Robin Hobb is the pen name of the American fantasy writer Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, born in Berkeley, California, in 1952. She is best known for the 16 novels of the “Realm of the Elderlings”, which began with “Assassin’s Apprentice” in 1995, and she also writes as Megan Lindholm.
She grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, from the age of ten, married the merchant mariner Fred Ogden at 18 and settled for a time in Kodiak. Her first sales were short stories for children’s magazines. Her first novel, “Harpy’s Flight”, appeared in 1983, when she was 30 and working as a waitress while raising children. It was the first of four books about the characters Ki and Vandien. “Wizard of the Pigeons” (1986), set in Seattle, is regarded as a forerunner of urban fantasy, and her novella “A Touch of Lavender” was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. The Lindholm books were well reviewed but did not sell well.
In 1995 she chose the androgynous name Robin Hobb for a new kind of work, epic fantasy told in the first person by a male narrator. The Farseer trilogy follows FitzChivalry Farseer, the illegitimate son of a prince, and an enigmatic figure called the Fool. The Liveship Traders trilogy (1998 to 2000) moved to another part of the same world, with pirates, sea serpents and a family of traders whose ships are alive. The Tawny Man trilogy returned to Fitz, and the four Rain Wild Chronicles novels dealt with the re-emergence of dragons. The Fitz and the Fool trilogy closed the sequence with “Assassin’s Fate” in 2017.
The Soldier Son trilogy, which opened with “Shaman’s Crossing” in 2005, is her only work as Hobb set outside the Elderlings world. “The Inheritance” (2011) collects short stories written under both names.
“Assassin’s Fate” won the David Gemmell Award for best novel in 2018, and “Forest Mage” won the Endeavour Award in 2007. In 2021 she received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. She continues to publish under both names and lives on a small farm outside Roy, Washington.
Publication Order of The Farseer Trilogy Books
Assassin’s Apprentice
1995
Royal Assassin
1996
Assassin’s Quest
1997
Publication Order of Liveship Traders Books
Ship of Magic
1998
The Mad Ship / Mad Ship
1999
Ship of Destiny
2000
Publication Order of The Tawny Man Trilogy Books
Fool’s Errand
2001
The Golden Fool / Golden Fool
2002
Fool’s Fate
2003
Publication Order of Soldier Son Trilogy Books
Shaman’s Crossing
2005
Forest Mage
2006
Renegade’s Magic
2007
Publication Order of Rain Wild Chronicles Books
Dragon Keeper / The Dragon Keeper
2009
Dragon Haven
2010
City of Dragons
2011
Blood of Dragons
2013
Publication Order of Fitz and the Fool Trilogy Books
