydain is a classic and a true work of genius - the last book is amazing, but you have to work your way up to it. It’s written with an age progression going on - the first couple books are “younger” but then, damn.
Fionavar is fantastic, amazing, awesome in the first book. The second book is half-awesome. The third book I keep forgetting what happened.
ETA - Sword of Truth? I mean, really? There’s good fantasy out there. IMHO, the Liveship books are better but certainly no prize. If you have Lloyd Alexander on one hand and Terry Goodkind on the other, I think you need to go wash one of your hands.
ETAA - by the way, and not relevant to the thread, I picked up A Game of Thrones because I was hard up for something to read on my break. I thought it was going to be another crappy Robert Jordan-esque Epic Fantasy and not worth my time. I can’t put the damned thing down so far. Exceeded expectations +++