Words Like Coins

The Realm of the Elderlings #1.5

by Robin Hobb, Tom Kidd (Illustrator)

Robin Hobb revisits her Farseer world in the 10,000 word tale, “Words Like Coins,” featuring five new illustrations by Tom Kidd. Mirrifen, a failed hedge-witch's apprentice who has married to find security finds that threatened by a severe drought and the appearance of a pregnant female pecksie.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 10, 2012

About the author

** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 star from me means,yes, I liked the book, and I'd loan it to a friend and it went everywhere in my jacket pocket or purse until I finished it. A 3 star means that I've ignored friends to finish it and my sink is full of dirty dishes. A 4 star means I'm probably in trouble with my editor for missing a deadline because I was reading this book. But I want you to know . . . I don't finish books I don't like. There's too many good ones out there waiting to be found.


Robin Hobb is the author of three well-received fantasy trilogies: The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), The Liveship Traders Trilogy (Ship of Magic, Mad Ship and Ship of Destiny) and the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) Her current work in progress is entitled Shaman’s Crossing. Robin Hobb lives and works in Tacoma, Washington, and has been a professional writer for over 30 years.

In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.

She also writes as Megan Lindholm, and works under that name have been finalists for the Hugo award, the Nebula Award, and the Endeavor award. She has twice won an Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Readers’ Award.

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely short story, not related to the events from Realms of the Elderlings but set in the same universe, with a message as simple as this: “think twice before you open your mouth”.

It’s a story about pecksies – myth vs reality -, about kindness, mistakes, ignorance and forgiveness, warmly told in author’s unmistakable style.

“Words are like coins. To spend carefully, as they are needed only. Not to scatter like humans do.”

[Cher 'N Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - It was great. I loved it.

Words are like coins. To spend carefully, as they are needed only. Not to scatter like humans do.

This is a quick fairy tale, that’s actually about fairies called “pecksies”. It is set in the world of the Elder Realms but you wouldn’t know from reading it. It can be read as a stand alone and does not have spoilers for her other novels.

As always with the fae, there are some misunderstandings. It’s a fable about ignorant prejudices, as well as growth and forgiveness.

Whether it’s 1,000 pages or only 61, Hobb manages to weave literary magic with her story-telling. It will be a very sad day when I run out of her books to read for the first time.
-------------------------------------------
First Sentence: First came drought.

Favorite Quote: You waste words on what you can’t change.

[YouKneeK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words Like Coins is a short story set in the Six Duchies from Robin Hobb’s books. In this story, we learn about the mysterious pecksies. Despite its setting, this actually stands alone perfectly fine and doesn’t require any familiarity with Hobb’s other work to be enjoyed.

I’m not normally too crazy for short stories, but I really enjoyed this one. It caught my interest from the beginning, and I was especially interested after the pecksies started to show up. From that point, I was reading somewhat anxiously to find out what would happen. One can never really be sure just what Hobb will do to her poor characters, so I felt a little more suspense than I might have otherwise.

[Librukie · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este relatito que no llega a las 40 páginas, Hobb nos cuenta un trocito de la vida de Jami y Mirrifen, dos mujeres que intentan sacar su granja adelante durante una sequía, mientras sus maridos van a buscar trabajo fuera con el fin de buscar alternativas a su precaria situación. Las ratas comienzan a ser la principal preocupación de estas mujeres, y dónde hay ratas, hay "pecksies", unas criaturas de las que Jami no tiene muy buenas referencias...

Aunque este relato venga marcado como el "1.5" en la saga de los Vetulus, no sabría muy bien dónde ubicarlo realmente, ya que la única referencia a este mundo es que se menciona Torre del Alce en una ocasión. Es quizá el relato de todos los que he leído que menos importancia tiene leerlo en un orden determinado, así que podría leerse en cualquier punto de la historia principal. Si no me equivoco o me falla la memoria, es la primera vez que se menciona a estas criaturas, protagonistas de este relato. Es un pequeño granito de arena más para el worldbuilding de esta fantástica saga (uno que me ha encantado, por cierto), pero no tiene mayor importancia el momento en el que se elija leerlo.
Es más, incluso aunque no hayáis leído NADA de Hobb creo que se puede leer como un pequeño cuento de fantasía que no os va a llevar más de media hora y que seguro os deja una buena sensación.

A mi personalmente me ha gustado mucho y me ha demostrado una vez más que Hobb es una reina de la fantasía, tanto en historias largas como en sus versiones más concisas.

[Camila T 🍉 · Rating 5 out of 5]

First third-person POV book is the series.

We discover the pecksies, there is some sort of witches or at least charm-makers. Not sure if it’s just fairy (hehe) tales or part of the story as reality. Can’t wait to see how it fits with the rest of the series, though.

[Sana Zameer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story. Wish there was more. Love Robin Hobb.

[Sarah Jen]

no review for this one. just vibes

while I enjoyed this, I think it just left me with more questions than answers. Hobb could totally do a whole series about hedge witches and expand on the commoner magic system like charms and scrying in rote because fitz spends a total of five sentences talking about it in all of the 16 books (I like to think this is because it wasn’t important to fitz, so he just didn’t include it. my idiot boy)

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a horror story up until the last page.

[Shreyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Words Like Coins' (Realm of the Elderlings #1.1) by Robin Hobb.


Words are like coins. To spend carefully, as they are needed only. Not to scatter like humans do.


Rating: 4.75/5.


Review:
This is a short story set in the Six Duchies but can be read as a standalone from the Fitz stories. It was a short story that was fun to read and filled with some amazing illustrations which expanded upon the world of the RotE series. Loved it!

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐ - it was meh

Not related to the main series, don't see the point of these annoying characters' story 😝

[Saloni (earnestlyeccentric) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short story about pecksies and an amateur hedge-witch.

Spoilers ahead.

This was a fun short story about the importance of words and minding what you say. While it didn't really tie into the events of the series as a whole, I still savoured every word (fitting, eh?). I loved how it was Mirrifen's own foolishness that delayed Jami's delivery. Hobb continues to astound me with her writing. I mean, I grew so attached to the characters in the span of 10K words. 

More than anything, I'm filled with deep melancholy as I write this because it's the last of the Elderling books and this one wasn't even like a proper book, just a short story. I'm not ready to let go!

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick Hobb short story / novella. Nothing spectacular, but it was Hobb, so of course I had to read it. Honestly though.. There's not much to say about it. I got excited when I read the blurb saying it was set in the Farseer world.. Thought there might be some connections to long forgotten friends of mine.. But nope. It's in the world, but disconnected completely from Farseer characters, which I expected but still sort of hoped to be wrong. Anyway though.. 3 stars.

[Daniela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un cuento breve, pero muy interesante. Está ambientado en el universo de los Vetulos, aunque no tiene una conexión directa con los personajes de las otras historias; más bien funciona como una forma de ampliar ese mundo y mostrar algunos de sus rasgos con mayor claridad.

En pocas páginas, el relato deja ver varias cosas que caracterizan ese universo: lo dura que puede ser la vida, especialmente para las mujeres, la presencia natural de seres fantásticos y, sobre todo, la importancia de los relatos orales y del poder de las palabras. La idea de las “palabras como monedas” atraviesa toda la historia y recuerda a otras obras del género donde el lenguaje tiene un peso real, como ocurre en Terramar de Ursula K. Le Guin o en El nombre del viento de Rothfuss.

A pesar de su brevedad, el cuento logra construir bien a sus personajes y crear una atmósfera clara y envolvente. Es una historia sencilla, pero efectiva, que suma una pequeña pieza más al mundo que Hobb ha ido construyendo con tanta paciencia.

Un relato corto, entretenido y con ideas interesantes que deja con ganas de seguir explorando ese universo.

[Vivone Os · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obožavam čitati Hobb, žena tako divno piše. Doduše divno piše i patnju i tugu i nesreću. Pa sam tako ovoj priči prišla sa strepnjom.
U toliko malo riječi je ispričala toliko puno. Kroz to svoje divno pripovijedanje potakne čitatelja da se boji za glavne likove, da navija za njih. Malo me sekirala jedna histerična likica, ali ajd, pripišimo to visokoj trudnoći i brizi za nerođenu bebu. Na kraju na moju radost, ova priča je imala sretan završetak za sve uključene. A ima i dobru poruku: pazi što pričaš jer bi ti se to moglo obiti o glavu. A neće se svaki put u blizini naći mala vila da ti pomogne.

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[Janae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairytale. Clever. Happy ending.

This simple little story turned out much better than I expected. Other than being set in Tilth, there is very little evidence that this tale is part of Hobb‘s Realm of the Elderlings series. From the newly introduced magical creatures, to the tidy little ending, I hardly knew I was in Hobb‘s world.

This short story can be read on its own; the reader need not have other context to understand or appreciate it.

[Óli Sóleyjarson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ekki slæm.

[Von · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hobb es una excelente narradora, mantiene el suspenso hasta el final.

[gi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

kind of a crazy world-building addition if you ask me

[Lark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little novella on biases, magic, pecksies, and the power of words. I would gladly have read a longer story from this.

3.5 stars.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this lil short story. I wish there were some pecksies in the books I've read in the universe so far!

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading this as part of the A Fantasy Medley anthology.

Misunderstandings between a almost-witch and a fae result in there being a misunderstanding that could be horrendous. Good story. 3-1/2 out of 5 stars.

[Dave T · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 31 pages this ‘novella’ was a lot shorter than the 800-900 page outings I’m used to from the author and read very much like a short story from her recent collection ‘The Inheritance’.

Set in the Six Duchies like many of her other stories from the Realm of the Elderlings, this story focuses on that perfect mix of magical fantasy and normal every-day. It might not be surprising to learn that thirty-one pages from a series which probably to date consists of ten or fifteen thousand isn’t a defining story from the collection but a nice compliment to it nonetheless.

DT 18/06/2016

[Babette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robin Hobb is a master at story telling

I thought I had read everything Robin Hobb had written but then I came across this. It is a short story but I loved every second of it. Robin Hobb’s writing creates such vivid pictures I always feel like I am watching a movie. This is an excellent hour show!

[Mehedi Sarwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant novella with weird creature, magic charms and a lot of wisdom. Robin Hobb is proving why she is so loved by her reader.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course I enjoyed it...Robin Hobb wrote it!

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly fun and engaging short story, which is very easy to find as it is available as a standalone ebook download. It even features some illustrations. Of all of the Realm of the Elderlings short stories, I think this one is the least essential for fans. Not because the story is bad, but because I don't actually feel like this story is set in that world at all. Apart from some mentions of a couple of the Duchies, I didn't feel like anything here tied in with the world that we know.

This story concerns a young woman left alone with her very pregnant sister-in-law, who accidentally brings pecksies into their lives. These are tiny little elf creatures who are "bound" to anyone they accept a favor from. A lot of the story deals with wordplay and the classic "be careful of exactly what words you use" when dealing with magic conundrum.

It was a fairly light-hearted story, though tinged with some darker reality (rat slaying). The ending was well-constructed and clever and the writing was good as we can always expect from Hobb. I just didn't really love it and, as I said, it didn't feel like a story set in the Realm of the Elderlings at all. Pecksies are just briefly mentioned in the main books and they seem very different from the other forms of magic we do know. It was fun, but I really viewed it as a standalone story.

I do find it interesting that every single one of Hobb's Elderlings short stories is told from a woman's POV. I like that a lot.

[Samantha Di · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an outstanding and beautiful little read, that absolutely had me on the edge of my seat. I’ve just had to reluctantly part ways again with RotE (I finished the series- after an immediate second read, back to back from the first read) - So this was a nice little dip back into her captivating and well crafted writing. Hobb’s writing absolutely fills my heart to the brim. The deep attachment to characters she creates in such a short story is impressive. To display such talent in a little snippet speak volumes to her skill. I will forever cherish this tiny book about tiny creatures. I had my hand on my heart when I finish as I was really moved. I wish I could hunt it down to have as a hard copy. I am once again so moved by how talented she is.

[Khadijah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this very bitter sweetly. Its the last thing im reading from the Realm of the Elderlings, and Im feeling quite sad about that. I had been confused about the Hedgewitch situation in one of the Fitz books, and she didnt _really_ explain it, can everyone become a hedgewitch? is it a learned magic or is one born with it? Im not a huge fan of short stories, as soon as you are getting invested, the story ends, but I wanted more Hobb, and more from ROTE. Cute little story, I guess. Pretty dark and ended too soon.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine little story conceptually set in Buck as an Elderling story. But really wasn't all that Elderling, except for the hedge witches. But my biggest issue was the pecksies. The Pecksies really don't seem to be part of the Elderling universe and I'm glad they aren't because they would make the series a whole lot less real feeling. No matter. This story worked anyway. But there wasn't that much to it. I'm glad I didn't go that far out of my way to be a completist on the series. 3.5 of 5.

[Devanshi Mehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most amazing short story I have ever read. This is what short stories should be like - magical and wholesome. I don't know if I would have loved it as a standalone, though none of the characters are in the other series that I have read so far. But I have read the Farseer and Liveship traders series and no pecksies have been mentioned. So this was a standalone story for me but I think I was only able to appreciate it so much because of the series that I have read.