Robin Hobb (1952- ) is one of two
pseudonyms used by
US fantasy author Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden.
Hobb began her
career writing under the name
Megan Lindholm. She started writing as a
journalist for several
newspapers in
Alaska. At the same time she also submitted
short stories, children's
fiction and
poetry to
magazines. Her first
professional sale was the
short story "
Bones for Dulath" in the
Daw anthology "
Amazons!" (winner of a
World Fantasy Award for Best
Anthology).
As
Megan Lindholm, she wrote a number of works in various sub-genres of
fantasy, but it wasn't until she adopted the name
Robin Hobb that she hit
commercial success with two great
fantasy trilogies:
-
The Farseer Trilogy, comprised of "
Assassin's Apprentice" (1995), "
Royal Assassin" (1996) and "
Assassin's Quest" (1997). This
character-driven
story is a
courtly intrigue seen from the
point of view of a
bastard, who is being trained to be an
assassin in the service of the
king. The
protagonist FitzChivalry is one of the most
memorable characters in current
fantasy.
-
The Liveship Trilogy, comprised of "
Ship of Magic (1998)", "
Mad Ship" (1999) and "
Ship of Destiny (2000)". This
trilogy is set in a different region of the world described in
the Farseer Trilogy and shares some of its characters. A
society of
traders relies on
sentient ships to stay profitable. This series combines elements of
pirate fiction and
fantasy.
Thanks to the
commercial success of the
author's most recent works, her older works, written as
Megan Lindholm, are coming back into
print in 2001 and 2002.