Renegade's Magic

A great ending for this series. Took an unexpected turn in the middle, but really enjoyed how it all worked out.

. . . I was not expecting this series to end up being a retelling of the Book of Job.

Reviewing the whole Soldier Son trilogy in one review, since it's one ongoing story.
(Shaman's Crossing, Forest Mage, and Renegade's Magic)
I consider myself to be a fan of Robin Hobb. I've read everything published under her name, with the exception of the two most recent 'Dragon' novels. I've given every single on of those books 4 or 5 stars. I've also read about half of what she's published as Megan Lindholm, and loved most of that as well.
Unfortunately, I feel that the Soldier Son trilogy is her least successful work to date.
It's not terrible, but it didn't hold up to my high expectations.

I think that part of this is that while her previous epics have shown the reader a rich tapestry of a world, with multiple important characters and settings, this story follows one person, Navare (the Soldier Son) for over 2000 pages. And, to be honest, he's rather a tiresome person. I don't demand that characters be likable, but I just didn't find him interesting. He's a bit of an annoying prig. I wished that some of the more minor characters in the book had been fleshed out more, and that we had a chance to see things from their point of view. (Epiny! And her magic! It just gets dropped...) The third book is largely concerned with the conflicts of Navare's suddenly-split-personality. It's him arguing with himself for hundreds of pages. (Tiresome vs. annoying!) I feel like it's partly because other characters weren't developed enough.

The story also moves very slowly. I felt like Navare's journey could have been condensed into one book, one-third of the length, and it would have been improved. I love long books, but this story seemed to have two main themes: the problems of cultural imperialism, and the importance of not judging people based on their physical appearance. Now, these are two very valid and important themes, but part of the reason that I do really like long books is that they have room in them for lots and lots of different ideas and themes. Not just two, repeated frequently. I also felt that these two themes weren't dealt with very satisfactorily: OK, it's bad and wrong to disrespect another culture, regard them as primitive when they aren't, and to destroy their native lands. I'm with that. It's also inevitable that, due to economic and other factors, peoples move, expand, and come into conflict with each other, bringing about cultural change. I also agree that is true. So the solution? Cause an economic distraction somewhere else causing everyone to run off elsewhere. Eh, well, maybe. Not terrible, but not really a full analysis of the problem, either.
However, I had a bigger problem with the other issue. After a million or so pages of Navare being prejudiced against because of his magically-induced obesity, and having it pointed out ad infinitum that what one culture may consider reprehensible and disgusting, another culture may respect, etc, the story ends up with Navare (again magically) being restored to his former thin, handsome appearance. It really undercuts the whole message of the book.

However, like I said before, it wasn't terrible. Hobb is still an excellent writer, and I did like that each of the cultures in the book was portrayed as having both positive and negative qualities. It was interesting and thoughtful enough to get me through all three very long volumes. It just wasn't as good as I'd expected.

This was, in many ways, a highly imaginative, good story. Not excellent because of its flaws, but the world & the problem were certainly outstanding & that's why she got 3 stars from an otherwise 2 star, at best, job of writing. Modeled after the European expansion across North America, yet set in a fantasy world with very interesting magic. A man caught between the 2 worlds loves/hates them both & must make them come to an agreement. He's literally a man divided by this war, yet stuck in one body. The whole fat thing is perfect.

This was the final book in the trilogy & I'm glad it's over. It could have been an excellent stand alone if Hobb had the skills of Zelazny or Delaney. As it is, she seems to think her readers are complete idiots & needed every point mentioned & then repeated, often multiple times. That sort of thing doesn't bug me quite as much when reading as I can skim it. Listening to it is pure torture, though. At times, it read like a serialized story giving a synopsis of the back story just in case the reader hadn't read the earlier issue. Yes, it was that bad.

She finally told us why Nevare (sp? the hero.) is such an idiot, in case it wasn't obvious, but he remains one. This device was used to explain, in excruciating, repetitious detail, every move that was made. As it was, it wasn't done well enough to be convincing & it didn't help the ending any. It would have been a better book if it had ended about halfway through with his death. The whole balance thing wasn't worth the extra page count & always felt as if it was tacked on afterward.

Some of this fluff isn't all Hobb's fault. It can't be. A decent editor would have called her on it. Since they didn't & I hear they want series now, I wonder if Hobb wasn't pushed into expanding a good story too far. If so, I hope she resists in the future but from what I've seen, she seems partial to trilogies, so this is probably all I'll ever read of Hobb's work. I had hoped this was an early trilogy, but she'd been published for a decade when this came out so I won't subject myself to her writing again, especially not as an audio book. Reading a book aloud shows off the writing very well. Good writing becomes almost lyrical, but each mistake or bit of repetition is painfully obvious.

This was an audio book by Recorded Books, read by John Keating. He'll never be my favorite reader, but isn't bad. His British accent for regular narration isn't bad, but everyone except Nevare & his family spoke with a Scottish accent. There was no difference between a Speck & an outlander Gurnian. Kind of weird, but not too bad to listen to for me.

So disappointed in my favorite author. Just don't even bother. Annoying characters, slow plot, unconvincing magical elements. Hobb still has a magnificent knack for world-creating, but it's just not worth the read.

I've finished! The last long book of a trilogy of long books. Not that it wasn't worth reading, but it felt every bit as long as it is.The main character has been split in two and is trying to reconcile the needs and wants of both his halves to try to make both of his peoples live in peace. Only he seems to be making it worse for both groups, and all his friends and family in the meanwhile.I could never really predict where the story was going. There was a resolution I longed for since book 2, and she did deliver that. But not in a way I would've expected. And I'm.. I guess I'm satisfied, but not entirely happy with the way it all turned out.But this series is notable for one reason, and worth reading for that. In this final book in particular, it has more than one obese character. And how the two societies view that and treat the people who are overweight and obese, is just very interesting.I'm glad I've finished. Especially as there are more Robin Hobb books I haven't read yet! How is it possible that she's writing these long, dense books and I can't even keep up with reading them?!

** spoiler alert ** I love Robin Hobb. I really do. I've reread the Farseer trilogy a couple of times over the years. I loved Tawny Man. (Not so much the Madship series, but there you are.) But this Soldier Son trilogy... It's unique; there's a lot in it that I've never seen before. The character of Nevare is also unique: starting out as a fairly typical soldier's son, he leads us through the training (that I enjoyed), then through being taken over by the magic... Neither of these is a unique plot point, but the way they are handled is. What I haven't enjoyed is Nevare's utter wishy-washiness. I understand the reasoning behind it... he was split and all. But the understanding came quite a while into the trilogy, and by then it was rather too late. "I'm going to be a true soldier's son, the best." "Well, no, I'm going to do what the magic prompts me to, because those I love could be hurt." "No! I will follow my dream and go be an officer." "The dreams are telling me to do what the magic tells me to, and I'd better. And I'm too fat." "I'll lose weight!" "No, I won't..." And so on. I wanted to knock his heads together.Reason number two that I doubt I'll read this trilogy again is that it's very nearly humorless. I'm not much for the guffaw-a-minute spoof books, but halfway through the first book of this one I realized that the outlook was very straight-faced, almost throughout. So, in fact, is Nevare. I mean, of course his life is tough, but if I've learned anything in the past couple of years, even in the midst of chaos there is the occasional laugh.Reason number three is almost cosmetic, I suppose, but it's still strong: the jacket art for Renegade's Magic. Don't get me wrong - it's beautiful. But it is one of the most spoilerific jackets I've ever seen. Only a couple of chapters in, Nevare has a realization of what could end the whole war between the Gernians and the Specks, and immediately stifles the thought for fear Soldier's Boy will "hear" it... and suddenly it's very very clear where the climax will go. Without that really very nice painting, there would at least be some doubt. There isn't. Oh well.It's quality writing, as always from Robin Hobb, consistent and solid (though the grammar goes surprisingly wonky at times). I'm just not enjoying it as much as some of her other work. I won't trade it in - but I doubt I'll read it again.

I feel I must preface this with a disclaimer. This has not been one of my favourite of her series. As a story it probably scored 3/5 but for the way it dragged me in and wouldn't let me go it scores the 4/5The last part of this story saw Nevare fail to fit in with the Gernian world. Now this sees his Speck self take over and try to stop the expansion of Gernia in to their world. But his methods are bringing the world of the Specks into a spiral of change that may not be the best thing for the people.It's a story that didn't quite sit right with me. It was interesting but I never really empathised or felt for many of the characters, several of them passed by me in a blur. It was an enjoyable read, but not a keeper.

I heard from a fellow Hobb fan recently that the soldier's son trilogy was their least favourite from hobb. I don't necessarily agree with this, however I do agree that it wasn’t one of the most action packed. If you are not a fan of fantasy, then this may not be the book/trilogy for you.

The dual nature of the protagonist stopped me from identifying with any of the characters, I though they were all irritating. Except the poor child who was tortured by dance, I felt sorry for him. But that was it.

A satisfying conclusion to the Soldier Son trilogy.Renegade's Magic brings Speck society to the fore and makes the reader identify with their goals and struggles, which, considering the trilogy as a whole, provides a balance to the Gernian-focused opening installment. It really reinforced Nevare's split nature for me.The last third of the book was particularly engrossing, as the narrative took an unexpected and bittersweet turn.

The third and final volume of THE SOLDIER SON TRILOGY.I intended to read this trilogy back to back, but I just couldn't manage it. FOREST MAGE gave me so much trouble that I found myself reluctant to pick up the final volume. I put it off for seven long months.Finally, I told myself it was time. I'd launch right in. I'd finish the trilogy. I'd cross RENEGADE'S MAGIC off my list. And I'd pray like hell that it was better than FOREST MAGE.It was. I still wasn't quite there emotionally, but I do think Hobb did some interesting things with the books.She shifts her focus once again; this time, we spend most of the book with the Specks. There are still a lot of great big emotional circles, but they're served up with a side of fascinating cultural stuff. And, best of all, we finally see the last of Nevare's ethnocentrism fall away. He comes to realize that the Gernian way isn't the only way. The Specks are different, yes, but they're neither primitive nor evil. Their culture is as rich and full as his own. Hobb excels at writing characters who change and grow in believable ways, and I think she's accomplished some good stuff here. Nevare isn't as likable as Fitz, Malta, Paragon, or any of her other deliciously flawed protagonists, but the progression is still there. It takes a while to come about, but in the end it's handled very well.I also loved the way the magic came together at long last. Again, it took a very, very long time for everything to mesh, but I think that was sort of the point. I teared up quite often over the last hundred pages, and I finished with a grin on my face. I was very pleased with the ending. I'm sure you could argue that it undercuts what's come before, but I don't think that's really the case. Nevare has changed a great deal over the course of his story, and I think the ending puts him in position to use his knowledge. I loved it.I was pleased with the book, but it does have its problems. Hobb begins with pages and pages of summary. (She did the same in FOREST MAGE, but not in any of her previous trilogies. I wonder if this was an editorial demand). I have quite a good memory, so I found this tedious. She then introduces a plot twist that leaves Nevare distanced from the action for much of the novel. This was a logical extension of everything that had come before, and I can see why it was necessary, but it did make the book drag at times. I eventually got to the point where I had to take a brief break from it. I wanted to enjoy it, and I was having trouble doing so. It all worked out in the end, but for a while there it was touch and go.I'll be interested in seeing how the series rereads. I'm sure I'll appreciate the progression more when I know how it all comes together in the end. For now, though, I'm not sure that I can wholeheartedly recommend this trilogy. If you'd like to give Hobb a try, you'd do best to start with THE FARSEER, then work your way on through THE LIVESHIP TRADERS and THE TAWNY MAN. They're all awesome. THE SOLDIER SON TRILOGY is good, but it doesn't quite reach the same level.(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).

I thought this trilogy really picked up with the last book, however the last hundred or so pages seemed a bit unnecessary. Still I remain satisfied overall, and in spite of the author's desire to fix absolutely *everything* before letting the book end, I found the conclusion much more satisfying than that of her previous trilogy. Except for the tiny little detail that I'm not sure whether or not we are supposed to know what happens to the main character right after the last page!

This is an odd book to review. On a tactical scale - words, sentences, paragraphs I found that it was quite engaging. When I was reading it, I liked reading it. However when I wasn't reading it found it quite an effort to go back to.The story of Nevarre continues, this time with him living wholly among the Speck. There is a LOT of writing about food and eating: I'd suggest avoiding this book if you're on a diet. Nevarre-the-Speck tries to rescue them from the intruders from Gettys with very mixed success. Finally they realise they must marry his two halves for the magic to work properly. They sort of manage this, everything sorts itself out and the Great Man he has become dies.The pesky God of Balances comes along and parts of Nevarre go on, find Amzil, marry her and you get the impression lives happily ever after.I've tried to work out why I don't like this in the overall sense. There are a few reasons.First I get the impression it's a story that ought to have been told in a single book, it could have been great told small and tight, but it was padded into the inevitable fantasy trilogy at someone's behest. This leaves it slow and meandering.Second, there are some messages about culture clashes in there. That's fine, good even. Most of them are, rather disappointingly, completely laid out in front of you at various points, explicitly. The problem is that it feels as if there's a mish-mash of cultures to have the clashes between. Each of the cultures has identifiable bits of several real cultures mixed into it, and this makes them feel spongy and not quite comfortable in themselves which also makes their inability to deal with each other feel off.Third I don't like the hero. I don't respect him. Ms. Hobb has tried to lay out how his past has affected him and made him into these characters that I don't like and whilst I buy the explanation it doesn't really help. If you're going to read 2,000 pages about someone liking them or at least being interested in them helps I find. If you've managed to get through the first two books, this is better than Forest Mage, and it completes the story, but I wouldn't suggest starting the series. In fact you could probably pick this book up and get most of the back story and have a much more satisfying experience.

This book like the others in the trilogy spent a bit too long on food. I realize it was part of the story but I feel it was just too much. Overall I am fairly pleased. The end was very good. I enjoy the tale as I look back, so long as I do not ponder all the food consumed for magic.The characters were well fleshed (no pun) and will stay with me. Hobb has talent. I hope her next books are as gripping as the first 9.