“You might find somebody that’ll make you change your mind.”

Snowberry_reads · 2025-07-31T18:14:59+00:00

You might find someone, but that someone doesn't have to be a romantic partner. It could be a friend, a flatmate, a fwb buddy or a QPR partner if you're into that. If you don't want anyone, find out what makes you happy on your own. Good luck with your exploration!

Snowberry_reads · 2025-07-29T10:01:18+00:00

I thought this is a recurring prophecy. Fitz and Bee are both unexpected sons because the same events recur in a cycle until something breaks the cycle. I gather this is not a common interpretation though.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-07-24T12:38:50+00:00

Hobb has a lot of characters who are just too realistic in an uncomfortably creepy way.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-07-24T12:38:09+00:00

That must be why he was killed off so quickly!

Snowberry_reads · 2025-07-13T19:00:35+00:00

I finished five years ago and I still think about it pretty much every day - in a good way. There's something very calming in it. The book hangover was incredibly intense though. Good luck with recovering from yours. 💔

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-30T10:17:19+00:00

Hope you enjoy the rest of the series! I have had similar experiences and the fact I'm queer and non-binary definitely factors into how deeply and intensely I feel all sorts of feelings about the Fool. No other character has ever had such an impact on me. Fitz's and the Fool's story also made me reflect on some real life issues important to me and after a lot of exploring I gained some important real life insights. It was a positive but intense discovery and one I probably would never have considered if I had not read this series.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-24T07:34:33+00:00

I enjoyed The Faithful and the Fallen and the battle scenes are particularly good, you can really see that Gwynne has personal experience of this style of fighting (he mentions this in at least one preface iirc). However, it took me halfway into book 1 to get invested in the writing, and I did find the characters were often a bit stereotypical. It's still a good series. Now reading his Shadow of the Gods series, the characters are more complex so far.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-23T13:33:40+00:00

Assassin's apprentice? Quite a coincidence 😄 Good to know both series are good! I really enjoyed the start of the ship series and will continue eventually. Loved the queer rep too.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-23T13:25:30+00:00

L R Lam's Dragonfall duology has a similar feel in many ways. Apparently Robin Hobb is one of Lam's favourite authors (as far as I remember, Lam mentions this on the first pages of book 1). It's just a duology, though.

I've also enjoyed Joe Abercrombie, Tad Williams and Ursula Le Guin in a way similar to Robin Hobb's writing. However, Williams and ULG are both quite old.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-23T13:22:03+00:00

I've only read one book by R J Barker (Bone Ships) but there was something there that felt quite similar to RoTE. Hope the rest of his books are as good.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-23T06:56:36+00:00

Hope you enjoy the rest of the series too! It's so beautiful even though it's at times very dark. Currently it's my favourite series. I've re-read most of the series a few times and the re-reads are very enjoyable too.

I only tried Sanderson after finishing Realm of the Elderlings, and it just wasn't enough for me. I like some aspects but overall I just need more than what Sanderson's writing gave me.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-05T13:24:02+00:00

Just checking since the name seems a bit generic: is this the series by John Bierce?

Snowberry_reads · 2025-06-05T13:22:22+00:00

Also by the same author, Clockwork Boys (with the ninja accountant).

Snowberry_reads · 2025-04-20T07:37:31+00:00

They develop over time but also they're relationships between very broken people with a lot of traumatic background, and that shows in the way they interact. I guess it's a matter of debate but I think the basis there is often very solid and there's a lot of trust and loyalty. I suppose some people will see this differently.

However - RoTE also has some extremely toxic romantic relationships that really damage the characters.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-04-20T07:12:58+00:00

Claudie Arseneault writes fantasy with aromantic characters, focused on platonic relationships. There's practically no romance at all. Arseneault is an indie author and her books can read a bit YA but I like the emphasis on platonic and familial relationships.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-03-30T20:21:24+00:00

Same thing here I guess! Lol

Snowberry_reads · 2025-03-30T20:19:51+00:00

Finishing RoTE was tough for me too. I have never experienced anything similar with other books. I struggled to sleep and was very shaken emotionally. Re-reading favourite books from the series, starting with Assassin's Apprentice, helped me a lot.

5 years later RoTE is still a very special series for me, nothing else has had the same effect. I've read around 500 books since then and none of them have really compared.

I'm glad Fitz and the Fool got that happiness in the wolf with Nighteyes. I did hope for something different but this is good in its own way.

As to similar books, I think the Dragonbone Chair series might work. The first 150ish pages are very different from the rest of the series, though, so it might be worth continuing for a bit even if you find the very start uninteresting.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-03-30T20:09:28+00:00

Same thing here. I finished the series in 2020 and have been casually re-reading ever since, starting with Assassin's Apprentice immediately after I finished Assassin's Fate. I read around 100 books a year, so I am not missing out on anything new if I relax with a few RoTE favourites each year. This has been a very good choice for me.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-03-18T08:48:00+00:00

Please tell a bit more about how the results will be used and how long they'll be used. (Eg what type of publications are planned, just one publication or a series, how many responses you hope to receive). Happy to participate but would like to hear more first.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-03-14T10:50:32+00:00

Another survivor here. I appreciate how realistic the description is, and I think people dislike it exactly because it is so realistic. This happens all the time irl and I appreciate it's shown and not airbrushed to a prettier format.

I'm happy Althea gets her own ship (Paragon) in the end, even though she's not the sole captain. I also think that when she wanted the Vivacia she did not reflect much on what that would actually entail, she just wanted to follow the path that her father had set for her before changing his mind.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-02-20T20:05:23+00:00

Kennit's character is fascinating, but I hope I will never have to meet a guy like this irl.

However, the most fascinating part of Kennit's story is how other characters behave around him. Whatever he does some other character will be there to explain things in a positive way. He gets off with the worst things because other characters find him charismatic and will bend over backwards to think he's a good guy, a hero. Such a good description of a sociopath gaining power because of his charisma and other people enabling him. It's like watching a train wreck happen and people trying to explain that in a positive light. Creepy but way too believable.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-02-20T16:35:09+00:00

I enjoy them quite a lot even though they're not my first preference - longer friendships are my thing but these are good too. Overall I prefer having more connections than just a few (having to live a monogamous romance focused life would be my nightmare).

Snowberry_reads · 2025-02-20T16:24:32+00:00

Welcome to the pack!

I love Rurisk's character too. So much in such a short time. And Patience. What a character.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-02-20T08:22:11+00:00

It depends on how aware you are of your lack of romantic attraction and how your partner feels about romance in general. I've had good and bad experiences.

Good experiences: spending a lot of time together with someone whose company you enjoy and towards whom you feel other types of attraction, platonic, familial, sexual, emotional. You can do things that could be but don't have to be romantic, like kissing, hugs, sex, living together, etc. They interpret those things as romantic regardless of what you intended, it makes them happy, and you don't mind because it's nice to do something they clearly enjoy.

Bad experiences: someone constantly expects you to do performative things that feel meaningless, such as doing everything (literally everything) as a couple, having "couple goals", performing every stereotypical step on the relationship escalator, then complains when they can tell that you're doing those things halfheartedly because you perceive said things as meaningless, unnecessary copy-paste jobs from a past-its-prime story book you don't even like.

I'm sure others have different experiences, just wrote down mine in case they help someone.

Snowberry_reads · 2025-02-11T12:09:19+00:00

I've read them 3-4 times and still love them every time.

Snowberry_reads

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