Shaman's Crossing, Book One of the Soldier Son Trilogy

Not bad, decent character development, great insights into the society she created. Low action. As I was looking for story & action I was half fulfilled. I also felt like the writer wasn't true to the story; so my final reaction was that it was a bit of a lame duck.

I have always enjoyed Robin Hobbs' books, definitely one of my favorite fantasy authors. The Farseer triology, liveship traders, and Tawny man are awesome, which they need to get read, and by a great narrator like this book. Nevare Burville, the soldiers son enters a world of dreams and subtle magic with interesting characters. The first book of the Soldier Son is by no means the fastest paced record setter, it gets a little slow, but I still liked it a lot. She builds and introduces characters really well, gives them some of the frustrating qualities all people possess which builds frustration in a good way. The narrator did an amazing job, I hope he continues the series, and reads more books in general.

I had high hopes for this book as I have read others by the author and truely enjoyed them. But this book is dull. It has flashes of what it should have been, but then falls flat. I couldn't even get thru the first part. The narrator tried, but the story, for me never got better. I am very disappointed.

Technology equivalent to the Early to mid 1800's, and military cavalry of the same era, only with dream wandering shamanistic magic thrown in. Great story. I'm looking forward to the sequel. Narrator plays all characters excellently. Excellent recording quality.

This is an excellent book. The characters are well developed and the writer has an excellent way of telling the story. I also enjoyed her Farseer Trilogy and Tawny man series. Excellent books! It would be good when Audible gets those in their bookstore.

It seemed to me this was first written as a historic romance novel ... then changed to a fantasy novel later on. So most of the romance was taken out and some fantasy added... If you like boring, this is it. .... dont get me wrong I like (not love Robin) THIS BOOK is a SKIP. There are other books to put your time too.

She has done so much better. I dont like the first person aspect from her. She does not do that well at it. And the whole over done FAT thing gets ridiculous. She is not fit by any means. My pinky and index finger could beat her up.

He is ok. Not the best. Most of the voices sounded the same. You have to pay some real attention to his voice to distinct other characters in the book.

I kind of hated the book but I stuck with it for Robin. The only redeeming quality was it sounds like she or somebody she knows, honestly went to West Point or attended some sort of military academy. She did that very well. Needs more action and the book was slow. If you had been to a military school you might relate to this book. She gets that straight... but who the hell wants to relive that?

Look at my reviews... if your true epic fantasy you will agree.

The narrator did a great job differentiating between characters with his use of pitch, accent, and even speech impediment! The story itself was wonderfully written. Unless I have missed a recent release, I own all Robin Hobb titles that Audbible has to offer. I feel that this series of books did the best job of being a series (e.g., one story that took three books to tell), and yet also retained each book as a distinct step along the character's progress (e.g., each book had a natural breaking point and didn't leave me feeling unfulfilled because of too many loose threads).

Another rousing series by epic fantasy writer, Robin Hobb. And when I say epic, I mean epic. She crafts a fully-integrated world, with not one, but two fully-realized peoples, cultures, histories, magics, and mythologies, and touches briefly enough on a third to give readers a glimpse into the swirling depths of the mind of a creative genius. She takes the reader/listener on a terrific and, occasionally, terrifying journey, and the intensity of it will take your breath away. Occasionally a bit of a slow read, it nevertheless is a rich piece of storytelling. The narration is beautifully done, with a few exceptions - places where the voices are inconsistent with the emotions described, etc. Nevertheless, John Keating does a magnificent job with giving each character a distinct voice, his own voice melodic in the telling of this fantastic tale.

Just as a caution: Read/listen to these books in order. It is a trilogy, and while it is, in theory, possible to read and understand them as separate entities, you would lose the massive arching story and many of the subplots and foreshadowings that are present right from the first page through the last (yes, quite literally. Mz. Hobb is, in fact, a genius when it comes to wrapping stories back around to their beginnings). Shaman's Crossing/Forest Mage/Renegade Magic, for those curious. Happy reading!

Interesting story. Not a whole lot of magic in this first book of the series. Story is centered on the main character and his friends and enemies.

I could not stop listen to it...very interesting.


Hoping that more of Robin Hobb's books become available on Audible.

2.5 Stars
Reading from a single persons point of view was difficult for me – maybe that is because I rarely read a long book that only has one point of view.

The overall story was average but it seemed to be mostly terrible experiences to the main character and only a few parts that I could get excited about. The parts with the childish cousin were almost unreadable – really, she walked around with a whistle in her mouth! Much of the story was predictable as was the world, people and magic. I am not sure yet if I want to move on to the second book.