The Robin Hobb Collection discussion

ch6 - finally! bingtown is trying to pick itself back up!
i think this chapter, and especially the council meeting, was very nicely done. starting with ronica putting the lights on, clearing the mess, and then extending to the town itself.

still heavily dislike serilla, she's making it way high on the list of despicable characters :)
but she's not very strong mentally, so maybe someone will be able to turn her around.

It's funny. I recall you liking Serilla at the start. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, or I missed where you started changing your opinion :-)

I think I liked her initially, or at least felt sympathy for her position. Certainly didn't like her in this book.

Ms. Hobb sure does a great job of character development. Malta is probably the best example.

i did, she wasn't too bad in the last book - she seemed honestly interested in the city and was taking her chances.
in this book however she's become a power hungry career monster!

yes, liking malta more and more. but then she's becoming less vain every minute, so that one is easy to explain

ch7 - wow, what a chapter
vivacia dies, revives as her serpent-self (how cool was that??) i was really scared for a second that she was realy dead
wintrow talking about the serpent he freed from the island and how her toxins made him "remember" too.
kennit is being a gigantic ass (he's tumbling fast down to my despicable character list, where were the days i liked this guy?)

ch8 - and as if not enough happened yet, malta gets rescued by a chalcedean war gally. looks like all the power is back into the satrap and kekki's hands. or better: into the chalcedean hands.

i'm not sure what good will come of it.
but one thing seems clear: revenge smells like heated river water :)

Hanne wrote: "kennit is being a gigantic ass (he's tumbling fast down to my despicable character list, where were the days i liked this guy?) "

I never liked him much myself, but I enjoyed reading about him. He's very charismatic.

ch9 - and paragon plunges into his first 'pirate' experience. and he's behaving like toddler afterwards.
and brashen and althea are behaving like they're in high school.
thank god there's amber who is showing somewhat more maturity.

Hanne wrote: "i did, she wasn't too bad in the last book - she seemed honestly interested in the city and was taking her chances.
in this book however she's become a power hungry career monster!

yes, liking mal..."

I wonder what sort of person she would have been if she hadn't been broken by the Chalcedean Captain on the way. It seems like she's very desperate and fearful now. I like how Ronica just doesn't give her an inch.

that's fair, she's broken on many levels and what happened on the ship won't have helped and i can imagine her clutching to whatever power she has to ensure she won't be on the bottom of the feeding pyramid again.

it's also not a coincidence that of all people she allies most with a very powerhungry young son neither.

Ch7 - The dragon emerges. But is Vivacia gone? There seems to be two entities involved. One the dragon memories and Vivacia with the Vestrit memories.

Wintrow seems top have a new ability to control his own healing - I wonder if he can do that on his own now or if he needs the dragon.

Hanne wrote: "i'm not sure what good will come of it.
but one thing seems clear: revenge smells like heated river water :) "

Ooh I loved that bit - I hope he shrivels up :)

Ooh Ch6 from Amber ‘I’m a prophet. I’ve been sent to save the world.’

And she had very pale skin and she likes to carve - Reminds me of the fool in Assassin's Quest?

I had a quick check of Assassins Quest

Far to the south, there is a land where they believe that for every generation, somewhere in the world there is a White Prophet. He or she comes, and if what is taught is heeded, the cycle of time moves into a better course.

Is Amber a White Prophet - or is she THE White prophet ie the Fool.

From Assassin's Quest

No one is quite sure where the Fool went or what became of him after that. Starling believes he returned to his homeland. Perhaps. Perhaps, somewhere there is a toymaker who makes puppets that are a delight and a marvel.

Amber does like to carve things?

interesting! but wouldn't someone have remarked on amber's size? the fool would be small even for a women i would have thought?

it's true that no-one ever knew the gender of the fool right? there were doubts that he might be a she.

would she be the next white prophet? this story is after farseer because some people commented on the flight of dragons they had seen.

Hanne wrote: " this story is after farseer because some people commented on the flight of dragons they had seen. "

It takes place during the fifteen years between Farseer and Tawny man, though it's not exactly obvious how long after one/before the other these events occur. At least not to me.

I think at the beginning of the Liveship series someone had reported seeing dragons sometime within the last 5 years. I believe Amber is quite small but I can't remember the reference

Ch 9 - I wonder if Lavoy is planning a mutiny? I think the crew will need to do some serious drilling if they expect to get anywhere in Divvytown.

five years sounds about right with what i was thinking.

on the fool, it might be, it would be a bit weird for me, but given what damian said in his spoilery comment before (grrr! :)) it might be. i would never have picked it up.

it's fair to say that lavoy is up to no good!
not really the finest of mates i would think

We also know a White Prophet always has to look for a Catalyst - and Amber is looking for someone special. She initially thought it was Althea but later rejected that idea. So I'm suspecting it will be Wintrow - if that's what/who she is.

i think the whole vestrit family might be a catalyst, althea freed the dragon, wintrow freed the serpent, so they're both at least that.
i guess these prophets don't really get clear instructions :)

It looks like Serilla's position isn't as secure as she thought. But at least she gave Ronica some warning.

Some juicy chunks in this part, I think Hobb has three major story lines going

1.Bingtown

We have Ronica here and she is trying to bring peace and normalcy back to Bingtown but New and Old traders vying for each other's blood it is not as easy.

Her situation is also not helped by Serilla who is clinging to the fantasy of power, she is definitely broken from inside and therefore is becoming a puppet in the hand of Coed.

2.Rain wild

Malta is definitely maturing as a character, but it seems falling in chalaced hands has shifted the power again in the hands of Satarap.

The dragon Tingtalia is trying to find other dragons after being freed, but she is getting frustrated by the fact that all that she remembers is not existing anymore.

We also come to know from her memories that that the Elderlings were part human and part dragons. Also the stones they built were memory stones, I think we came across these type of stones in Farseer trilogy.

3. Pirate Isles

Vivacia has turned into dragon due to which Wintrow has lost all the connection he has with her.

Kennit is trying to exploit this again to his side by bargaining with a dragon can be a double edged sword. also Kennit is hiding a large part of his past, also I think he is definitely related to Igor.

Althea is trying to make best she has got, but it is not helped by the fact that she has many people with differing agendas on their mind and each of them has powerful tool called as Paragon to play with.