Blood of Dragons- finished!

It took me a week, and only because I was trying very hard to read slowly.
Gosh, it was so good and as always Robin Hobb delivers a very satisfying end that leaves you feeling so content and happy.
Best scene ever; Hest arriving at Kelsingra and seeing both Alise and Sedric happy without him. And even with his idiotic reasoning you could feel the pain. Ha ha ha ha ha! Bit of a cop-out about him getting eaten by Kalo though. Oh well.
Thymarra and Tats finally getting together was good, although I wished it would have happened a bit earlier than the last page. And I must admit to looking ahead in the book just to make sure that baby Ephron would make it (even though I kind of knew he would).
Selden and the Dutchess was pretty good too, and quite graphic about the Duke sucking his blood and all that. In the end I was happy not to have to experience the Dukes downfall, she did well leaving that out. It was also soooo lovely (yay yay yay) to see Brashen and Althea and Paragon again, even if it was very brief...
I do feel she has left it open to write more. I mean, lots of stories have only just begun. And who knows, maybe one day we will see good old Fitz again too. It was nice to have IceFyre there to remind you that Fitz isn't really that far away storywise.
Well, no real lows in this story, it was all great. I must say I do not care overly much for the dragons, but the humans and Elderlings make up for it tenfolds. So yes.
BEAUTIFUL BOOK! Yaaaaaay

Such awesomeness

The postcards have arrived! They are beautiful.
I wrote on the Solva Woollen Mill's facebook page and thanked them for posting them, and guess what?
Jackie Morris (the lady who illustrated the books) "liked" my post.
Squeek!

Just ordered

From a place in the UK.

One set for myself and one for my dear friend LR. Squeek!!!

City of Dragons

Finished!

I loved almost all of it; I had issues with the Duke of Chalced storyline but perhaps that is because I don't like the influence his character is having on the story. I don't like where it's going at all, poor Selden! Goodness, who will save him? The Duke's daughter is the only one I can think of. Or perhaps nobody will. Sadness.

It was great to have plenty about Reyn and Malta again although I sometimes found them a bit too lovey-dovey, they have certainly changed a lot since the Liveship books. That particular courtship was quite hilarious to read, back then.

Leftrin and Alise are a more interesting couple, but I'm wondering what the Tats vs Rapskal scenario will take us. I have a sneaking suspicion Rapskal will die somehow, kind of like how Burrich died at the end of the Tawny Man books. Tats was there in Thymarra's storyline from day one, and there must be a reason. I think anyways.

Not enough Sedric! Oh well, it'll be interesting when Hest gets there and meets Carson. Hest is definitely a dead man, eventually. Again, I think anyways.

And the dragons and Kelsingra? Most exciting of course. Hopefully Tintaglia isn't far away. She will be very happy, indeed.

Now I have to wait another year for the last book. Blah. Oh well. I think "Wise Mans Fear" should be due in the shops soon.

Except for that I will be waiting for the last of this series, and the last of Wheel of Time and book 6 of ASOIAF... perhaps it's time I began yet another fantasy series? Ha.

Tintaglia

They have released the first chapter of the next book in the Rain Wild Chronicles.

It's about Tintaglia and Icefyre. I love how Robin Hobb portrays these dragons; they are such arrogant and proud animals. Usually dragons are all wise and all-knowing and stuff- these ones behave like spoilt brats! Ha.

Well, it was a bit of a disturbing first chapter; people attacking the dragons and the dragons eating the corpses afterwards. I wonder what it means for the rest of the story; a war between humans and dragons? Where will that leave our Elderlings?

Can't wait until April!

This artwork has just been released

Cover for the next Robin Hobb book. It's due out early next year. I can't wait! I will finally get to read about what happens to beautiful Selden :-)
I'm not having much energy to read at the moment (I tend to sleep on the train rather than read) but doing a bit of a half-hearted re-read of The Eye of The World. I got a few different books on my wish-list for Christmas though, ha. Going to hand that list of H sometime soon.

Beauties...

Well, remember how I went to that bookshop in Burpengary and found awesome Robin Hobb books? I never did show pictures of them, silly me.

I got two for LT at work, and she actually has a third one at the moment (reading it) but here are the two that I still got in my possession. Aren't they gorgeous?

Looking around on ebay I also realised there is a third cover for the books too, SQUEAK. Some serious nerdy collecting to be had. Ha ha ha.

The picture on the right is of Fitz and his beloved Fool. Such beauty...

Dragon Haven

Finished it a couple of days ago. Very much itching for the next one, I tell you! It's really quite a fascinating story. In the beginning I found the characters hard to like but by the end of it I was in love with most of them! Apart from Thymarra; I just don't get her and I'm not sure what is going to happen with her growing wings and stuff. It's all a bit weird.

Hard parts to read at the end of this book; as in the demise of Greft and the death of Jerd's child. Also poor Sedrics confessions to Alise, I was aching for him. Such a beautiful love story between him and Carson, which makes me feel suspicious they are in for some bad heartache...

Also I must mention I was wrong about the keepers having babies that were Elderlings... it seems the dragons are making them into Elderlings with some blood and scale! That might just mean most of these characters are looking at very extended lifespans. Pretty cool, huh? This is the American cover of this book; as in not the cover of the actual book I have, but I think it's so pretty so I decided to use it here instead. Birthday party was fun yesterday and work was good today :-)

The Dragon Keeper

Finished this on the train home today and have already purchased the next one; Dragon Haven. Now this is actually a work in progress, she hasn't finished the third book yet. So yes, once again I'm left hanging for another book. This will be the third series now; after ASOIAF and WOT.

As you know, I absolutely loved the story of Fitz and the Fool and I also thoroughly enjoyed most of the Liveship Traders (as in everything with Althea, Brashen and Paragon at least) but this time I am not crazy about any character in particular. My favourite so-far must be Captain Leftrin, but perhaps that's just because he's such a romantic character (rough sailor who falls head-over-heels in love) but I don't particularly like Thymara or Alise and most certainly not Sedric. Oh well. They might redeem themselves, hey? And the dragons... well, attitude problem! Gah. Anyways, I have a theory. I think the Dragon Keepers will have kids and the kids will be Elderlings...

Time will tell...

About to put this in a zip-lock bag for safety

"The Inheritance" is her new book. She also gave me a little bookmark with a picture of an eye with dragon scales around it (like the Elderlings) but I can't seem to get a decent picture of it unfortunately.

I will put that one up on my "special wall of memories" in my room, and yes the book is getting carefully sealed and stored appropriately...

Supanova 2011

We just got home from Supanova. Dear me! Whoever it was that told me it was a great day out with kids... THEY LIED! It was madness and extremely crowded and hot and bothersome and you had to wait in line for absolutely everything. We did not see Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter because the only way to get anywhere close to him was to buy a special picture and then queue for hours so he could sign it for you. Gosh, it was an hour of waiting in line just to get inside and we still had pre-purchased tickets! Good on all the crazy kids who were dressed up! Lots of people had made a wonderful effort and looked beautiful/crazy/great. There were plenty of Storm Troopers and superheroes and a couple of Jack Sparrows and of course a million different anime-characters that I am not familiar with... Well, as you know the main reason we went was because of Robin Hobb and we did go to a seminar she held which was wonderful and I bought her new book and got it signed. See picture evidence!

Wednesday

Halfway through the week already! Wowsa! How did that happen...?

Been on top of the world all week... gosh, so much good stuff happening and so much positive emotions inside me. I don't know what is going on... but I hope I won't crash too hard when it's all over!!!

Look what I bought today, after work. Awesomely amazing. Two tickets for H and I and then M is free. I was going to buy weekend tickets but now we have a lunch thing to go to on the Sunday so I just bought tickets for the Saturday... either way, that'll most likely be enough anyways. It all happens in three weeks time, and hopefully I will get to see Robin Hobb!

LT at work has started reading Assassins Apprentice (first book about Fitz) and she loves it. Much excitement :-)

The Liveship Traders

Just finished it.

I have to say I think the end was disappointing. It all just worked out too neatly for everyone. All of them just happened to converge at the one place at the perfect time, for everything to fall into its right places. Gah. No. No like.

And what was the Kennit and Althea abuse thing about? Did the story really need that? It felt so not necessary to me. Was it like a challenge to the reader to still care for him? If so, well I already had given up all hope on that stupid, selfish man and it did not work for me.

It was, though, in a morbid kind of way good to have something dark and sad linger over someone by the end. Apart from Althea and Brashen everyone else were too happily-ever after.

Anyways, I still loved these books! I found this artwork; I believe it's Althea. Not certain though.

Now will take a break and consider Volveon, I think.

Ship of Magic

I'm not going to complain anymore about being sick! So just for the record, yes I still am. Now let us move on!
I am about halfway through the first book of "The Liveship Trilogy" by Robin Hobb. Quite enjoying it; very fascinating characters and it's an easy read because it lets you see things from lots of peoples POVs.
Obviously Captain Kennit; the pirate who wants to be King of all pirates, is the most entertaining to read. He's a very unpleasant type of guy in many ways although you can't help to care about him... it'll be fun to see what happens when he finally clashes with the rest of the people in the book.
I also love the liveship thing. They are ships that are partly made from this magic wood called wizardwood and once three people from the same family die on the ships deck; the ship will awaken. As in the figurehead will be alive and talking and thinking and feeling, and will only even sail under a member of the very family who died on its decks.
So far I have gotten to meet two of these liveships; Vivacia and Paragon. Both with very strong personalities, Vivacia is recently awaken and very troubled by what is happening in her family and Paragon is beached somewhere all alone because he killed off heaps of people (by accident or on purpose???) and nobody wants anything to do with him.
Yes, so far it's a good read. All the Robin Hobb books have been.

One day...

... perhaps I can write something like this. Fitz has just resurrected the Fool from death, against all odds. It's just after, as the Fool remembers the torture he suffered when dying. They are all alone in a safe place and this is Fitz speaking. Anyways, I can not fully describe the importance of this moment without totally re-tell the whole story, so you should just go and read it! I say.

"All that night, I cradled him in my arms, as closely as if he were my child or my lover. As closely as if he were my self, wounded and alone. I held him while he wept, and I held him after his weeping was done. I let him take whatever comfort he could in the warmth and strength of my body. I have never felt less of a man that I did so."

And I have finished this book. And the whole series. It ended well, that is all I have to say. Although there are some strings still left untied- because apparently the author was considering writing more books about Fitz. Why on earth did she not, I wonder? Oh well, so be it.
M is getting his bedtime story read at the moment by H. After kindy today I took him to the pool, it was lovely. Good day, mostly.
Now I might escape to Volveon; a world which seems quite bleak in comparison to Six Duchies. I do not view that as discouragement though, not it's more of a spur. I need to do better.

Fitz and the Fool

Just finished reading "The Golden Fool" and having a short break on computer before starting the next book, which will also be the last about these wonderful people. Sadness.

Today has been hell. Let's just leave it at that. At least he fell asleep quickly- as expected since he's been tired and grumpy since 2pm. H is staying the night on the Sunny Coast.

But Fitz and the Fool! Now, I don't love every aspect of the Realm of the Elderlings story; some of it moves too slowly and is frustrating and sometimes I feel Fitz gets a lot of crap for things he does not mean to happen. The writing is far too descriptive too.

BUT! The characters, well most of them, are so beautiful and these two are my absolute favourites. Fitz loves the Fool as a friend. Others around them confront Fitz and tell him the Fool is a woman in disguise and that she is in love with him, and even though the Fool never directly denies it, Fitz never seems to even consider that his best friend might not be a man.

The Fool loves Fitz more than a friend, and he holds the answer to his gender very private. He covers himself up completely, so not even Fitz will know. And when Fitz angrily declares he will never love the Fool more than a friend... well, it's the most heart-breaking scene ever.

So yes. Before I started reading fantasy I never realised this type of literature would be like this. First I read WOT, then ASOIAF and now the Elderlings. And it's not all about swords and honour and dragons and wizards... it's about real people and their feelings. I never would have thought.

This art work is of Fitz and the Fool, and even though it's not great since Fitz (the dark-haired one) looks kind of female which he is very, very much not, I have to admire the so correct portrayal of their love. Or of how the Fool portrays it at least...

Well, I still got one more book to go... you never know!

The Farseer Trilogy

After everyone had left today, I went to bed to have a rest. Woke up 4 hours later! And now I've been up for a few hours and am ready to crawl back into bed to sleep all night. Yes, I believe I might be in recover mode now, it's been a long December.
Anyways, I finished "Assassins Quest" yesterday which concluded the Farseer Trilogy. There is another trilogy that follows which involves the same characters and I think I might read that too. The third book started off really good, then the tempo slowed something dreadfully in the middle and picked back up in the end for an amazing finale with dragons and stuff. But yes, in the middle there I was getting tired of all that travelling and routine and seriously, I did not need to know the details of every stone or tree they walked past.
FitzChivalry did not get the heroic ending that one might have hoped for, instead he just got to go off and be left alone whilst everyone else were the heroes. Perhaps that was the best ending for him, I don't know. He did get his revenge on Regal, which was satisfying. Another amazing character in these books has been the Fool and there is a very strong romantic feeling between the two of them; to the point where another character believes the Fool is actually a woman. Maybe he is.
I tried to find a good picture on Google of Fitz and/or the Fool but none were quite suitable. There is a lot of fan art, but none as good as the WOT stuff around.
Tomorrow is all about eating left-over food (the fridge is still full!) and taking it easy.

Assassin's Quest

Well, it took me a while to find this book but in the end they did have it at the little QBD shop at our local shopping centre. Funny that; they didn't have it at any of the huge bookstores in the city... oh well, at least I got it now!

I started reading it yesterday and it's great. I actually think this series has improved with each book. The first one was okay, the second one great and now the third one kept me up very late last night because I could not stop.

It's all about FitzChivalry, of course. He is such a great character, and I think his bond with the wolf is portrayed very well. A bond between man and wolf seems to be a very recurring thing in fantasy books. There is Perrin and his wolf Hopper in WOT, there is the Stark children and all their direwolves in ASOIAF, and now there is FitzChivalry and Nighteyes.

Royal Assassion

Halfway through.

It's no WOT or ASOIAF but I am really enjoying this. Fitz is a great character. But I am getting very anxious about him and Molly and Nighteyes and Burrich and Verity. Something is going to go very wrong soon. I'm dreading it!!!

New book

I have started reading my Secret Santa present from work party. It was from OB, I knew it was from her the moment I saw it! A book called "Assassins Apprentice" by Robin Hobb. I have just started and it's quite intriguing straight away which is always a good sign.

It will be an interesting read, because it's a fantasy novel written by a female writer. It is also the first part of a trilogy, it is written out of the POV of a man, and it's a story about a royal bastard. Well, there you go! I am sure there will be something for me to learn from this particular read.

Work was great, ended up staying later than planned but it was fine because it was such a good day.

Weekend booked up now. Friday swim and Santa photo, Saturday work and Sunday archery and then BBQ in Calvert with cousin AJ and his friend. Busy, busy, busy. Just like it should be.

Boys in bed already, and off to Volveon I go.