[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Fool’s Errand” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Fool’s Errand 45% complete. Excellent progress on Fool’s Errand – I wasn’t working today so was able to spend quite a bit of time reading or listening to the book. It is the shortest book on my challenge at 672 pages. My first comment is that it took until about 36% of the way through the book before we were actually presented with the main quest of the book – Prince Dutiful has gone missing. The first part of the book was spent reconnecting with Fitz and the Fool, learning what Fitz had been up to in the intervening years. I do feel this could have been compressed considerably. On the other hand, I did enjoy watching Fitz and the Fool’s first meeting again. Much of the setup also focussed on the Wit. Clearly, this is going to have far more importance than it had in the Farseer trilogy in terms of the Six Duchies society, not just in how it affects Fitz personally. It’s clear that Nighteyes is not the wolf he once was – it’s definitely preparing us for the book’s ending <sniff> More tomorrow.
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info] Progress: Fool’s Errand 18% So. Onto Fool’s Errand. The first thing I’d like to comment on is, isn’t the cover art for the audiobook simply gorgeous? I don’t normally pay much attention to covers, but that one really drew my eye. The lighting and the mysterious figures are beautiful. They are much preferable to the paperback or hardback cheesy images. Secondly, with moving onto a new series I’m moving onto a new narrator for the audiobooks. While I’d nothing against Paul Boehmer who narrated The Farseer Trilogy and Anne Flosnik of the Liveship Traders, James Langston seemed to me to be of a completely different calibre entirely. Of course, that could be that he gave Chade a burr in his accent which reminded me of my childhood! Here’s a sample I am reminded that Hobb’s trilogies are VERY, VERY slow to start. Fitz’s desire to shut himself off from his old life and those he loves to lead a quiet, sedentary life is beginning to annoy me now! Let’s just get on with the adventure please. I’ll need to bear that in mind when I start Fool’s Assassin that I’ll need to…
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 100% complete.Progress: Fool’s Errand 4% complete. Woohoo, two books down, three to go! I finished Ship of Destiny today, the second longest of the five books I’m reading for the Realm of the Elderlings reading challenge. I also started on Fool’s Errand, the first in the Tawny Man Trilogy. Darn, I miss Whispersync for Voice already :o( The Liveship Traders series is quite differently structured to the Farseer Trilogy. It contains multiple story strands and multiple points of view, whereas Farseer is purely from Fitz’ point of view. The joy of the Farseer trilogy is getting to know Fitz and those he loves in great depth. With the Liveship Traders, the characters didn’t speak to me nearly as much (Amber excepted) but I loved watching how all the disparate plots came together in a really satisfying ending. I am looking forward to getting back to Fitz and the Fool though! Back with more tomorrow!
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 76% complete. I made good progress today on Ship of Destiny. In the section I read today, Amber all but stood up waving her arms and shouting “look at me, I’m Fitz’s Fool!” At one point she says “I’ve been called a Fool and a prophet,” which is pretty clear. Now, it’s been a while since I read the Realm of the Elderlings for the first time, but I seem to remember not picking up Amber’s true identity at this point. I can’t remember when I did first pick up on it, but I do remember it coming as a complete shock. The subject of rape is also dealt with in this section, specifically Kennit’s rape of Althea. The whole question of the victim’s not being believed, as well as the rapist having been raped himself. It certainly wasn’t a comfortable passage to read. More tomorrow!
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 58% complete. I made reasonable progress today, although I don’t have much to comment on. The various plotlines are really starting to come together now. I enjoyed the Kennit/Paragon interactions. More tomorrow!
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 45% complete I made reasonable progress on my Realm of the Elderlings challenge today. I’m now 45% of the way through book two. In today’s reread I entered the section entitled Winter. This is fitting as it’s the lowest point of most of the storylines in the Liveship Traders series: Dragon Tintaglia is despairing that she will be able to guide the tangle of sea serpents to the dragon spawning ground so that they can undergo their transformation. She is doubtful if she will be able to persuade the humans to assist with redirecting the river. The sea serpents themselves are losing hope of fulfilling their dragon destinies. Things aren’t going too well for the humans either; Bingtown is on the point of being destroyed either by Chalcedon or internal feuding, take your pick. Reyn is distraught in his belief that Malta has perished in her flight from Tremaug with the Satrap. In actual fact, she must cater to the Satrap’s every whim in order to receive his protection necessary for her survival. Those on the Liveships Paragon and Vivacia aren’t doing that great…
[challenge-progress for=”Realm of the Elderlings” bg=”black” font=”white”] [book-info title=”Ship of Destiny” author=”robin-hobb-2″] Progress: Ship of Destiny 27% complete So I didn’t make a lot of progress today. Darned work keeps getting in the way! A few thoughts on what I read today. Hobb is really pushing the contrast between Ronica and Serilla. I can’t remember how that ends up, so I’m enjoying following that Bingtown storyline. The whole issue of women’s rights in Bingtown compared to the Chalcedon states and how it impacts Malta’s storyline is also very interesting. It also ties into the Ronica/Serilla plot with their respective attitudes to power. Both of the Liveships – Vivacia and Paragon are going a bit nuts. I don’t think good things can come of this. More tomorrow!
[challenge-overview] Progress: Ship of Destiny 17% complete So, onto book two of my Realm of the Elderlings reading challenge, Ship of Destiny. Ship of Destiny is the third in the Liveship Traders trilogy. I chose not to include the first two, Ship of Magic and Mad Ship in my reread for two reasons. One was time constraint to meet my deadline, the second is that I had dipped into the trilogy fairly recently (fairly recently being about 18 months ago). I did a quick Wikipedia lookup to bring myself up to speed. So, a few thoughts. Whispersync for Voice, welcome back! YAY! I didn’t realise how much I missed it when I didn’t have it for Assassin’s Quest. Sadly, I see it’s also missing from The Tawny Man. Ah well. I miss Fitz and the Fool. We do get to see the Fool’s alter ego, Amber and my heart just about broke when she mentioned the slave pin that had been given to her by her true love. I’m not certain at which point we are supposed to realise that Amber is the Fool, but once you know she is, it’s hard to avoid picking up these little hints. I’m…
[challenge-overview showempty=”yes”] Progress: Assassin’s Quest 100% complete So this weekend I powered through and finished Assassin’s Quest, the third book in the Farseer Trilogy. As a side note, this book is not Whispersync for Voice enabled, so switching between the Kindle and audiobook versions was a hassle. I loved this book. The two magic systems invented by Hobb – the Skill and the Wit – are tightly drawn and are used in very interesting ways. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a history book which indicates the main theme of that particular chapter. They tie in very nicely together. Initially the first book of the trilogy – Assassin’s Apprentice – is very slow and boring, but once the trilogy picks up, it moves along at a great pace. The Fool is one of the most intriguing characters for me in epic fantasy. I look forward to continuing the character’s story in The Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies. Of course now there is the prospect of even more Fool to come in the new Fitz and Fool trilogy :o) That’s all I have for tonight. Onto Ship of Destiny!
For this week’s reading roundup I read something I don’t often read – a play. I was fortunate enough to catch via NT Theatre Live Helen Mirren’s wonderful performance as Her Majesty The Queen in Peter Morgan’s witty play about the weekly audiences between Queen and Prime Minister. It always wonderful to watch a well written play performed by skilled actors, and this was no exception. I enjoyed picking up on a few things I’d missed – like the explanation of why Peter Morgan opted to avoid a chronological narrative – he didn’t want to have the audience counting off the Prime Ministers on their fingers. It’s certainly worth checking out. Morgan also wrote such excellent screenplays as The Queen and Frost/Nixon. Pick it up on Kindle, Kobo or iTunes. I also recommend that you take a look at the NT Theatre Live’s programme of events – this is a truly excellent series of plays and I applaud the theatre’s commitment to bringing them to a wider audience. I am coming to the conclusion that I’m not really so fond of the grimdark genre. This week I read/listened to Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. There are some interesting characters –…