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The Realm of the Elderlings #1.5
Words Like Coins
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.
34 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 10, 2012
31 people are currently reading
3110 people want to read
About the author
Robin Hobb
319 books113k followers** 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
July 5, 2017
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.”
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.”
September 28, 2020
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.
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First Sentence: First came drought.
Favorite Quote: You waste words on what you can’t change.
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.
October 1, 2018
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.
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.
January 26, 2024
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.
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.
July 30, 2024
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.
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.
January 3, 2025
A great short story. Wish there was more. Love Robin Hobb.
November 10, 2023
This felt like a horror story up until the last page.
February 25, 2022
'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!
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!
Read
May 6, 2025no 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)
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)
October 12, 2022
2⭐ - it was meh
Not related to the main series, don't see the point of these annoying characters' story 😝
Not related to the main series, don't see the point of these annoying characters' story 😝
August 28, 2022
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!
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!
January 24, 2024
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.
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.
May 2, 2021
Ekki slæm.
July 31, 2024
Hobb es una excelente narradora, mantiene el suspenso hasta el final.
September 1, 2025
3.75
kind of a crazy world-building addition if you ask me
kind of a crazy world-building addition if you ask me
May 2, 2022
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.
3.5 stars.
December 18, 2024
I really enjoyed this lil short story. I wish there were some pecksies in the books I've read in the universe so far!
September 27, 2016
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.
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.
February 24, 2017
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
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
May 15, 2012
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.
May 15, 2021
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!
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!
February 3, 2019
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.
May 22, 2012
Of course I enjoyed it...Robin Hobb wrote it!
January 17, 2026
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. We've never heard of pecksies before 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.
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. We've never heard of pecksies before 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.
December 26, 2023
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.
November 17, 2020
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.
November 13, 2024
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.
November 10, 2020
This was really good even though it didn't look like a story set in the Realm of the Elderlings. It felt very much like a fairy tale and the illustrations were quite interesting.
I wish the hedgewitch magic had been addressed more but I am happy with what I have got. Now if only I had a short story about Jinna and Fennel...
I wish the hedgewitch magic had been addressed more but I am happy with what I have got. Now if only I had a short story about Jinna and Fennel...
July 18, 2021
Racconto di circa 30 pagine ambientato nei Sei Ducati (Riccaterra), slegato dalla saga principale. Molto belle le illustrazioni.
La protagonista incontrerà una piccola creatura e avrà una bella lezioncina da imparare anche attraverso qualcosa di non proprio piacevole.
Non aggiungo altro causa spoiler.
La protagonista incontrerà una piccola creatura e avrà una bella lezioncina da imparare anche attraverso qualcosa di non proprio piacevole.
Non aggiungo altro causa spoiler.
March 9, 2024
Odd, but amusing story about choosing our words carefully.
PS: used the same voice-reader, with the same settings used for Thursday Murder Club, and it sounded MUCH better -- barely robotic at all. Now I'll need to find the other book that sounded bad using a voice-reader to check if it also used mostly short sentences.
PS: used the same voice-reader, with the same settings used for Thursday Murder Club, and it sounded MUCH better -- barely robotic at all. Now I'll need to find the other book that sounded bad using a voice-reader to check if it also used mostly short sentences.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews