Farseer Trilogy

Just finished reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. My friend Tash loaned them to me, and what a wonderful, escapist and totally-enthralling read. These are the perfect holiday fantasy books, and I was paying attention to the writing as I went. One thing she does effectively is describing place. I am a person who has little patience for drawn-out descriptions (so I actually preferred the movies to the books in the Lord of the Rings series - I'll duck my head for flung eggs now). But here, she could describe the scent of the pine trees in a forest, or walking along an enchanted, snow-covered road, and I felt like I was there. My memories from scenes in the books are almost visceral. They are perhaps a bit male-centered, with lots of focus on battles, soldiers, and castle intrigues. But there are some great strong women, such as Molly, the main character's lover and great love, and Kettricken, the Queen-in-waiting.

So if you are looking for a solid and engrossing fantasy read, and want to know you've got three long books to look forward to, I highly recommend these. Thanks to Tash for the loan!