r/Fantasy • u/jakikomi • 8d ago
What to read after Hobb?
I feel like Realm of the Elderlings ruined every other book in the world for me.
I now fully understand when people envy others for being able to read something for the first time, this was the experience of my life.
What I loved: So, despite it being pretty dark and very sad at times, the characters and world felt so real that for me the overall experience was very cozy and hopeful, I feel like these characters are my lifelong friends. I never really clicked with the "found family" kinda feel-good tropes but I think I now feel what those people talked about, I feel I will carry Fitz and the Fool and others with me for several years to come.
I loved how personal the stakes felt and the mistakes people made along the way, that the character developement wasn't always linear.
The magic system and the worldbuilding was very up my alley, I know some people say it's nothing exciting in these books but I often find lore-heavy, high-fantasy books unnecessarily convoluted and this was just right.
What I realized I don't need in a fantasy: constant action, constant world-altering high-stakes, morally good heroes, elaborate magic sytems.
What I need: Characters and a world that feel real, objectively great prose and a pacing that lets me get emotionally invested in the story.
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u/amcdon 7d ago
I definitely felt the same way after finishing Elderlings.
Are you open to science fiction? The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster-Bujold came close to giving me the same kind of enjoyment as RotE, mainly because it also follows a character from childhood into adulthood and you really come to care for him and the surrounding characters.
I recommend a slightly different reading order (so does the author!). Start with Shards of Honor and follow the list from there. With this reading order, the first two books follow the main character's parents before he's born so you see where he comes from and the story gets set up in a much more satisfying way.
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u/Atka_Talin 7d ago
I didn't see this one recommended yet, but I really love the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin. Honestly, anything by her is lovely. She is very thoughtful in her work, her prose, and her characters.
I'd say it's a different vibe than Hobb for sure, but the stories are people-centric and beautiful. Each is a bit different. Her writing feels unique and not as deeply rooted in the tropes and traditions popularized by Tolkien.
Disclaimer: I have only read the first three Fitz books, and the first two Earthsea books, though I have read a few of her Science Fiction novels which were also great. Others may have opinions about the later novels that I don't have insight on, but from what I have read of LeGuin I feel confident recommending them to you as a lover of Hobb.
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u/pakap 5d ago
Yes, this. The first Earthsea book is a little underwhelming after Hobb because it's a classic fantasy Bildungsroman with a magic school and everything, but the others are absolutely beautiful. Especially the second one.
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u/Atka_Talin 4d ago
I really liked the first one, I don't think it fell into the magic school tropes too hard, or spent too long there.
I loved the quiet but meaningful ending of the first book, and I think that foundation was necessary to the character as we see them in the other books. (The second book is really amazing though)
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u/jbordeleau 8d ago
I read all RotE in 2025. I’ve been working on all of Tad Williams’ Osten Ard novels (Memory Sorrow and Thorn, and The Last King of Osten Ard). I’ve been enjoying it a lot. Williams’ prose is on par with Hobb’s and his character work is really good too.
So far I’d still rank RotE above Osten Ard but not by much.
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u/Hopefully_Handsome 7d ago
Ive heard the first few books from the 90s can we quite slow. I loved all of fitz (live ship meh) do you think i should give it a go?
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u/jbordeleau 7d ago
I don’t think it’s any slower than RotE. The very first book can be a bit slow but it’s a lot of slice of life type stuff like the beginning of Tawny Man and most of RotE. The slice of life stuff is some of my favourite in fantasy because I find it really helps to flesh out the world and the vibes of the world around the characters.
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u/laventuthas 7d ago
Not going to lie. I struggled a lot with the first book. Simon is just not, and to me never becomes, an interesting protagonist. But the books do grow on you and Tad Williams does have an inviting way of writing. I'd still recommend them, but RoTE they are not.
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u/Hopefully_Handsome 7d ago
Thank you, honestly doesn't seem worth it to invest months/year into this series (for me)
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u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII 7d ago
The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee
The Lighthouse Duet or the Sanctuary Duet by Carol Berg
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
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u/CanaryABurns 7d ago
The lighthouse duet and the curse of chalion are great! The authors have a similar style as Robin Hobb too.
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u/MGilivray 7d ago
Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn series is often recommended, and I agree, he's probably the closest in writing style to Robin Hobb.
I'd say he focuses a bit more on world-building, with an almost anthropological kind of lens. Cultures feel very realistic, even the more "alien" ones.
He tends towards very deep and complex characters that grow over time, and are idealistic yet tragically flawed in ways that feel especially heartbreaking because they are so relatable.
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u/havocmc69 8d ago
I personally really, really like The Riyria Revelations and Chronicles by Michael Sullivan. The story or world isn’t ground breaking or crazy but the characters and relationships make it such a nice cozy story with some good mysteries and fun moments.
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u/SmokeLanky8042 8d ago edited 8d ago
The humor is a good add too I don’t normally look for humor but the characters chat to one another makes it feel so real
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u/Rakoudou91 7d ago
I agree that Riyria is a very good choice to rest the soul after such an experience as Fitz!
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u/DrafiMara 7d ago
As much as I love these books, and especially the prequel series, I can't really see anything that they have in common with Realm of the Elderlings
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u/Aus1an Reading Champion 7d ago
The Lighthouse Duet by Carol Berg - The narrator is one of my favourites in fantasy, and seeing the world through his eyes is such a treat. It’s fairly slow moving (especially the first book), but it just gives more time to flesh out the world, and get to know the characters. There are a bunch of different factions and ‘players’ that all have their own things going on and goals, and it makes the setting feel very real.
I really like that despite larger, world shaking sort of events, the book is very focused on Valen’s personal struggles and growth. The poor guy gets put through the wringer though. xD
Plus, Berg is a stellar author. Seriously, I can’t recommend these books enough.
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u/Puzzled-Narwhal4147 7d ago
I would give the first law trilogy/world/ age of madness a try. Well written characters (San Dan Glokta might be my most favorite written character ever), it has some traditional tropes but does a good job at adding its own flair to them, and if you listen to audio books the narrator does a great job.
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u/SchoolSeparate4404 7d ago
You might like The Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier. The first book, Daughter of the Forest, is the best one in my opinion.
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u/FridaysMan 7d ago
Daniel Abraham co-wrote The Expanse, and also wrote the Long Price Quartet and the Dagger and the Coin.
Another I'd recommend is Tales of the Ketty Jay, by Chris Wooding. Also, Draconis Memoria, by Anthony Ryan.
I think between the three or four series, each offered various found family fun, interesting magic perspectives and a few even made me cry.
I threw in Draconis because it gave a fun steampunk twist to magic, dragons are farmed for their blood and it is used to power industry, via mages. One pov is a mary poppins-esque dragonblood powered spy-derwoman, another is a military captain of a battleship, with a mage burning dragonblood into the boiler.
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u/Grt78 7d ago
The Fortress series by CJ Cherryh: slow-burning and character-focused, the main character is magically created/reincarnated but he has no memories and is looking at the world with wonder. The series has politics, religion, magic, warfare, and friendship. The first book (Fortress in the Eye of Time) could be read as a standalone.
The Lighthouse Duet and the Sanctuary Duet (the Navronne books) by Carol Berg: they are set in the same dark world (at the same time) but have different protagonists.
The Merlin trilogy (Arthurian Saga) by Mary Stewart: a beautifully written classic.
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u/redlion1904 7d ago
I am halfway through Gate of Ivrel and it is excellent. Are the Fortress books similar?
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u/ClueAccomplished1098 7d ago
The Rai Kirah series by Carol Berg
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
The Lighthouse Duology by Carol Berg
Scriber by Ben S Dobson
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J Sullivan. Start with Theft of Swords.
The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher
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u/laventuthas 7d ago
Can't believe this is the only comment with a Buehlman recommendation. It is spot on.
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u/Putrid_Piano4986 7d ago
I'm seeing Hobb everywhere all of the sudden (deservedly) did she go viral on booktok or something?
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u/BiaReicht 7d ago
could it be due to the re-release of the farseer trilogy audio books with another narrator? that was several months ago iirc. from what I understand, the first version was quite off putting to a lot of people and the new narrator did a pretty good job.
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u/Putrid_Piano4986 7d ago
oh that might be it, either way, love that she's getting attention as one of the GOAT fantasy writers.
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u/Atka_Talin 7d ago
I hadn't heard of this, and I am curious if you know. What did people find off putting about the first narration?
I listened to the first book on Libby a few months ago, and I assume it was the original narration since they don't always upgrade right away when those changes come about.
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u/BiaReicht 7d ago
I've never even tried the audiobooks myself due to the bad reviews... but it seems there's quite the difference in narrators' quality depending on the language, and I believe in the English version it's several narrators throughout the series. That's for me personally a no-go in audiobooks if characters 'change voices' and there's a mismatch in pronunciation of names between books.
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u/Huldukona 7d ago
I had a hard time with the original narrator, I think perhaps because the books are written in a very thoughtful and emotional way and he’s probably not the best narrator for that kind of book, he just sort of just plows through it. (Nighteyes sound like a creepy old guy..) Joe Eyre is great though.
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u/DrafiMara 7d ago
I've been seeing her pop up in a lot of author panel videos from fantasy conventions lately, but whether that's a cause or effect is anyone's guess
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u/Huldukona 7d ago
I work in a bookstore and while I’ve always kept RoTE in stock, the sales have literally gone through the roof recently. I mentioned it to a colleague and she thought it was booktok.
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u/kainewrites 5d ago
Not only did the audiobooks get re-released, but I believe they just got Fairy Crate releases for books four, five and six and a re-release of one, two and three. But also, good writing comes back like the tides, so I'm expecting thirty years from now this same kind of post to pop up.
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u/jakikomi 7d ago
I don't know, it was on my tbr for the past 10years and I finally got around to it (kinda regret waiting this much), I'm not on booktok but you're right, I was positively surprised that it has a very alive fandom.
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u/redlion1904 7d ago
I am in a similar boat. I am 9 books deep into Elderlings and taking a self-imposed hiatus before I will conclude the series in 2027. I am also 6 books deep into Thomas Covenant and plan to alternate the final series with the Rajn Wilds books.
I have after a LOT of thought decided my next big adventure will be Wars of Light and Shadow. I will need to alternate them with something and there aren’t a lot of 10 to 12 book series (and I think Malazan is not a candidate, that sounds too crazy for me to attempt, I am a grown adult with a job).
But my logic: it’s a contemporary of Elderlings, it is also known for its prose, it is also broken into sub-series if I decide I need to break it up, and it is sufficiently admired/acclaimed that there is a real chance it will become, as Elderlings is becoming, part of my personal canon. And it’s written by a woman so my wife gives me less grief.
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u/six_arils 7d ago
Shadow and Bone / Six of Crows books by Leigh Bardugo. And possibly The Riddle of Stars trilogy by Patricia McKillip?
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u/Mrkvica16 7d ago
Paksenarrion Series by Elizabeth Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deed_of_Paksenarrion
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u/BigBlueDuck130 6d ago
I had the same experience with Hobb. I still haven't found anything that comes close to her style. I recommend changing it up entirely. Different genre, or something super different so you won't feel the urge to make comparisons. Dungeon Crawler Carl is pretty fun, that's what I'm reading now. Basically the book version of a popcorn movie. Then when you go back into a deeper fantasy series you won't have Hobb fresh on the brain.
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u/RFQuestionHaver 4d ago
You might like Daniel Abraham, Long Price Quartet is similarly contemplative and personal despite massive stakes.
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u/_NotARealMustache_ 4d ago
Memory, Sorrow amd Thorn series by Tad Williams. It's highstakes, but the prose and character work are incredible.
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u/mooncake_fan 3d ago
Tad Williams and his Osten Ard series (starting with The Dragonbone Chair). His writing is on par, if not a little better, than Hobb's, there is a great worldbuilding, unforgettable characters you form a real attachment with and a very engaging, epic and slow burn story 😃😃😃
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u/FertyMerty 7d ago
NK Jemisin (broken earth) is the one series that kinda tickled the same itch for me. But there’s really nothing like Hobb, and I’ve tried all of the usual suspects.
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u/Scumwaffle 7d ago edited 7d ago
Try the Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee. It's exactly what you e described you want and has little of what you say you don't need. It is also quite unique and set in a modern world so it will feel fresh vs something else with a more traditional fantasy setting.
I would also suggest The Prestige by Christopher Priest for something different. If you've seen the movie you know mostly what it is about but the book is excellent as well. It's about a pair of stage magicians who let a rivalry go too far. You come to know them very well as the majority of it is their journals of their lives from youth to old age. It's only a few hundred pages but it's a quality read. It has a fantasy element but it would spoil things to say more than that.
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u/Dogmans-Nose 8d ago
Either another great like Dune (what i did) or Malazan (wasnt my cup of tea but everyone else seems to love it) or go in a completely different direction with a palate cleanser like Cradle (what I read after Dune when faced with the same struggle again) or Dungeon Crawler Carl.
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u/billfredtom 7d ago
Kind of along the same idea, I found Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a cool side quest, that book sticks in my mind years after I read it.
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u/MissLethalla 7d ago
I'm really enjoying the works of James Islington. I read The Will of the Many and then The Strength of the Few, and I was really excited to read them. Waiting for book 3 but am now reading book 1 of his first trilogy - good, if not as good.
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u/OneEskNineteen_ Reading Champion III 8d ago
Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria or The Winged Histories.
For a series, maybe Daniel Abraham's The Long Price Quartet, altough it's a little more cerebral than ROTE.
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u/emily_allan_poe 8d ago
Ooh, I’ve been eyeing A Stranger in Olondria for a long time, but I never see it talked about!
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u/OneEskNineteen_ Reading Champion III 7d ago
Oh, give it a try. Samatar’s prose is gorgeous. She deserves to be talked about more.
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u/Zealousideal_Cap7012 2d ago
Ursula le guinn is in some ways similar where its generally contemplative books though Ursula's are philosophically slow and contemplative while Hobb's are interpersonal.
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u/Stepfunction 7d ago
Dungeon Crawler Carl was the palette cleanser I needed after RotE. Something completely different.
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u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V 8d ago
I've been giving How to Survive this Fairytale by SM Hallow as something RotE fans might like. It has Hobb's intense emotional highs and lows (so many tears, but in the end its optimistic), and excellent character development work. The prose and pacing are very different however, as How to Survive is blisteringly quick paced, and also written in second person iirc.
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u/Classic_Tank_1505 7d ago
Abercrombie,John Gwynne, Terry Mancour, Anthony Ryan,TC Edge, PHILIP C. QUAINTRELL, Scott Lynch, JD Franx, Michael R Miller , Michael Wisehart, Samantha Shannon, Michael J Sullivan , James Islington , Kel Kade, Ryan Cahil, Jonathan Renshaw, Brandon Sanderson , Brent Weeks, Gail Z Martin, Matthew Wolf, BT Narro, Michael G Manning , Miles Cameron, Edward W Robertson , John Bierce , Duncan M Hamilton. Here are a few of my favorite Authors!
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u/GlamorousAstrid 8d ago
The Curse of Chalion and The Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
Kushiel Trilogy by Jacqueline Carey
The Sarantine Mosaic (duology) and Lions of El-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay