Never in my life before have I undergone such a monumental task as reading a 16 book series. I’ve read a book series here and there, mostly though with only 3 books or in rare cases, up to 7 or 9. This achievement is a first for me, but hopefully not the last.

The series I’m writing about is The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. Her novels were recommended to me by friends and BookTubers alike, so after having had them on my to-read list for a year, and the first three books waiting on my actual to-read-bookshelf for roughly another year, I finally took the plunge into this massive series in November 2024. It was definitely a bit daunting to commit to a series of 16 books, but as soon as I finished the first book, I knew I was definitely gonna read them all.

This series is actually a series of series. The Realm of the Elderlings is the umbrella name for The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, The Rain Wild Chronicles and the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy, which are all series of 3-4 books themselves, and should ideally be read in exactly this order1, as illustrated in this picture provided by the publisher:

These series can be categorized into the “Six Duchies” books, which are The Farseer Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy and the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy, and which have one protagonist narrating in first person. The other books can be categorized as the “Cursed Shores” books, which are The Liveship Traders and The Rain Wild Chronicles, and which show multiple points of view in third person. All books are set in the same world, but the Six Duchies and the Cursed Shores are different parts of this world, and this is where they take place2. There are also a novella, The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince, and a few short stories set in this world in The Inheritance.

These books have been written over a span of more than 20 years, with the first book Assassin’s Apprentice, having been published in 1995, and the last book, Assassin’s Fate, having been published in 2017. This series is truly the live’s work of this author, and comes to a total of almost 11.000 pages.

Here are some points of what you can expect from this series, which will hopefully help you to decide whether it is a series for you:

  • An extremely diverse cast of amazing characters. Lovable, empathic protagonists and insanely complex villains.
  • Medieval fantasy with strange, subtle magic that weaves naturally into this world. Initially the books are very low on magic and build up slowly.
  • Very strong character development, to the point that characters you hated or found annoying will earn your sympathy by the end of their story arc.
  • Expertly crafted prose. This author is a superb writer with an attention to detail that make this world come alive and feel real.
  • Animals as characters, with their own personalities. Great representation of animals in general.
  • LGBTQI+ characters and characters with intellectual disabilities.
  • Gut-wrenching, emotional rollercoasters throughout.
  • Satisfying slow burns throughout all of the books, and throughout the entire series. Mysteries from the early books are resolved in later books and weave all of the stories together.

The books get pretty dark at times, so if you’re sensitive to particular triggers, here’s a by no means complete list of possible trigger warnings: violence, torture, animal abuse, animal death, slavery, r*pe, gore, murder, vomit, child abuse, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, miscarriage, misogyny, gaslighting, grief, death of parent, body horror, etc. 3 It’s also worth noting that these books don’t cater to “modern sensibilities”. Marginalized groups are sometimes described in terms that some people might find ableist or homophobic, but these things are seen from a medieval point of view, and in my opinion that’s what makes these books authentic for their setting.

Now, there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to such an immense series. Instead of one massive blog post, I decided to split my discussion into 4 different posts, with this spoiler-free overview being the first one. The second post will be my series by series reviews and reading experience, the third post will be a deep dive into the themes and characters, and the fourth post will be a meta analysis.

If you are new to the series and interested in reading it, I recommend NOT reading the other three posts though and I highly recommend staying away from spoilers as much as possible. I went into this series blind, and the few descriptions that I read were so vague that I still didn’t really know what to expect. I think it’s best experienced without any expectations, and you will probably only really understand this series once you start reading it. Perhaps the best teaser I can give to summarize it is “medieval Sense8, but with animals”. And all I can say is that I love this series so, so much, and reading it was a joy4. I will definitely re-read this series eventually, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it again from a different perspective.