Shaman's Crossing (Book One of The Soldier Son Trilogy) (urspr publ 2005; utgåvan 2006)

I’m a big fan of Hobb’s Fittz books, so I was looking forward to this coming out in paperback. And despite hearing some bad reviews I think it was a very enjoyable read. Not as good as the Farseer books, but still engaging and interesting.

Nevare Burvelle is the main character; the second son of a lord it is his destiny to become a soldier, an officer, and to fight, as all second sons must, for king and country. This is a duty and responsibility he looks forward to. The Writ of the good god lays out the life choices of nobility and Nevare has no problems with his path. He wants to be a good officer, to make his father proud, to bring honour to his family and his name.

Full review: http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2006/07/15/shamans-crossing/ ( )

I liked this book, but I had a hard time with her repeating every chapter the same information again and again. I know that he is the second son of a second son. I know that he is meant to be a soldier. I don't need to be reminded of this every chapter. It almost made me stop reading the book. The story flowed well without the repeating of stuff. I plan to read the other 2 books now. ( )

Soldier Son #1 ( )

I came to this after having read, and adored, Hobb's Farseer books. Unfortunately, perhaps because I loved those so much and associated Hobb so strongly with those characters, I found it very difficult to get into this new world that she has created. Nor did I find the characters particularly engaging. Perhaps I simply need to give it another go. ( )

I got up through disc 7 on this one (out of 21) before I gave up. There were definitely some interesting parts and the writing was nice, but it was just soooooo slow. 80% of it just seemed like "day in the life of a young boy growing up in a society that he respects now but will totally hate when he finally grows up". It almost seemed like an experiment where the author was thinking what if I just wrote the main character's entire childhood down so that the reader would become really invested in him and then story would be even better. It being in 1st person would get the reader even closer.

If I was 11 I would be totally into this, but as an adult with a life full of responsibilities (including my own 11-year-old) I just don't have time for something this slow. ( )