Which Robin Hobb series to read first?

[Lisa]

I really want to read some books by Robin Hobb but I am a bit unsure about which of her series to start with. I own the the first book in the 'Farseer Trilogy' and all of the books from the 'Liveship Traders Trilogy' and 'The Rainwild Chronicles'. I have heard varying opinions with regards to the reading order. Some people say that it's best to read them in publication order beginning with 'Farseer' as the later series contain references and clues from the earlier series but others say that you could skip 'Farseer' and start with the 'Liveship Traders' as it focuses on different characters and is more of a self contained series. I am a lot more interested in 'Liveship' than I am in 'Farseer' but I don't want to skip it if I am going to miss out on a lot by doing that. If anyone here has read any of these series and could give me some ideas/opinions as to whether you can understand ''Liveship' without reading 'Farseer' first, I would be really grateful.

[Dawn]

I haven't quite gotten around to reading all these series Lisa and am personally reading them in publication order just because that's how it worked out.

My understanding is that you should definitely read the 'Tawny Man' series after the 'Farseer Trilogy' and 'Rainwild' after 'Liveship' but it isn't necessary to read them all in publication order. You may miss a few references but it is possible to read, understand and enjoy 'Liveship' without having read 'Farseer'.

I found an interview with the author and she says this: ...you would start with the Farseer trilogy, which is Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest. Then you would move on to the Liveship Traders trilogy, because although there’s no obvious continuation of characters from Farseer to Liveship Traders, the events that happen in Farseer directly affect what’s happening down in Bing Town.

[Sarah]

You might find this link useful Lisa - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I know that Farseer, Tawny Man and Fitz and The Fool series all have the same main character so they would need to be read in order I guess but as you say, the characters in Liveship are different, just in the same world.

I'm a stickler for order so I'd be inclined to read Farseer first (which I'm kind of doing). I guess everyone will have different opinions so ultimately you have to make the decision on where to start. I'm in a similar situation with the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. There are so many, some which are mentioned as being stand-alones, while others are prequels etc. It does get complicated when authors bring out numerous books in the same world with the same characters. It's quite intimidating having to start from the beginning.

[Lisa]

Thanks Dawn and Sarah. I think I will probably be a bit of a rebel and start with 'Liveship' as it doesn't sound like I will miss much by not reading 'Farseer' first. There is just something about the synopsis of 'Liveship' that appeals to me more than that of 'Farseer'.

I agree Sarah that it can be pretty intimidating when an author releases numerous series/books set in the same world. I keep meaning to read some of the 'Discworld' books by Terry Pratchett but I literally have no idea where to begin.

[Dawn]

I love Terry Pratchett and I read them all completely out of order, whatever I could get from the library was what I read. It worked good for me.

But if you're not looking to start at the beginning and just want one of the sub series to start with, I'd go with the City Watch https://www.goodreads.com/series/1062... series and start with Guards! Guards!. This includes some of my favorite books from Discworld.

[Cherie]

I agree with Dawn, Lisa. The City Watch are my favorites too. I really like the Witches too. I tend to go back and forth with whatever I can find too.

If you want to know all about the background of Discworld, #1 is a must, but it is a lot of not very exciting and takes some effort to get into. I have read it a couple of times and listened to the audio too.

[Cherie]

I just looked at the link you posted, Dawn. It looks like they have updated the series lists differently. I have mine broken down into much smaller series. (I have seven of them.)
I consider Moist von Lipwig as a trilogy with Going Postal, Making Money and Raising Steam.

It looks like GR grouped a lot of them under the Industrial Revolution.

[Dawn]

Cherie wrote: "It looks like GR grouped a lot of them under the Industrial Revolution...."

That is very new, I always think of Lipwig as a trilogy too. But this could work well for the year long challenge..... :)

[Lisa]

Thanks for the advice on Discworld, Dawn and Cherie. I am not too bothered about starting at the beginning so I think I will pick up the City Watch books first seeing as you both recommend them :)

[Dawn]

I hope you like them, Men at Arms and The Fifth Elephant are my favorite of the 8 books in the series.

[jaxnsmom]

I've only listened to Assassin's Apprentice, book one in the Farseer Trilogy. I loved it and gave it 5 stars. I haven't gotten to any of the other books because I want to listen to them and my libraries don't have the first books in the other series.