Customer Reviews

Renegade's Magic (The Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 3)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Robin Hobb has just concluded her Soldier's Son trilogy with the third book--Renegade Mage. There doesn't seem to be much point in reviewing solely Renegade, however, as anyone who has read the first two is likely to pick up the conclusion, so instead I'll simply review the trilogy as a whole.
Of course, the first question one has to answer as a reviewer is would you recommend the book (s) to a reader. I wish I had an answer. To be honest, I'm just not sure, for several reasons.
Let's start with the positives. I think Hobb was truly ambitious with this series in a lot of ways, including:
Character-- she is willing to have several very unlikable characters drive much of the plot--including the one/two main character (s).
Point of view--employing a hybrid first/third person limited in Renegade Magic when the main character is an observer in his own body.
Themes--the clash of cultures, the clash of religions, free will, prejudice, environmentalism, the individual versus the greater good, progress versus tradition, etc. She wrestles with big questions here and often does so thoughtfully and eloquently.
World creation--setting her trilogy in a 17-1800's American frontier sort of world with no truly strange races (and none of the clichéd ones--elves, dwarves, etc), no bizarre or portentous sounding place names, and very little wielded magic (usually the magic does the wielding).
"Gray" ethics--presenting us with characters and situations where the choices are not so black and white, where actions aren't obviously good or evil.
Plot and pace--carrying us along in a slow, almost real-time/real life pace and pulling tension out of character or economics/politics rather than out of battle and conquest.

In short, she breaks away forcefully from many of the conventions of the fantasy epic genre--the medieval, magic-infused, mixed-race world where armies mass for large battles while a small overmatched group representing the obvious good quests for a sneaky way to defeat obvious evil, led of course by the Dread Lord Sauron, I mean, um . . . The complete originality that permeates the book is a welcome change of pace from the usual big-book fantasy.
Another plus is simply the writing. Whether she is creating an entire continent or the smaller worlds of home and barracks, township or market; or creating major characters that spill across all three novels or minor ones that appear for only a few paragraphs or pages, she does so with a sharp, rich sense of fine detail. Her dialogue is rock solid--sounding like people would actually sound during the situations they find themselves in.

Clearly, then, there is a lot to admire in Soldier's Son. But that's also the sticking point. There is a lot to admire, but if I were completely honest, I'm not sure there is a lot to enjoy.
It's an admirable risk to employ an unlikable character, let alone several, but it's a risk that may work better in novella form, or at least in a single novel. It's asking a lot, perhaps too much, of a reader, to carry that dislike over 2000 pages. I could barely do it, finding the main character Nevarre almost too much to continue with in book two and here again in book three. When he gets twinned with an equally unlikable other self, and the two of them do little but squabble or sulk, it became almost enough to make me stop even in the concluding book of a series.
Hobb wrestles with big themes here, but I'm not sure I walked away with a crystalline view of how we're supposed to see them. Looking over the series, it seemed many of the concepts were a bit muddy. If you're just throwing them out there for us to think about ("talk amongst yourselves"), that's fine, but somehow I feel a bit more is warranted if I'm going to invest the time to read three large books.
The point of view is interesting stylistically, but I'm not sure it best served the book. The passivity of the narrator was a bit annoying, and his ability/inability to become active seemed a bit too arbitrary, based more on the need of plot than anything else.
The pace is sometimes too slow in all three books. Book one rewards the pace more than either of the latter two books, which seem overly slow, overly dry, and at times overly repetitive--both could have lost a few hundred pages and suffered very little in terms of characterization or plot.
While the endings of books one and two do much to redeem their earlier flaws, and though some of Renegade Mage's ending has the same effect, much of it also seems too pat, too forced, or tacked on. And the big solution to the whole clash of cultures, or at least a major one, seems far too simple and anti-climactic, making one wonder if the whole thing couldn't have been solved in the first thirty pages of book one.
In the end, I'm torn about recommending the series. After all, for most people 2000 pages is a large investment of time. I'm a fast reader and all three books probably took me about 10 days total to read and I'm still not sure I feel it was worth it. I'm still trying to decide. But if someone needs to set aside 20-30 days of reading, or more, than it's hard to imagine that they'll feel repaid in the end. And with so much out there that is both rich and enjoyable, it's hard not to send them elsewhere. Which would be sad, because as I said, there's a lot to admire and this sort of ambition should be rewarded I think. But not if it doesn't equally reward the reader. So I'll cheat a little and say read book one. In many ways, and especially many traditional ways--it's the book most likely to bring enjoyment. If that one doesn't do it for you, and doesn't do it by a lot, then don't feel bad about putting it down and picking up something else. But if you can find reward in its rich character and slow, measured pace, then give the next book a shot. I wish I could be more effusive than that, but it's the best I can do.

Another reviewer suggested there was not a lot to enjoy in the Soldier's Son trilogy. I have to agree, if we're talking about the eating chocolates in the bubble bath kind of enjoyment. But there's another kind of enjoyment I get from Hobb's work. It's the enjoyment of splitting wood in the rain. You feel virtuous for having done it; you've earned something by doing it; you're a little stronger and better now. My soul enjoyed it, even if my inner child wanted more laser beams, romance, and bad guy vanquishing.

The first book was okay. The second just wore me down and depressed me. But I had faith in Hobb. She's written some of the most psychologically interesting fantasy that anyone has *ever* written. It's her and George R. R. Martin at the top, then Tolkien. Everyone else seems more than a peg lower on the deepness scale.

If Robin Hobb makes me suffer, I trust that she's preparing the way for a great finish. I believe she did that.

As a man, I find her male characters often don't quite think like men (Witness the amazing hand-wringing over love issues that Fitz goes through in the Assassin's series. He seemed incapable of thinking about sex as simple fun. Dude, come on. Note to Robin: study the male psyche a little more... you almost have it...) However, her plots involve such self-psycho-torture that it works, anyway. Complexity is a tide that floats all boats. I'm fascinated by the way she makes her characters walk a labyrinth before finding the payoff.

Renegade's Magic is a conclusion that redeems the prep work she's done with the first two books. It never seems to drag. Yes the protagonist is kind of a spineless fool, but that's because his spiny part was alienated from him by the Tree Woman. It's like that episode of Star Trek where the nice Kirk gets split from nasty Kirk, and they are both impaired.

I found this last book entertaining and satisfying. I recommend the series not because you will smile while reading it, but because-- if you are are a fan of human complexity-- reading it will annoy you like a deep muscle massage given by Angry Helga, and then leave you feeling kind of floaty and satisfied afterwards.

At this point, I will read anything by Hobb, no matter what. I'd like to see her write something with a decisive main character who doesn't keep a million secrets and lie to everybody in a vain attempt to protect them... but maybe that's the only way she can make the plots complex enough for them to work their magic on us.

I shall place myself in her capable hands.

This book is 4 stars because that's the average of 3 and 5. When Renegade's Magic is at its best -- and I do agree with other reviewers that the ending is superb -- I almost want to shout, "DAMN THIS IS GREAT!" When it's not... well, only Hobb's great word-smithing (and the desire to know what's happened, since we're three books into her world) kept me going.

The result is a very good novel that is also remarkably slow going.

Hobb set herself some odd challenges in writing this book, the third in the Soldier's Son series. One of them is that her primary character is passive; things happen to Nevare rather than Nevare taking decisive action. If you've read the previous two books in the series -- and really, I can't imagine reading Renegade's Magic unless you have -- you know that there's a good plot reason for this, but it doesn't make the guy seem any less... well, not whiny exactly, but he's often on the verge of seeming so. Secondary characters, such as Epiny, are so well drawn and admirable that it makes up for Nevare's ambivalences.

The other (unavoidable) weirdness in the narrative is that Navare is sharing residence with Soldier's Boy. (I realize that sounds coy, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers.) So she ends up writing prose like this: "...Soldier's Boy picked up one of the gelatinous structures and set it on my tongue. . . . when he swallowed it, the shiver that I had experienced on my skin was repeated, but as a quivering throughout my entire body." It's hard to follow, and yet oddly compelling. But it does make it slower to read the story.

Only Hobb's great writing makes it possible for the story to succeed, and... well, she really is one of the best fantasy writers today.

Existing fans shouldn't shy away, but don't expect a merry romp. (Er, far from it.) If you're new to Hobb, start with Assassin's Apprentice; it's a different universe, but a better intro to this author's work.

I loved Shaman's Crossing and thought Forest Mage was okay, but Renegade's Magic was just too much.

The narrative point-of-view is probably the biggest problem here. Again, we have first-person from Nevare's perspective--the problem is, Nevare's alter ego takes over his body, and he spends most of the 700-page book as an observer. At this point, I've had it with Nevare's impotence. I don't require incredibly decisive protagonists (thought he was great in book one, when he was relatable), but when they lack free will and literally cannot control their own actions, it bothers me. There are a number of ways the author could have made this trilogy more palatable: for instance (1) by writing it in the third person, using 3-4 POV characters, (2) by using a different narrator for each book and having Nevare narrate only #1 or (3) by letting Nevare become an army officer and come to similar situations of his own free will. Hobb does none of these, so the reading becomes increasingly frustrating.

Like Forest Mage, Renegade's Magic comes in around 700 pages long and probably should have been 150 pages or so shorter. In earlier books the plot might have been slow but was always moving; here we get a dozen appearances by Orandula where one would do. Dialogue started to bother me here as well, as it has little in common with the way real people talk. (I can't say whether this was a problem throughout the trilogy or just here, but it only bothered me here. This and a couple other issues make me wonder if the editing was a rush job on this one.) Worse, interesting and important plot events happen in Nevare's absence. There's barely a climax--certainly nothing worthy of 2000 pages' reading--and the resolution was unsatisfying. Plus, there are some key continuity errors. For instance, Epiny has a brother. His name is Hotorn. The author seems to have forgotten his existence, along with that of Nevare's younger brother.

There are still things to like here: we see more of the world and especially the Speck culture, which is fascinating, as are many of the supporting characters. There is also a handful of very well-written and memorable moments. I wish that certain supporting characters played larger roles, though; in a book that plumbs so deeply into the psyches and relationships of the characters, it's not good to be left wondering why certain characters (Nevare and Epiny, Nevare and Amzil) care about each other so much. And using only Nevare's perspective while he spends most of the book with the Specks means key supporting characters like Yaril never appear at all, while others have minimal screen time.

I still recommend Shaman's Crossing, but cannot recommend reading further in the trilogy.

Robin Hobb is the author of my favorite series of books. The Assassin's series and the Fool's Errand trilogy, but I can't recommend this latest series. She has always been great at creating characters that I love to hate, and enjoy seeing come to a bitter end, but I'm not really sure I liked any of these characters.

The main character is wishy washy to say the least. He isn't very likable, and a traitor anyway you look at it.

The whole magic system is just gross. I mean people store magic by getting fat, and then get skinny again as they use it. And we aren't just talking about husky. It appears most of them can't even move anymore. The whole race of specks were just not likable, and in this the final book they were the primary characters.

WARNING SPOILER:

The ending was lacking as well. It just ended. He finally found himself and just fixed everything. No effort whatsoever. I mean what's up with that? Then it just sort of dragged for a few chapters fixing loose ends up and sending him on to a happily ever after.


I didn't like the start of the Live Ship Traders either, but she pulled it off in the end. This one just ended period. I hope she returns back to the fool and fitz, but based on the way that series ended I doubt it.

I thought renegade's magic was a bit on the boring side. The hero was very frustrating, and not much happens because he is in limbo for most of the book. The exoticness of the magical part is not a strong point in this part of the trilogy, and I got tired of the eating of magic mushrooms. Nothing much happens, as the battle seems mostly internal. The character isn't active enough to be interesting and it took me a lot longer to read because I put it down out of tiredness. I was writing a paper during the workday, but at night, I didn't find too much escape in this book. The protagonist spends his time trapped in frustration, and thus, it is not as relaxing a series as in the other Hobb books. The other problem with this book was that there wasn't any other good characters to rally behind. In the Assassins series, there were a few cool characters, the Fool, Fitz, Chade. Here there weren't really any other lead characters and the reading experience was diminished because of the lack of plot movement since you were stuck with only one actor. I am glad I finished, but I would not recommend this series unless you really like camping. And even then, you have to really like eating. Still, it was good to finish the series finally and there was some escape into the magical world... just not as much fun to read as I had hoped.

I really forced my way through this trilogy out of sheer willpower. I had difficulty liking Nevarre from the first book, but could sort of forgive it in the sense that I decided I wasn't supposed to like him, because a part of him (the part with an actual spine) was missing.

The last third or so of the book was entertaining, definitely. The first two thirds can be skipped with almost no problem whatsoever, because they consist almost exclusively of what food Nevarre is eating and what it tastes like.

The entire plot with Orandula was pointless. It added nothing, except was the author's excuse to have a very unrealistic happy ending. The book should have ended about 3/4 of the way through, with what would have been a decent, if not 100% happy ending. It would have been satisfying. Overall, it was pretty implausible.

I really liked her Liveship books. This was nothing like those, and the Farseer books seem more similar to these than to the Liveship books, so I may have to consider that I just don't actually like Robin Hobb as much as I'd initially thought.

I almost didn't buy Renegade's Magic because of the lukewarm and negative reviews some people gave it. I'm so glad that my curiosity about the trilogy's ending made me buy it anyway. I was hooked from the very first page. I kept wondering when the boring part would start, but it never did.

I struggled with the first two books because I didn't really like Nevare, and it's hard for me to enjoy a story where I don't like the main character. But Book Three changed that. I began to Nevare better as he became more accepting of himself and realized that what's on the inside of a person matters much more than what's on the outside. I love the way Robin Hobb fleshed out the Specks culture, providing details that made them come alive. I can usually figure out how a story will end, but this one surprised me ... not once, but twice.

I'll read the trilogy again in a year or so, and I expect to enjoy Books One and Two much more as a result of Book Three.

Renegade's Magic (2008) is the third fantasy novel in the Soldier Son trilogy, following Forest Mage. In the previous volume, the court found Nevare guilty on all counts and sentenced him to hang. Yet he used the magic to bring down the wall of his cell.

On his way out of town, Captain Thayer and his men recaptured Nevare. But he used the magic to convince them that Thayer had beat him to death. Then he escaped from Gettys.

In this novel, Nevare Burvelle had been divided into two spirits, one living as a Gernian with magic and the other lurking within the same body with little access to the magic. Nevare is still capable of visiting Lisana in the dream world. But now he is an outcast from the Gernians.

Soldier's Boy is the Speck spirit within Nevare's body. Unlike Nevare, he is unable to commune with Lisana. While Nevare has tried to destroy him, Soldier's Boy survives and influences Nevare in subtle ways.

Lisana -- Tree Woman -- is a Speck Great One, a user of the magic. Her body is long dead, but she still lives within a sapling that is growing from her fallen kaembra tree. Nevare talks to her occasionally by dream-walking.

Olikea is the daughter of Kilikurra and the younger sister of Firada. She is the feeder of Nevare and Soldier's Boy. Her child is Likari -- a young boy -- who also becomes a feeder of Soldier's Boy.

Jodoli is a Speck Great One in the same kin-clan as Olikea. His feeder is Firada.

Epiny is Nevare's cousin. She has a bit of magic, enough to commune with spirits. Epiny is married to Spink.

Spink is a Cavella lieutenant stationed with the regiment at Gettys. He has been a friend of Nevare for several years since they were cadets together. Now he is the husband of Epiny.

In this story, Nevare returns to the forest. First he visits the cabin at the cemetery. He finds Kesey there and tells him about the escape. After eating some dry hardtack, he replaces Kesey's memories and takes a few supplies with him as he departs.

Nevare leaves Clove behind at the cabin, but the horse follows him into the forest. Nevare travels the King's Road to the worksite. Then he slips past to Lisana's tree stump and notices a new sapling growing from the barely attached tree trunk.

Nevare then expends his magic covering the roadhead with grass, vines, moss and other forest life. He also pulls down trees whose roots have been cut by the roadway. He blocks enough of the road to delay the road crew until the snow falls.

Yet a kaembra tree stump chastises him for the effort. The stump tells him that the road crew will only be delayed. The trees could have lived for centuries, but now they will live only for a few seasons at most. All his hoarded magic has gone for nought.

After his great expenditure of magic, Nevare falls asleep on the forest floor. Upon waking, he is being tended by Olikea, with help from Likari. Jodoli is nearby with his feeder Firada. Then he feels a tingle throughout his body and Soldier's Boy takes control.

This tale has Nevare trapped within the body of Soldier's Boy. He can talk to Soldier's Boy and see through his eyes, but he can't use his muscles. Now and then, however, Nevare siphons off enough magic to talk to Epiny, Spink and others in their dreams.

The conflict between Nevare Burvelle and Soldier's Boy gets to be a bit tedious, but it is the heart of the story. Neither has done much that is effective against the Gernians, although Soldier's Boy definitely gets their attention. Their reunion is essential to the magic's plans to prevent the westerners from annexing the Speck lands.

Unfortunately, this is the last volume in the trilogy. The conclusion leaves few unresolved story threads, but one would still want more. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Hobb fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of shaman magic, exotic cultures, and a very parochial soldier's son.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Seriously, something's wrong when you're rooting for the protagonist to drop gloriously dead throughout the series. Why oh why couldn't the whole thing have been about Epiny? I would've enjoyed that...

Renegade's Magic, book III in the Soldier Son Trilogy, unfortunately doesn't solve many of the problems of the first two installments (i.e. slow pacing and a useless main character). It doesn't, however, introduce any new issues either. Hobb is still an excellent writer. Her prose never fails to transport me into whatever world she's writing about, her dialogue is fantastic, and her characterization, always a strong suit for her, is just as immaculate as anyone experienced with her work would expect.

All of these things the book has going for it. But oh, Nevare, Nevare...

Hobb generally manages to include at least one good male character, from Captain Kennit in Liveship Traders to Fitz in the Assassin books. Okay, as time has gone on, her female characters generally tend to outshine them, but they've still remained at least readable...up until now. Nevare Burvelle is a bland, whiny, uncharismatic moron. He sighs, sobs, and whimpers his way through three novels, maddeningly unwilling to act on or even recognize what the reader sees to be obvious. He's everything that Fitz was threatening to become in Tawny Man, and while, this being Hobb, it's not actively bad...it's inescapably just boring.

Irritatingly, the reason for Nevare's faults is generally the same as the reason for Fitz's in Tawny Man...and, actually, it's even hinted at being the reason for a few of Kennit's in Liveship Traders. So...may I just take this opportunity to say...ENOUGH with the split souls already, Ms. Hobb. It was an interesting experiment the first time around, and I was actually very impressed by how you managed to eliminate certain characteristics from your protagonist. But I found it very hard to keep reading about a protagonist I not only didn't admire but actively disliked. There's only so far the godliness of the debut trilogy can keep us reading before we all just get fed up. If we MUST continue to see the soul-cut-in-half trope recur, can the hero of the next one at least end up getting the extroverted and action-oriented tendencies for once?

I think that's really it: it's rare that my opinion of a book is as simple as this, but it really is a simple divide this time.

I love the world, I love the supporting characters, I love the idea, and I adore Hobb's prose.

But I simply cannot find it in myself to like the protagonist. Call me shallow, but when I read a trilogy of books, I generally want at the very least a character I can endure, at best a character I admire in some way. Nevare is impossible to admire in almost any respect, intentionally constructed that way. And while I can admire the craft and artistry put into creating such a protagonist, while I can appreciate what Hobb has done with the elements of characterization, I still can't figure out WHY she had to do this not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES. Arguably, Kennit doesn't deserve the same severity as the rest of them, so let's exclude him. Still...she's DONE THIS BEFORE. WHY do it again? I can't figure that out. Creating an unlikable lead is an interesting idea, but it's basically an ego project, done simply to show off her skill and cleverness more than to give the reader a good time.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I just think that's a little backwards.