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adastrame's reviews
263 reviews
The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The dualities of this book are manifold. It was fun to read, and I read it in record time. But what really actually happened in the plot? Why is the book called "The Golden Fool", when the Fool is barely the focus of 90% of the book?
As I said, I really enjoyed reading it. It's just so well written and the characters are fun, as is slowly uncovering the mysteries of this universe. But I'm definitely disappointed by the lack of actual story progress regarding the titular character of both the book and the trilogy here. That is made even worse byFitz and the Fool having this silly fight, and then behaving like stupid teenagers half of the book. Instead of sitting down and having a serious, adult conversation, they are stonewalling each other, and are being cold, petty and just infuriatingly silly. I just want them to get over themselves and their stupid medieval ideas and be each other's beloved. It was fairly obvious to me that this was just a plot device to stall the plot and drag it out for what I assume will be the conclusion in book three of this trilogy. I hate it. That's one of the reasons why this book is not a solid 5/5 for me.
Another reason for me is the lack of animals. All of the books with Fitz really shined with his bond beasts, and I felt that these characters were really missing here. I understand why it's missing here, but it still altogether makes it feel like this book is not whole. Very much a second book experience focusing more on world-building than plot advancement.
As I said, I really enjoyed reading it. It's just so well written and the characters are fun, as is slowly uncovering the mysteries of this universe. But I'm definitely disappointed by the lack of actual story progress regarding the titular character of both the book and the trilogy here. That is made even worse by
Another reason for me is the lack of animals. All of the books with Fitz really shined with his bond beasts, and I felt that these characters were really missing here. I understand why it's missing here, but it still altogether makes it feel like this book is not whole. Very much a second book experience focusing more on world-building than plot advancement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Gore
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, and Suicide
Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fitz is back! 💖 This book is set ~15 years after the Farseer Trilogy (and incorporates some minor details from the Liveship Traders as well). Fitz has been living in isolation, but soon his old life comes chasing him into a new adventure.
Reading this book was both wholesome and heartbreaking. It's soo good to see all the characters coming back together, it feels like coming home after a long, long time away. The Fool is back under yet another guise, and some of the other characters as well. Reluctantly, Fitz yet again does his duty, and goes through quite a bit of character development.
The heartbreaking part of this book is of courseNighteyes and his steadily declining health. Having had dogs and watching them grow old, I can really feel how hard it is to go through that. Sadly, it's a big part of caring for an animal that all who are bonded to them must go through.
This book, similarly to the Farseer books, handles animals so well. Having grown up with animals, I love reading how all these animals in this book are not only animals, but characters, no matter if wolf, dog, cat or horse. I don't think I've ever seen it done so well in fiction.
My only complaint with this book is thatFitz should really have just told Dutiful what was going on earlier. I understand it's difficult because of the cat/woman, but it was a bit infuriating. My second complaint was that the ending felt a bit like a Deus Ex Machina, with people arriving in the right place at precisely the right time .
This book was such a pleasure to read (despite it's heartbreaking aspects) that I devoured it in a week. I'm looking forward to book 2 and 3 of this trilogy.
Reading this book was both wholesome and heartbreaking. It's soo good to see all the characters coming back together, it feels like coming home after a long, long time away. The Fool is back under yet another guise, and some of the other characters as well. Reluctantly, Fitz yet again does his duty, and goes through quite a bit of character development.
The heartbreaking part of this book is of course
This book, similarly to the Farseer books, handles animals so well. Having grown up with animals, I love reading how all these animals in this book are not only animals, but characters, no matter if wolf, dog, cat or horse. I don't think I've ever seen it done so well in fiction.
My only complaint with this book is that
This book was such a pleasure to read (despite it's heartbreaking aspects) that I devoured it in a week. I'm looking forward to book 2 and 3 of this trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Injury/Injury detail
Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
TW: sexual assault
The third and final book of The Liveship Traders (and the sixth book in the Realm of the Elderlings series), Ship of Destiny finally converges ALL the plotlines and characters that were painstakingly established in the previous two, 900-page tomes. I stand by my verdict that all of these books are too lengthy and verbose, and focus too much on drawn-out conversations. But was it worth it? YES.
A lot of things happened in this final book that left me in emotional turmoil. First and foremost, there are all the revelations of Kennit, a character that I hated with a passion from the first book. He's a narcissistic, manipulative psychopath, there's no nicer way to say it. This book shows us why exactly he is how he is, sometimes even trying to make us sympathize with him and his tragic backstory. But by the time herapes one of the main characters, there's really no doubt left about him. The rape is shocking in more than one way, because I felt it comes with a lot of gaslighting and victim blaming . I just wanted to scream at all these characters to please just believe and listen to survivors ! Lots of tough topics to chew through here.
One of the most interesting hints this book revealed relate to the character of Amber. The book heavily implies that she isthe Fool from the Farseer books . While I'm trying to wrap my mind around that, I now seriously would like to re-read all 2700ish pages of these three books to see where that was coming from, and if there are more hints earlier on. Needless to say I'm excited to start reading The Tawny Man trilogy next.
Altogether, while I struggled a bit throughout the first 1-2 books of The Liveship Traders, I'm beginning to see why people say this is even better than the Farseer books. I don't think it's necessarily better. I really loved the Farseer books for their medieval vibes and the animals bonds. They are just two very different series. The Liveship Traders is overwhelming with it's vast amount of POV characters at first, but ultimately they all have their important place in the larger plot, and the character development is insane. A slow but great series, and I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of these characters (since there are 10 more books in the Realm of the Elderlings).
The third and final book of The Liveship Traders (and the sixth book in the Realm of the Elderlings series), Ship of Destiny finally converges ALL the plotlines and characters that were painstakingly established in the previous two, 900-page tomes. I stand by my verdict that all of these books are too lengthy and verbose, and focus too much on drawn-out conversations. But was it worth it? YES.
A lot of things happened in this final book that left me in emotional turmoil. First and foremost, there are all the revelations of Kennit, a character that I hated with a passion from the first book. He's a narcissistic, manipulative psychopath, there's no nicer way to say it. This book shows us why exactly he is how he is, sometimes even trying to make us sympathize with him and his tragic backstory. But by the time he
One of the most interesting hints this book revealed relate to the character of Amber. The book heavily implies that she is
Altogether, while I struggled a bit throughout the first 1-2 books of The Liveship Traders, I'm beginning to see why people say this is even better than the Farseer books. I don't think it's necessarily better. I really loved the Farseer books for their medieval vibes and the animals bonds. They are just two very different series. The Liveship Traders is overwhelming with it's vast amount of POV characters at first, but ultimately they all have their important place in the larger plot, and the character development is insane. A slow but great series, and I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of these characters (since there are 10 more books in the Realm of the Elderlings).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Vomit
The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
In this book, finally a lot of threads came together, but I still share some of the complaints that I had about the first book: It's too damn long. Too many drawn-out conversations especially. If this was streamlined into a book of 200-400 pages less, it would have been a riveting page turner. I still read it considerably fast for a 900 page book though.
The conclusion though, was yet again mostly a setup for book 3. Now, on to book 3, and what I hope will be the convergence of all these plotlines.
The conclusion though, was yet again mostly a setup for book 3. Now, on to book 3, and what I hope will be the convergence of all these plotlines.
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
After reading The Farseer Trilogy, which is the predecessor to this trilogy, I struggled a bit with my expectation of The Liveship Traders. This book feels very different, despite it being set in the same universe.
What I struggled with most is the vast number of different POV characters (unlike in Farseer, where we only see the world from Fitz' perspective). In this book, there are about 10 or so POV characters of varying degrees of interestingness. I found some of them extremely tedious to read and often found myself speed-reading over those, especially if they dragged on. That is another issue I had with this book; there are a lot of scenes and conversation that go on and on and on with very, very little actual valuable content.
Aside from these issues, the premise is certainly fascinating, and there are characters that I enjoyed reading about, in particular Althea, Winthrow and Vivacia. I feel that if the whole book was just Althea's or Vivacia's POV, and if it was condensed to 400-500 pages (instead of 880), it would have been absolutely brilliant.
What I struggled with most is the vast number of different POV characters (unlike in Farseer, where we only see the world from Fitz' perspective). In this book, there are about 10 or so POV characters of varying degrees of interestingness. I found some of them extremely tedious to read and often found myself speed-reading over those, especially if they dragged on. That is another issue I had with this book; there are a lot of scenes and conversation that go on and on and on with very, very little actual valuable content.
Aside from these issues, the premise is certainly fascinating, and there are characters that I enjoyed reading about, in particular Althea, Winthrow and Vivacia. I feel that if the whole book was just Althea's or Vivacia's POV, and if it was condensed to 400-500 pages (instead of 880), it would have been absolutely brilliant.
Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book lives up to its name, because it's probably one of the most epic quests I've experienced. 860 pages of hardship that this poor protagonist had to go through, but it's so well-written that it never got boring. The worldbuilding is excellent and feels so real and alive, with some low- to medium-fantasy elements that if I had to, I'd describe as "Medieval Sense8 with animals". I especially love that animals play such a big role in these books, it's not something that I commonly see done well in novels.
Great trilogy, can highly recommend, and will definitely read all the other books in the Realm of the Elderlings.
Great trilogy, can highly recommend, and will definitely read all the other books in the Realm of the Elderlings.
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
adventurous
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this world. So well written and fleshed out and never boring. So realistic that it really makes me appreciate living in a world of heated blankets. What a gripping, infuriating story, I can't wait to learn how it ends in book three.
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It took me a while to get into this book, having struggled a bit generally to find the time and mindspace to read, but at some point, I read the bulk of it within 2 days.
It's a great, immersive world with subtle, strange magic and lots of intriguing characters. I do have a lot more questions now that I finished the first book, which I hope will be answered in the second and third book.
It's a great, immersive world with subtle, strange magic and lots of intriguing characters. I do have a lot more questions now that I finished the first book, which I hope will be answered in the second and third book.
Estrogen Matters: Why Taking Hormones in Menopause Can Improve and Lengthen Women's Lives -- Without Raising the Risk of Breast Cancer by Avrum Bluming, Carol Tavris
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
An excellent summary of pertinent recent scientific findings on the effectiveness of HRT on women's <i>everything</i>. And if you prefer to look up the primary sources, the citation list is incredibly extensive.
This book confirms so much of what I've been suspecting, and what had me running with symptoms of brain fog, cyclical depression, joint pain and occasional insomnia to gynecologists, neurologists, psychologists, orthopedists and general practitioners for years, none of whom took me seriously when I suggested to them it might be hormones. It is fucking hormones. HRT would fucking help. But I have yet to convince one of these numerous doctors to actually give it to me. Wish me luck.
This book confirms so much of what I've been suspecting, and what had me running with symptoms of brain fog, cyclical depression, joint pain and occasional insomnia to gynecologists, neurologists, psychologists, orthopedists and general practitioners for years, none of whom took me seriously when I suggested to them it might be hormones. It is fucking hormones. HRT would fucking help. But I have yet to convince one of these numerous doctors to actually give it to me. Wish me luck.
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This novel is set in a post-Ragnarök viking society, which has lost none of the fierceness of what one would expect of vikings. The premise and the worldbuilding are really awesome, and the novel has a bunch of interesting characters that go through quite a development.
Despite all this, I found the book difficult to read. The writing style is not really my style, and tries too hard to emulate Old Norse and Old English poetry and <i>kenningar</i> at the expense of comprehension. Regardless, now that I'm invested, I'll have to read the next two books...
Despite all this, I found the book difficult to read. The writing style is not really my style, and tries too hard to emulate Old Norse and Old English poetry and <i>kenningar</i> at the expense of comprehension. Regardless, now that I'm invested, I'll have to read the next two books...