Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military trainin...
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Apr 02, 2011
Ben
rated it: 
I really haven't read enough Robin Hobb. She has flown under my radar, mostly because my first encounters with her were through the library, and I have this bad habit of checking out books in the middle of the series (ahem, Golden Fool) and then wondering what the hell is going on. Last year I read Assassin's Apprentice, and I have acquired the remaining two books in that trilogy, so I hope to finish that soon. For now, however, I've turned to the Soldier Son trilogy. And though I've exceede
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Dec 29, 2008
John
rated it: 
Shaman's Crossing is the first book in Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy. Hobb draws here a fantasy world whose world is closer to the 18th or 19th century than to medieval times. Gernia, which sees itself as the standard-bearer of civilization, a generation ago lost its naval superiority and, with it, all of its coastal provinces. In response, the old knighthood (the Cavalla) became an elite cavalry and rose to prominence in battles against the barbaric plainsmen with their tribal ways and primi
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Oct 21, 2011
Althea
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Feb 27, 2009
Whitaker
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A stunning work that challenges how we think of American frontier history and what we think of fantasy.
Hobbs has a penchant for upending all the usual tropes and devices of fantasy. And she does this all with real characters and an entertaining and stirring plot. We see "sword and sorcery" and we think "knights and mages", usually young, muscular and powerful men who, after some initial confusion, embrace their destiny with fervour to fight the good fight. Yawn. More...
Hobbs has a penchant for upending all the usual tropes and devices of fantasy. And she does this all with real characters and an entertaining and stirring plot. We see "sword and sorcery" and we think "knights and mages", usually young, muscular and powerful men who, after some initial confusion, embrace their destiny with fervour to fight the good fight. Yawn. More...
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Jan 22, 2009
Jean
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I've been a fan of Robin Hobb for several years. I loved the Farseer Trilogy, adored the Liveship Traders, and enjoyed the Tawny Man books even if the last one fell apart half way through. I eagerly grabbed up Shaman's Cross when it came out, but in the aftermath of the house fire it ended up in a box, forgotten and unread. I recently unearthed it and placed it at the top of my to-read pile.
Quite simply it was a disappointment. It was probably only my great love of the author that ma More...
Quite simply it was a disappointment. It was probably only my great love of the author that ma More...
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Mar 15, 2010
Willa
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Once again Robin Hobb impresses with her ability to create an amazingly real and detailed world and wonderfully complex and entertaining characters to inhabit it. You know you're dealing with a truly talented author when the story is full of hardships, pain and disillusionment and it is still a joy to read. This is the first of a very promising trilogy and I look forward eagerly to the continuing story of Nevarre, the hero who thinks he knows exactly what his future holds for him until one day a
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Aug 04, 2011
This is not just a bit different for a Robin Hobb book, but different as a fantasy book too. If it was a first attempt at a novel I would imagine that it would be hard to get it published, bucking the trend of what popular fantasy seems to be.
Here Hobb throws out quite a lot of what seems to be 'normal' Instead of the standard medieval setting the blueprint of this new series is the expansion into the old west, particularly the cavalry and the subjugation of the indigenous peoples.
Obviously it More...
Here Hobb throws out quite a lot of what seems to be 'normal' Instead of the standard medieval setting the blueprint of this new series is the expansion into the old west, particularly the cavalry and the subjugation of the indigenous peoples.
Obviously it More...
Jul 14, 2011
Alyssia
rated it:
I have long been obsessed with Robin Hobb, even to the point where the boyfriend has come to the conclusion that he is fighting a bedroom war with her. This is a slight overstatement I have to make clear! But when word of a new trilogy hit me an awful lot of months ago my first reaction was to hit the bookshop and find myself a copy. And I will give credit, again Robin Hobb has written a masterpiece, however the remainder of the trilogy was a major let down as far as I was concerned. And Ciao de
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May 18, 2011
Dev
rated it:
Usually I write up reviews for series as a whole, but for this one I feel that the books are so utterly different that they deserve separate write-ups.
This first book in the series was mostly ok. Fairly standard Potter-esque "boy goes to school; makes friends and struggles through" kind of stuff. A couple of things bugged me about it though, most of which center around one central problem: it feels like a collection of unrelated short stories that have nothing to do with ea More...
This first book in the series was mostly ok. Fairly standard Potter-esque "boy goes to school; makes friends and struggles through" kind of stuff. A couple of things bugged me about it though, most of which center around one central problem: it feels like a collection of unrelated short stories that have nothing to do with ea More...
Mar 13, 2011
Semeiotickled
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Dec 27, 2010
Sean
rated it:
"He'll be shitting through his lips until the morning light!"
I'm no stranger to Hobb but things never, ever get old. Each world and character therein is painted so well that we're drawn in, right from the start. "I remember well the first time I saw the magic of the plainspeople," opens this one. And the magic is there, always, mostly deftly woven throughout the story and playing such a subtle yet vital role.
As Nevare grows up in the book, so our worldv More...
I'm no stranger to Hobb but things never, ever get old. Each world and character therein is painted so well that we're drawn in, right from the start. "I remember well the first time I saw the magic of the plainspeople," opens this one. And the magic is there, always, mostly deftly woven throughout the story and playing such a subtle yet vital role.
As Nevare grows up in the book, so our worldv More...
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Oct 15, 2010
Mike
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May 05, 2010
Margaret
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Nevare Burvelle, second son of Lord Burvelle, has been destined from birth to become a soldier, in a country where birth order determines your career (first sons inherit, second sons are soldiers, third sons are priests, and so on down the line). However, when his father sends him to be trained by a warrior of the Plainspeople, Nevare is unwillingly pulled into the conflict between his people and the people of the plains, a conflict which follows him even as he enters military school to begin hi
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Aug 27, 2009
Cécile
rated it:
I review the whole trilogy here, since the three books are meant to be understood as one story.
A general impression: disappointing, since this trilogy has an enormous potential but in the end is flawed by some major plot weaknesses.
The novels are set in an original and very carefully constructed world, which could be described as being a mediaeval society, with a 18th-19th century level of technology. But this is obviously not Final Fantasy, and all the potentialities o More...
A general impression: disappointing, since this trilogy has an enormous potential but in the end is flawed by some major plot weaknesses.
The novels are set in an original and very carefully constructed world, which could be described as being a mediaeval society, with a 18th-19th century level of technology. But this is obviously not Final Fantasy, and all the potentialities o More...
Apr 17, 2009
Bill
rated it:
As a kid growing up I loved fantasy books, so yes I was obviously a geeky kid growing up. I didn't quiet lose my love of the genre as I got older, but I did tire of its predilections for shoddy characters and an over reliance on dues ex machina.
Robin Hobb is one of the handful of fantasy writers that I have fully enjoyed even as an adult, her Farseer trilogy (and the follow on trilogy,) was second perhaps only to George R R Martin's current ongoing opus. (Yes, I know that the Wheel More...
Robin Hobb is one of the handful of fantasy writers that I have fully enjoyed even as an adult, her Farseer trilogy (and the follow on trilogy,) was second perhaps only to George R R Martin's current ongoing opus. (Yes, I know that the Wheel More...
Aug 03, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it:
Allow me a little leeway here. I tend to like plot driven books, but to be fair there are some wonderful character driven books that have drawn me in and I've loved. I like a character to be well written and clearly drawn, to be "true to him/herself". In other words not to suddenly change and do something "completely out of character" because the story suddenly needs it or something. That being said, sometimes a character can be written well, everything in the book can make s
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Jun 08, 2010
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Jan 24, 2010
M and G
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I hovered between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. I read it very fast, and that normally tilts me towards a higher star-rating, but I was constantly irritated by the number of stupid mistakes - missed words, incorrect punctuation, e.g. Speck (the name of the dappled people) instead of Spink (the hero's academy friend) and so on. I estimated there was an average of a mis-spelling per page - does no-one proof-read anymore? I guess this is due to reliance on a spell-checker, but many more faults wou
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Jan 07, 2010
Merrin
rated it:
I can't give this book five stars until I find out how everything comes to fruition in the other two books, but OH MY GOODNESS, I loved this book.
It's my first by Robin Hobb, so I'm afraid I can't compare this with her other works. I can say it was absolutely steeped in the imagined history of the realm and rich with detail about every single thing.
The story is a pretty typical coming-of-age tale about a young man named Nevare, soldier's son of a new lord in troubled la More...
It's my first by Robin Hobb, so I'm afraid I can't compare this with her other works. I can say it was absolutely steeped in the imagined history of the realm and rich with detail about every single thing.
The story is a pretty typical coming-of-age tale about a young man named Nevare, soldier's son of a new lord in troubled la More...
May 13, 2009
Evie
rated it:
I'm very happy with this series so far. I loved the Farseer trilogy, but couldn't get into the one about the ships--barely finished the first book of it. So I'm really happy to have found another Hobb series to love.
It's sometimes a little slow, but I'm quite taken by our young, insecure hero and excited to see what happens next. It's really fun to see the man he'll be slowly rising up through all his schoolboy training and indoctrination. He's not always entirely sympathetic, and I More...
It's sometimes a little slow, but I'm quite taken by our young, insecure hero and excited to see what happens next. It's really fun to see the man he'll be slowly rising up through all his schoolboy training and indoctrination. He's not always entirely sympathetic, and I More...
Feb 09, 2010
Melissa
rated it:
I wavered between giving this book three or four stars, and would probably ultimately put it at 3 1/2. The past-tense first person narrative bothered me for awhile, but soon I realized that what we are probably reading is Navare's soldier son journal, which made me like it a bit more. Nevare is a character you hate and love at the same time. He's close-minded and often makes stupid decisions, but you understand and know why he's making those decisions and it's exciting when you finally see him s
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Jan 15, 2010
Irene
rated it:
The first time I read this, a year or more ago, I didn't think much of it. I recall being disappointed because I really liked Robin Hobb's Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies (thought the Liveship trilogy was good, but not as good). Now, this second time through the book (and with the rest of the Soldier Son trilogy at hand to read through), I feel less disappointment, perhaps because I was already over the "it's not as good as her other stuff" feeling, but I liked it a tiny bit more.
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Aug 31, 2010
Kaylie
rated it:
I have long been a fan of Robin Hobb's writing. I started this book after an ever so slightly disappointing read of Dragon Keeper, and am thrilled to say that Shaman's Crossing lived up to my previous expectations. I'd put off reading it for ages because the setting didn't intice me the way Hobb's other work has, but I'm very glad to have finally set that right.
I couldn't put Shaman's Crossing down, unless I had to, and even when I did I spent time thinking about it. If I hadn't put More...
I couldn't put Shaman's Crossing down, unless I had to, and even when I did I spent time thinking about it. If I hadn't put More...
Mar 20, 2010
Katie
rated it:
This book is interesting in a number of ways, but flawed in others. I prefer Hobb's similarly massive but better Liveship trilogy, but I'll probably go ahead and read the other books in this one. It's high fantasy with elements of the wild west and the classic school story.
The world Hobb creates, with a culture that is in many ways still feudal expanding through a frontier, is pretty interesting. The plot starts out rather slow, but after a while it reached the point where I wou More...
The world Hobb creates, with a culture that is in many ways still feudal expanding through a frontier, is pretty interesting. The plot starts out rather slow, but after a while it reached the point where I wou More...
Jun 11, 2009
James
rated it:
In Shaman’s Crossing, an excellent light-fantasy novel, Robin Hobb succeeds in not only creating a compelling world but also establishing a rich, branching worldview to anchor it.
The book revolves around Nevare Burvelle, a solider son, as all second sons of nobility are destined to be. Nevare’s father is a member of the new nobility, granted his title for valor as an officer in the king’s cavalry, and Nevare is raised to fill his heredity role as soldier.
The first third More...
The book revolves around Nevare Burvelle, a solider son, as all second sons of nobility are destined to be. Nevare’s father is a member of the new nobility, granted his title for valor as an officer in the king’s cavalry, and Nevare is raised to fill his heredity role as soldier.
The first third More...
Apr 17, 2011
Emma
rated it:
After reading the reviews, I didn't expect to like this book. I certainly didn't expect to be awed by this book. Now I think the real problem is classification; it's labeled an epic fantasy, but to me that seems a bit like labeling Jane Austen's work historical romance--technically it might be, but it's missing all the elements that genre readers are looking for. Just as Austen's work lacks sex and even kissing, here there is a noticeable absence of epic battles, magical creatures, royalty appea
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Oct 26, 2010
Carrie
rated it:
Nevare Burvelle is the second son in his family therefore, because of his birthright, he will be known as a soldier’s son. After he completes his training at the King’s Academy, he will go off as an officer to help protect the king’s kingdom. Still as a child, and in the care of his father, (who is also a soldier’s son), Nevare begins his training. Nevare excels but lacks thinking on his own. His father wants to push him to be a leader instead of a follower. His father then places him in the
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Aug 01, 2010
William
rated it:
Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb (a.k.a. Megan Lindholm
This is the first book in the Soldier Son Trilogy. Nevare Burvell, a second son, is destined to be the family soldier. His naïve acceptance that birth order is responsible for all aspects of life is challenged by his life experiences.
Once again Hobb creates a believeable society. Her characters have depth and passion. The stratitied nature of Nevare’s society is the basis for much of his behavior. A clear m More...
This is the first book in the Soldier Son Trilogy. Nevare Burvell, a second son, is destined to be the family soldier. His naïve acceptance that birth order is responsible for all aspects of life is challenged by his life experiences.
Once again Hobb creates a believeable society. Her characters have depth and passion. The stratitied nature of Nevare’s society is the basis for much of his behavior. A clear m More...
Jun 03, 2009
Michelle
rated it:
Enjoyable. This was the book I liked best out of the series.
One of the things I liked about this book, and the trilogy as a whole, was that I spent a lot of time really annoyed with the narrator. Fantasy books have stock characters, just like anything else -- there's Hero's Son, the noble son of the dead hero father, who has to live up to his own expectations. There's Geek, the smart guy who's usually ugly, fat, poor, or some combination thereof, but who is absolutely brilliant and More...
One of the things I liked about this book, and the trilogy as a whole, was that I spent a lot of time really annoyed with the narrator. Fantasy books have stock characters, just like anything else -- there's Hero's Son, the noble son of the dead hero father, who has to live up to his own expectations. There's Geek, the smart guy who's usually ugly, fat, poor, or some combination thereof, but who is absolutely brilliant and More...
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Jun 23, 2011
Traci
rated it:
3.5 really but I rounded down because it's not a book I will keep or probably ever read again. I have read some really negative reviews on this series. I was even told to skip it completely. But I rarely do what Iam told and wanted to make up my own mind. The first book is good. Not great. But not as bad as I was lead to believe. The writing is good. The characters are real although they do fall short of being truly likable. I recommend starting with the Farseer and saving this one near to last.
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