Review - Forest Mage
Jul. 4th, 2008 01:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanHaving just finished the second book of Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy, Forest Mage, I think this trilogy could have done with a lot more editing than it got. Robin Hobb's world-building is very, very detailed, built up block by block. Unfortunately, in the first book that made it somewhat slow, and in this book it made it very hard to read. That isn't made any easier by the uncomfortableness of the topic. My English teacher always said that fiction is all about conflicts, but Nevare's life in this book is just one long conflict -- fighting the good, fighting the bad, fighting everything, and not until the very end seeing how things must be.
In terms of plot and basic ideas, though, the trilogy is very, very interesting, which is keeping me reading it. And obviously, it's not so very dragging, because I read this book in a single day. (Or perhaps it's best tackled that way!)
Normally, Robin Hobb's characters are extremely complex and well-formed. I can't help but think that perhaps she didn't spend as much time letting them grow for this trilogy, because Nevare's father reminds me very much of Kyle from Liveships -- in fact, his whole family does. Still, many of the other characters are intriguing and layered, and I'm getting extremely fond of Spink and Epiny.
Right now, I'm unsure how I feel about this trilogy. The first book was promising, but this book felt kind of strange, and very uncomfortable. I'm told the third book picks back up again, and that I'll enjoy it more -- so here's hoping.
In terms of plot and basic ideas, though, the trilogy is very, very interesting, which is keeping me reading it. And obviously, it's not so very dragging, because I read this book in a single day. (Or perhaps it's best tackled that way!)
Normally, Robin Hobb's characters are extremely complex and well-formed. I can't help but think that perhaps she didn't spend as much time letting them grow for this trilogy, because Nevare's father reminds me very much of Kyle from Liveships -- in fact, his whole family does. Still, many of the other characters are intriguing and layered, and I'm getting extremely fond of Spink and Epiny.
Right now, I'm unsure how I feel about this trilogy. The first book was promising, but this book felt kind of strange, and very uncomfortable. I'm told the third book picks back up again, and that I'll enjoy it more -- so here's hoping.
