Hobb, Robin
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of US author Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (1952- ), who published all her work before 1995 under the working name Megan Lindholm, almost everything that she wrote under this name being fantasy; as Hobb she has written nothing else besides fantasy. After some early children's fiction, she began to publish work of genre interest as Megan Lindholm with "Bones for Dulath" in Amazons! (anth 1979) edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. The characters from this tale featured in her first novel, Harpy's Flight (1984), itself the first volume of the Windsingers fantasy sequence, whose further instalments are The Windsingers (1984) and The Limbreth Gate (1984), all three volumes being assembled as The Windsingers (omni 1985); plus Luck of the Wheels (1989). The Wizard of the Pigeons (1986) as Lindholm is an Urban Fantasy [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below], the protagonist being a Vietnam vet living on the street in contemporary Seattle. The Reindeer People sequence comprising The Reindeer People (1988) and Wolf's Brother (1988) is Prehistoric SF, though with relatively little speculative content. In her considerable oeuvre, very few titles are of direct sf interest, with the exception of Alien Earth (1992), mostly set on an Alien-controlled but sentient Starship carrying a small crew and a large cargo of humans in Suspended Animation, all this aeons after the duplicitous alien Arthroplana had persuaded us that Homo sapiens had no future on Earth. The five viewpoint characters, two alien, include the human Captain (or rather, nominal captain) of this great "beastship" whose name is Evangeline. The universe changes around them, not favourably for the remnants of humanity, who have a long history of factional argument despite some emerging dedication of the race to a mandatory Ecological soundness. An eventual mission back to Earth opens for chastened humanity a narrow passage to a more viable future.
Most of the novels as by Robin Hobb comprise parts of the long-running and ambitious Realms of the Elderlings sequence of dynastic fantasies whose main character, the officially appointed royal assassin FitzChivalry Farseer introduced in The Farseer I: Assassin's Apprentice (1995), initially bore some resemblance to Severian, the similarly appointed torturer/executioner protagonist of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun – especially in the first volumes, which are couched in the form of a painfully confessional memoir written and presented as a manuscript for future perusal. Later volumes have streamlined their presentation from this complex donnée, and focus on a wide and vividly presented cast, ending after sixteen volumes with Assassin's Fate (2017). Within the overall sequence, the Liveship Traders tales feature sentient oceangoing ships somewhat reminiscent of Evangeline the Beastship from Alien Earth (see above).
In 2021 Hobb – as Megan Lindholm – received the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement. [JC]
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden
born Oakland, California: 5 March 1952
works
series
Windsingers
- Harpy's Flight (New York: Ace Books, 1983) as Megan Lindholm [Windsingers: pb/]
- The Windsingers (New York: Ace Books, 1984) as Megan Lindholm [Windsingers: pb/Kinuko Y Craft]
- The Limbreth Gate (New York: Ace Books, 1984) as Megan Lindholm [Windsingers: pb/Kinuko Y Craft]
- The Windsingers (London: Corgi Books, 1985) as Megan Lindholm [omni of the above three: Windsingers: pb/]
- Luck of the Wheels (New York: Ace Books, 1989) as Megan Lindholm [Windsingers: pb/Richard Hescox]
Reindeer People
- The Reindeer People (New York: Ace Books, 1988) as Megan Lindholm [Reindeer People: pb/Vincent Segrelles]
- Wolf's Brother (New York: Ace Books, 1988) as Megan Lindholm [Reindeer People: pb/Vincent Segrelles]
- A Saga of the Reindeer People (New York: Science Fiction Book Club/GuildAmerica Books, 1989) as Megan Lindholm [omni of the above two: Reindeer People: hb/Tom Kidd]
Realms of the Elderlings: The Farseer
- The Farseer I: Assassin's Apprentice (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1995) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Farseer: pb/Michael Whelan]
- The Farseer II: Royal Assassin (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 1996) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Farseer: hb/John Howe]
- The Farseer III: Assassin's Quest (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 1997) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Farseer: hb/John Howe]
Realms of the Elderlings: Liveship Traders
- Ship of Magic (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1998) [Realms of the Elderlings: Liveship Traders: hb/Stephen Youll]
- The Mad Ship (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 1999) [Realms of the Elderlings: Liveship Traders: hb/John Howe]
- Ship of Destiny (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2000) [Realms of the Elderlings: Liveship Traders: hb/John Howe]
Realms of the Elderlings: The Tawny Man
- Fool's Errand (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2001) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Tawny Man: hb/John Howe]
- The Golden Fool (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2002) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Tawny Man: hb/John Howe]
- Golden Fool (New York: Bantam Spectra, 2003) [vt of the above: Realms of the Elderlings: The Tawny Man: hb/Stephen Youll]
- Fool's Fate (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2003) [Realms of the Elderlings: The Tawny Man: hb/John Howe]
Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles
- The Dragon Keeper (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2009) [Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles: hb/Jackie Morris]
- Dragon Keeper (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2009) [vt of the above: Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles: hb/Jackie Morris]
- Dragon Haven (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2010) [Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles: hb/Jackie Morris]
- City of Dragons (New York: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2012) [Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles: hb/Jackie Morris]
- Blood of Dragons (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2013) [Realms of the Elderlings: Rain Wild Chronicles: hb/Jackie Morris]
Realms of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool
- Fool's Assassin (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2014) [Realms of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool: hb/Jackie Morris/Stephen Raw]
- Fool's Quest (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2015) [author's preferred text: Realms of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool: hb/Jackie Morris/Stephen Raw]
- Assassin's Fate (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2017) [Realms of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool: hb/Jackie Morris]
Realms of the Elderlings: individual titles
- The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince (Burton, Michigan: Subterranean Press, 2013) [Realms of the Elderlings: hb/Jon Foster]
Soldier's Son
- Shaman's Crossing (London: HarperCollins, 2005) [Soldier's Son: hb/John Howe]
- Forest Mage (London: HarperCollins, 2006) [Soldier's Son: hb/John Howe]
- Renegade's Magic (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2007) [Soldier's Son: hb/John Howe]
individual titles
- Wizard of the Pigeons (New York: Ace Books, 1986) as Megan Lindholm [pb/Robert Gould]
- Cloven Hooves (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1991) as Megan Lindholm [pb/Richard Bober]
- Alien Earth (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1992) as Megan Lindholm [pb/Oscar Chichoni]
- The Gypsy (New York: Tor, 1992) as Megan Lindholm with Stephen Brust [hb/Sam Rakeland]
collections and stories
- Silver Lady and the Fortyish Man (Eugene, Oregon: Hypatia Press, 1993) as Megan Lindholm [novella: chap: first appeared January 1989 Asimov's: pb/Rick Sherman]
- The Inheritance and Other Stories (London: HarperCollins/Voyager, 2011) [coll: hb/Jackie Morris]
see also: Worldcon.
links
- Robin Hobb
- Megan Lindholm
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Urban Fantasy
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry