 UK edition | |
| Author | Robin Hobb |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jackie Morris |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Voyager (UK), Eos (US) |
| Published | 2005–07 |
The Soldier Son Trilogy is a fantasy novel series by Robin Hobb. Set in a new world unrelated to her previous trilogies, the Soldier Son trilogy follows the life of Nevare Burvelle, the second son of a newly elevated Lord of the Kingdom of Gernia.
The career of a person living in Gernia is heavily influenced by their parentage. Those sons born to common parentage follow their father's career. However, for the sons of a noble, things are different. The eldest son inherits his father's title, the second son serves as an officer in the army, the third son enters priesthood, while the fourth becomes an artist. This allocation continues for further sons. Daughters are relegated to submissive roles, being primarily used to forge social links with arranged marriages.
The first book, Shaman's Crossing , concerns Nevare's education. As a young boy on the vast plains, his position as the second son, the Soldier Son, is cemented from birth. From an early age, Nevare is drilled in mounted cavalla (Cavalry) techniques, riding, survival, tactics, and all aspects of life as an officer in the King's Cavalla. As a teenager, he has a first encounter with the Specks' magic (see below), which will influence the rest of his life. Later, as a young man, Nevare's education at the King's Cavalla Academy begins. Nevare suffers the consequences of being the son of a New Noble, when the struggle between Old Nobles and New Nobles in the court of Gernia affects the supposedly independent Academy.
Book two, Forest Mage , concerns Nevare's trip in disgrace to a town near Gettys, and his time at this farthest outpost in the King's Road construction. His connection with the Specks, a race of tree people who live on after their corporeal lives, develops further. The changes imposed to his body by the Specks' magic he wields, causes rejection and discrimination by most Gernians, including his family. In spite of it, he still pursues his dream of a military career. At the same time, he also tries to save the Specks' ancestors forest from the devastations produced by the Gernian's road advance.
The third and final book, Renegade's Magic , details Nevare's sojourn with the Specks in their extensive forest near the Barrier Mountains. His cousin and her husband Spink continue to deal with events in Gettys. Nevare's disjoint personalities are united to realize the initial goal of the magic, in spite of the serious consequences it has on Nevare's life. But balance is finally achieved.
 | This section includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(December 2009) |
The Soldier Son trilogy is set in a post-colonial secondary world that has drawn resemblance to the nineteenth century American frontier. [1] Scholars have identified critiques of colonialism in Hobb's writing, [2] [3] as well as an examination of culture-specific honor systems that blurs boundaries between the "self" and the "other". [1]
A civilised and warlike nation, Gernia, has taken to expanding its boundaries inland as a result of its coastal lands being lost to a neighbour's vastly superior naval force. The move inland involves conquering and assimilating native peoples- Plainsmen and Specks. It has been only one or two generations since the Plainsmen have been beaten into submission, and racial and cultural tensions simmer underneath the thin veneer of civilization. But even earlier, the Specks had beaten the fiercest Plainsmen warriors using simply magic. Both Gernians and Specks consider their societies, philosophies, and ways of life the only "civilized" options.
The greater themes of the series so far are: post-colonial backlash, loss of cultural identity, racial preconception and discrimination, and "Going Native"- a term applied to those of "civilized" nature who abandon their own culture and adopt the lifestyle of a more "savage" persuasion. Rigid class and gender stratification and limited opportunities for everybody are consistent with post-colonial times. Explicit magic and shamanism opposes conventional religion and rationalism.
Writing in The Times , critic Amanda Craig stated that the Soldier Son trilogy was filled with believable characters, and commended the series as "the kind of fantasy that Anthony Trollope would have written if he lived now". Craig described Hobb's writing as having a "gloriously original touch", and viewed the series' themes as a critique of military aggression in the wake of the Iraq War. [4] [5] The Guardian likewise felt the Soldier Son novels were "intelligent and deep", but critiqued them for lacking "the heart and page-turning spark" of Hobb's Elderlings series. [6]
Black magic, also known as Dark Magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes; or magic associated with the devil or other evil spirits. It is also sometimes referred to as the "left-hand path",. In modern times, some find that the definition of black magic has been convoluted by people who define magic or ritualistic practices that they disapprove of as black magic.
John Howe is a Canadian book illustrator and conceptual designer, best-known for his artwork of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One year after graduating from high school, he studied in a college in Strasbourg, France, then at the École des arts décoratifs in the same town.
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, better known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer. Her work spans the speculative fiction genre, ranging from secondary-world fantasy as Hobb, to urban fantasy and science fiction as Lindholm. She is best known for her novels set in the Realm of the Elderlings – comprising the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, the Rain Wild chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy – that are regarded as works of character-driven fantasy and have sold more than a million copies.
Assassin's Apprentice is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first book in The Farseer Trilogy. It was Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden's first book under this pseudonym, and was published in 1995. The book was written under the working title Chivalry’s Bastard.
Royal Assassin is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the second book in The Farseer Trilogy. It was published in 1996.
Assassin's Quest is a 1997 fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the third and final book in The Farseer Trilogy. It follows the exploits of FitzChivalry Farseer. While Fitz's narrative continues in The Tawny Man Trilogy, the Liveship Traders Trilogy is next in the chronology of the Realm of the Elderlings.
Shaman's Crossing is a book by Robin Hobb, the first in her Soldier Son Trilogy. It is written in first-person narrative from the viewpoint of Nevare Burvelle and follows his life through his first year in the King's Cavalla Academy.
Ship of Magic is a 1998 fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first in her Liveship Traders Trilogy.
C. E. Murphy is an American-born author, based in Ireland, who writes in the fantasy and romance genres. She is the author of the Walker Papers series, The Negotiator Trilogy, and the Inheritor's Cycle as well as The Strongbox Chronicles. She has also written the graphic novel Take a Chance.
The Farseer trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 1995 to 1997. It is often described as epic fantasy, and as a character-driven and introspective work. Set in and around the fictional realm of the Six Duchies, it tells the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, an illegitimate son of a prince who is trained as an assassin. Political machinations within the royal family threaten his life, and the kingdom is beset by naval raids. Fitz possesses two forms of magic: the telepathic Skill that runs in the royal line, and the socially despised Wit that enables bonding with animals. The series follows his life as he seeks to restore stability to the kingdom.
The Tawny Man trilogy is a series of novels by American author Robin Hobb, and the third trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings sequence. Narrated in first person by FitzChivalry Farseer, it follows his life in his mid-thirties, and is set after the events of the Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Traders.
Forest Mage is a 2006 fantasy novel by Robin Hobb, the second in her Soldier Son Trilogy.
Renegade's Magic is a book by Robin Hobb, the third in her Soldier Son Trilogy. The book follows Nevare, protagonist from the previous two novels, Forest Mage and Shaman's Crossing. Forced to hang for his alleged nefarious crimes, Nevare finally embraces the magic within himself and escapes. The battle between his Gernian and Speck identities is a central feature of the novel, highlighting themes such as loss of identity, and the impact of colonialism on native populations.
The Liveship Traders is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb. A nautical fantasy series, the Liveship Traders is the second trilogy set in the Realm of the Elderlings and features pirates, sea serpents, a family of traders and their living ships. Several critics regard it as Hobb's best work.
Ship of Destiny is a book by American writer Robin Hobb, the third and last in her Liveship Traders Trilogy.
The Rain Wild Chronicles is a quartet of fantasy novels by American author Robin Hobb, published from 2009 to 2013. It chronicles the re-emergence of dragons in the Rain Wilds, a setting in Hobb's fictional Realm of the Elderlings. It is her fourth series set in that world, following after the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, and features an entirely new cast of characters. The quartet features ecocentric themes, as it examines the reaction of humans to a new predator in the world.
Fool's Quest is the second book in the epic fantasy trilogy Fitz and the Fool, written by American author Robin Hobb. It was published by HarperCollins and released in August, 2015 and continues the story of FitzChivalry Farseer and his daughter Bee after the events of Fool's Assassin, published in 2014.
This is a complete list of works by American fantasy author Robin Hobb, the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden.
The Fitz and the Fool trilogy is the concluding subseries of the Realm of the Elderlings, a 16-book fantasy series by American author Robin Hobb. Published from 2014 to 2017, it features the protagonist FitzChivalry Farseer in his fifties, and follows his life with his wife Molly and daughter Bee Farseer. It was well-received by critics, with the Los Angeles Review of Books praising Hobb's characterization and portrayal of aging, and The Guardian positively viewing how the final book consolidated plot threads from across the series.