7/10
I never quite knew what direction the story was going to take. Nevare’s journey—as a cavalla soldier, as a Speck mage, as both, and as neither—was full of unexpected twists and events and ever-changing perspectives and insights. I found the ending more touching and satisfying than I expected—almost a little too neat, given the messiness of everything else Navare/Soldier Boy tried to accomplish.
Robin Hobb’s whole Soldier Son trilogy is kind of bleak and dreary, without the variety of characters, settings, and “moods” (for lack of a better term) of her Realm if the Elderlings series. Still, I’m glad I read this—it was certainly well-written and quite different from most fantasies. ( )

Bah… ho letto tutto il resto della Hobb, ma non ce la posso fare, 'sta cosa è davvero troppo lunga e pallosissima; anche questo volume è tradotto in maniera RIDICOLA e imbarazzante, e in più è pure noioso. Cercherò un riassunto per sapere la fine, oppure semplicemente mi dimenticherò di Nevare e della sua pallosità

The third volume of the trilogy starts as Nevare escapes to the forest, with a recap of the events at the end of the preceding volume. He has decided to accept his fate and give himself to the magic. Unfortunately though, it still does not tell him what it wants him to do and his attempt to block the road results only in a temporary respite from the tree felling and the abrupt loss of his stored magic. With his skin hanging loose on him, his alter ego Soldier's Boy, created by the theft of part of his soul by Tree Woman/Lisana when he was fifteen, takes over his body and he finds himself literally a passenger for most of the 760 page book.

Soldier's Boy promptly takes up the role of a great one, at last satisfying the Speck woman, Olikea, and 'goes native' to the extent of marking himself, since it is now revealed that the Specks are not born marked but instead mark their children at a young age. He thinks he will finally be given the guidance he needs to use the magic correctly once he has built up his size and magic store again, but things are far from straightforward. He is drawn into a power struggle between Dasie, a young female Great One, and Kinrove, the Greatest of the Great Ones who, it transpires, has been drawing the Specks into a dance to generate the wave of despair and terror which has been afflicting the people of the Gettys settlement and fort. Dasie has mobilised opposition to the dance which has resulted in the premature and traumatic deaths of many of their people. Soldier's Boy thinks he has the answer that the rest of the Great Ones lack, but will discover that he is just as prone to disastrous mistakes as Nevare. Meanwhile, Nevare is an almost powerless onlooker to events, and his attempts to warn his relations and friends by spirit walking when Soldier's Boy is asleep and he can steal some of the magic are less than satisfactory.

Some parts of this story were interesting. We finally get to the see the Speck culture from the inside and a lot of the mysteries about the trees which have ancestor spirits in them such as Lisana/Tree Woman are revealed, including the process by which Great Ones have bonded with their trees. We also see the trading post which the Specks have established on the coast on the far side of the mountains: the coast which is the goal of the King's Road which is the cause of conflict between the Gernian people and the Specks. And there is a good action sequence when Soldier's Boy and Dasie lead a raid on Gettys.

However, a lot of the book consists of interminable descriptions of eating, food, Soldier's Boy being waited upon by his feeders and of their ministrations to him, all witnessed by Nevare. The passivity of Nevare's previous character is sort of explained as being the result of the ruthless and aggressive part of his nature being extracted as his other half, an explanation that reminded me of the 'The Enemy Within' episode of classic Star Trek, but it does become rather tedious to read endless ruminations of his powerless state or his fruitless arguments with his 'host' who wants to merge with and absorb him - something Nevare resists utterly as he believes it will lead to his extinction as a person and will sign the death warrants of everyone in Gettys. For his other self's control of the magic is not complete - Soldier's Boy cannot talk to Lisana/Tree Woman, that aspect remaining with Nevare, and misses her terribly.

In between all this, there are cameo appearances by the old god of death and balances, in the form of a croaker bird. This god began bothering him after he revived a sacrificed dove in book 2. I found this a bit too much - we have umpteen impossible things to suspend disbelief over and this was just one too many. But this god is instrumental in the rather improbable resolution of the book and series.

I found the book disappointing: a shame because there was a lot of potential in the 'Wild West' type setting of this series, so different from a lot of traditional fantasy. But the viewpoint character is paralysingly passive for so much of the story, especially so in this long concluding volume, and the minor and more interesting characters such as his cousin Epiny and her husband/his friend Spink are not able to leaven it sufficiently. His sister Yaril or old mentor Duril hardly appear and the Spink characters are mostly unengaging, with any that have potential such as Moma, given only cameo appearances. The ease with which hunter/gatherer people are able to produce slap up meals continually at the drop of a hat, including baked goods, rather stretched my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. And the resolution of Nevare's conflict with his dual self and what the magic finally does is a little underwelming. So all in all, for me, this is a 2 star rating. ( )

I feel like Hobb absolutely ran out of steam with this series. While I enjoyed the rushed ending, the lead-up was brutal. Sad, as this series started out so promising! ( )

A great ending for this series. Took an unexpected turn in the middle, but really enjoyed how it all worked out. ( )

. . . I was not expecting this series to end up being a retelling of the Book of Job.

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I really liked the first book in this series. The second, not so much, but it was the bridge gook in the trilogy, and introduced the main character to a whole new kind of life. So, I decided to try the third.

It was shear stubbornness that got me through the book. The best part was the end, probably the last 50 pages or so.

I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them, but this series got bogged down by way too much introspection and lack of plot. Hundreds of pages could have been deleted without seriously affecting the series, other than improving it.
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I liked this book but the book was dragged out. ( )

...Looking back at this reread of the series I think that the very thing that is Hobb's strength in the FitzChevalric novels is turning against her here. After three books inside Nevare's head I still think he is a short-sighted prick. While one can admire his work ethic and to an extent his loyalty, he is simply too unlikeable and static to make for a really interesting character. For a single first person point of view narrative, that is a big problem. Not even Hobb's worldbuilding can quite overcome this issue for me. Hobb obviously has things to say in these books, mostly about various forms of discrimination, but they always seem to stay one step removed from the characters. I enjoyed reading these books to a point, but they are not among the best she has written.

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http://books-forlife.blogspot.com/2009/03/renegades-magic-by-robin-hobb.html ( )

Reviewing the whole Soldier Son trilogy in one review, since it's one ongoing story.
(Shaman's Crossing, Forest Mage, and Renegade's Magic)
I consider myself to be a fan of Robin Hobb. I've read everything published under her name, with the exception of the two most recent 'Dragon' novels. I've given every single on of those books 4 or 5 stars. I've also read about half of what she's published as Megan Lindholm, and loved most of that as well.
Unfortunately, I feel that the Soldier Son trilogy is her least successful work to date.
It's not terrible, but it didn't hold up to my high expectations.

I think that part of this is that while her previous epics have shown the reader a rich tapestry of a world, with multiple important characters and settings, this story follows one person, Navare (the Soldier Son) for over 2000 pages. And, to be honest, he's rather a tiresome person. I don't demand that characters be likable, but I just didn't find him interesting. He's a bit of an annoying prig. I wished that some of the more minor characters in the book had been fleshed out more, and that we had a chance to see things from their point of view. (Epiny! And her magic! It just gets dropped...) The third book is largely concerned with the conflicts of Navare's suddenly-split-personality. It's him arguing with himself for hundreds of pages. (Tiresome vs. annoying!) I feel like it's partly because other characters weren't developed enough.

The story also moves very slowly. I felt like Navare's journey could have been condensed into one book, one-third of the length, and it would have been improved. I love long books, but this story seemed to have two main themes: the problems of cultural imperialism, and the importance of not judging people based on their physical appearance. Now, these are two very valid and important themes, but part of the reason that I do really like long books is that they have room in them for lots and lots of different ideas and themes. Not just two, repeated frequently. I also felt that these two themes weren't dealt with very satisfactorily: OK, it's bad and wrong to disrespect another culture, regard them as primitive when they aren't, and to destroy their native lands. I'm with that. It's also inevitable that, due to economic and other factors, peoples move, expand, and come into conflict with each other, bringing about cultural change. I also agree that is true. So the solution? Cause an economic distraction somewhere else causing everyone to run off elsewhere. Eh, well, maybe. Not terrible, but not really a full analysis of the problem, either.
However, I had a bigger problem with the other issue. After a million or so pages of Navare being prejudiced against because of his magically-induced obesity, and having it pointed out ad infinitum that what one culture may consider reprehensible and disgusting, another culture may respect, etc, the story ends up with Navare (again magically) being restored to his former thin, handsome appearance. It really undercuts the whole message of the book.

However, like I said before, it wasn't terrible. Hobb is still an excellent writer, and I did like that each of the cultures in the book was portrayed as having both positive and negative qualities. It was interesting and thoughtful enough to get me through all three very long volumes. It just wasn't as good as I'd expected. ( )

This was, in many ways, a highly imaginative, good story. Not excellent because of its flaws, but the world & the problem were certainly outstanding & that's why she got 3 stars from an otherwise 2 star, at best, job of writing. Modeled after the European expansion across North America, yet set in a fantasy world with very interesting magic. A man caught between the 2 worlds loves/hates them both & must make them come to an agreement. He's literally a man divided by this war, yet stuck in one body. The whole fat thing is perfect.

This was the final book in the trilogy & I'm glad it's over. It could have been an excellent stand alone if Hobb had the skills of Zelazny or Delaney. As it is, she seems to think her readers are complete idiots & needed every point mentioned & then repeated, often multiple times. That sort of thing doesn't bug me quite as much when reading as I can skim it. Listening to it is pure torture, though. At times, it read like a serialized story giving a synopsis of the back story just in case the reader hadn't read the earlier issue. Yes, it was that bad.

She finally told us why Nevare (sp? the hero.) is such an idiot, in case it wasn't obvious, but he remains one. This device was used to explain, in excruciating, repetitious detail, every move that was made. As it was, it wasn't done well enough to be convincing & it didn't help the ending any. It would have been a better book if it had ended about halfway through with his death. The whole balance thing wasn't worth the extra page count & always felt as if it was tacked on afterward.

Some of this fluff isn't all Hobb's fault. It can't be. A decent editor would have called her on it. Since they didn't & I hear they want series now, I wonder if Hobb wasn't pushed into expanding a good story too far. If so, I hope she resists in the future but from what I've seen, she seems partial to trilogies, so this is probably all I'll ever read of Hobb's work. I had hoped this was an early trilogy, but she'd been published for a decade when this came out so I won't subject myself to her writing again, especially not as an audio book. Reading a book aloud shows off the writing very well. Good writing becomes almost lyrical, but each mistake or bit of repetition is painfully obvious.

This was an audio book by Recorded Books, read by John Keating. He'll never be my favorite reader, but isn't bad. His British accent for regular narration isn't bad, but everyone except Nevare & his family spoke with a Scottish accent. There was no difference between a Speck & an outlander Gurnian. Kind of weird, but not too bad to listen to for me.
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So disappointed in my favorite author. Just don't even bother. Annoying characters, slow plot, unconvincing magical elements. Hobb still has a magnificent knack for world-creating, but it's just not worth the read. ( )

I've finished! The last long book of a trilogy of long books. Not that it wasn't worth reading, but it felt every bit as long as it is.The main character has been split in two and is trying to reconcile the needs and wants of both his halves to try to make both of his peoples live in peace. Only he seems to be making it worse for both groups, and all his friends and family in the meanwhile.I could never really predict where the story was going. There was a resolution I longed for since book 2, and she did deliver that. But not in a way I would've expected. And I'm.. I guess I'm satisfied, but not entirely happy with the way it all turned out.But this series is notable for one reason, and worth reading for that. In this final book in particular, it has more than one obese character. And how the two societies view that and treat the people who are overweight and obese, is just very interesting.I'm glad I've finished. Especially as there are more Robin Hobb books I haven't read yet! How is it possible that she's writing these long, dense books and I can't even keep up with reading them?! ( )

** spoiler alert ** I love Robin Hobb. I really do. I've reread the Farseer trilogy a couple of times over the years. I loved Tawny Man. (Not so much the Madship series, but there you are.) But this Soldier Son trilogy... It's unique; there's a lot in it that I've never seen before. The character of Nevare is also unique: starting out as a fairly typical soldier's son, he leads us through the training (that I enjoyed), then through being taken over by the magic... Neither of these is a unique plot point, but the way they are handled is. What I haven't enjoyed is Nevare's utter wishy-washiness. I understand the reasoning behind it... he was split and all. But the understanding came quite a while into the trilogy, and by then it was rather too late. "I'm going to be a true soldier's son, the best." "Well, no, I'm going to do what the magic prompts me to, because those I love could be hurt." "No! I will follow my dream and go be an officer." "The dreams are telling me to do what the magic tells me to, and I'd better. And I'm too fat." "I'll lose weight!" "No, I won't..." And so on. I wanted to knock his heads together.

Reason number two that I doubt I'll read this trilogy again is that it's very nearly humorless. I'm not much for the guffaw-a-minute spoof books, but halfway through the first book of this one I realized that the outlook was very straight-faced, almost throughout. So, in fact, is Nevare. I mean, of course his life is tough, but if I've learned anything in the past couple of years, even in the midst of chaos there is the occasional laugh.

Reason number three is almost cosmetic, I suppose, but it's still strong: the jacket art for Renegade's Magic. Don't get me wrong - it's beautiful. But it is one of the most spoilerific jackets I've ever seen. Only a couple of chapters in, Nevare has a realization of what could end the whole war between the Gernians and the Specks, and immediately stifles the thought for fear Soldier's Boy will "hear" it... and suddenly it's very very clear where the climax will go. Without that really very nice painting, there would at least be some doubt. There isn't. Oh well.

It's quality writing, as always from Robin Hobb, consistent and solid (though the grammar goes surprisingly wonky at times). I'm just not enjoying it as much as some of her other work. I won't trade it in - but I doubt I'll read it again. ( )

I feel I must preface this with a disclaimer. This has not been one of my favourite of her series. As a story it probably scored 3/5 but for the way it dragged me in and wouldn't let me go it scores the 4/5

The last part of this story saw Nevare fail to fit in with the Gernian world. Now this sees his Speck self take over and try to stop the expansion of Gernia in to their world. But his methods are bringing the world of the Specks into a spiral of change that may not be the best thing for the people.

It's a story that didn't quite sit right with me. It was interesting but I never really empathised or felt for many of the characters, several of them passed by me in a blur. It was an enjoyable read, but not a keeper. ( )

I heard from a fellow Hobb fan recently that the soldier's son trilogy was their least favourite from hobb. I don't necessarily agree with this, however I do agree that it wasn’t one of the most action packed. If you are not a fan of fantasy, then this may not be the book/trilogy for you. ( )

I finished the third in the Soldier Son series by Robin Hobb called Renegade's Magic. Anyone who is already a Hobbs fan will probably have faith and stick with it. Anyone who has never read any other Hobbs might lose patience and dismiss her altogether. Why? Unlike her other first person narrators Nevare Burvelle, second son of Lord Burvelle, destined by birth order to be soldier, is a slow-thinking, serious, and unimaginative by nature person. I don't mean he is stupid -- he isn't that at all -- but he is a person who does not question authority. Just before being sent to the cadet academy he has an experience in the wild that changes his destiny, divides his soul, literally in two -- one part of him ends up living in a 'magical' world that is part of the Speck 'enemy' culture of his own people, the Gernians. The other half of Nevare goes off to cadet school diminished. It becomes apparent that Nevare has been chosen to be the one to wield to 'the magic' that will 'restore balance' and stop the Gernian Empire's road being built through the Speck culture's sacred grove of trees containing the spirits of their ancestors and yet he has no idea of what he is to do and fumbles and flubs his way through the three books..... on the way he becomes a Great Man of the Speck -- tremendously fat, and experiences all the prejudices for and against obesity that the two cultures embrace. When Nevare is in his Great Man phase, the prose is slower more simple and considered and mostly about food, being hungry, and worries about how to wield magic but also confident. When he is Nevare the soldier he is quicker but also more emotional and less forthright. All three novels ebbed and flowed so that my engagement with the story came and went, which is unusual for me but I think it had a lot to do with the very careful and particular way Hobbs approached each side of Nevare's persona. But I mainly read fantasy to see how the writer imagines magic and Hobbs is a thoughtful writer, deeply interested in the concept of magic as well, and this part of the book satisfied that interest of mine to the full. At one point, Nevare, trapped inside his other half, the Great Man is thinking: "....I saw my coming as the trigger for a long chain of events, with distant results that I'd never be able to imagine, let alone compute. Was that what magic was? I wondered. Something that happened by such a convoluted chain of events that no human could have predicted it from the initial event? Was that the force that we called 'magic'? ....when a spark jumps every time, we add it to the list of things we can force the world to do..... But magic, I thought slowly, magic worked only when it suited magic to work... Perhaps it rewarded only those who obeyed it." In this world magic is very dangerous -- not some useful skill you can learn and then practice as you like without consequences -- here you can't go against whatever the 'magic' has decided it wants to have happen, you can't ever use it to benefit yourself directly, and if you do use it for other purposes, which Nevare does again and again, bad things, worse things, come of whatever change you have made. This is meaty fantasy, that requires a willing and patient reader to let the story unfold at its own pace, in its own way. I admire Hobbs for pushing herself, her imagination and her writing so as a reader I was willing to push myself. It was slow in spots, and not just once or twice, there was simply too much detail or it would be four stars.

Message edited by its author, Today, 3:33pm.

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The dual nature of the protagonist stopped me from identifying with any of the characters, I though they were all irritating. Except the poor child who was tortured by dance, I felt sorry for him. But that was it. ( )

A satisfying conclusion to the Soldier Son trilogy.

Renegade's Magic brings Speck society to the fore and makes the reader identify with their goals and struggles, which, considering the trilogy as a whole, provides a balance to the Gernian-focused opening installment. It really reinforced Nevare's split nature for me.

The last third of the book was particularly engrossing, as the narrative took an unexpected and bittersweet turn. ( )

(Amy) I have mixed feelings about the conclusion to this series, and by extension, about the series as a whole. There were quite a few long-awaited revelations contained in this installment, but the density of them, compared with the sparsity of similar information in earlier books, seemed more than a little rushed. The way all the loose ends got bundled together and knotted off in the last few dozen pages was also more than a little jarring. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I think, most likely, the series was either one book too long or about three books too short - the information should have been this dense all along, or else spread out over rather more story.

...not that I think there was that much more story to tell, and cramming the story there was into two-thirds the space would have been suboptimal, too, so, hell, I don't know. It's just not quite right as it is, anyway.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it while reading it, and plan to re-read the entire series at some point without waiting a year or more between installments, and perhaps I'll think of it differently when I read the series as something more closely approaching a cohesive whole. (At the least, I'll be able to judge more accurately whether it is a cohesive whole, so that'll be good.) And while the ending, as I said above, feels rushed, I don't feel cheated by it - I think the story does right by its reader, if perhaps not in the most elegant fashion possible.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/zenos-library/2009/08/renegades_magic_robin_h... ) ( )

The third and final volume of THE SOLDIER SON TRILOGY.

I intended to read this trilogy back to back, but I just couldn't manage it. FOREST MAGE gave me so much trouble that I found myself reluctant to pick up the final volume. I put it off for seven long months.

Finally, I told myself it was time. I'd launch right in. I'd finish the trilogy. I'd cross RENEGADE'S MAGIC off my list. And I'd pray like hell that it was better than FOREST MAGE.

It was. I still wasn't quite there emotionally, but I do think Hobb did some interesting things with the books.

She shifts her focus once again; this time, we spend most of the book with the Specks. There are still a lot of great big emotional circles, but they're served up with a side of fascinating cultural stuff. And, best of all, we finally see the last of Nevare's ethnocentrism fall away. He comes to realize that the Gernian way isn't the only way. The Specks are different, yes, but they're neither primitive nor evil. Their culture is as rich and full as his own. Hobb excels at writing characters who change and grow in believable ways, and I think she's accomplished some good stuff here. Nevare isn't as likable as Fitz, Malta, Paragon, or any of her other deliciously flawed protagonists, but the progression is still there. It takes a while to come about, but in the end it's handled very well.

I also loved the way the magic came together at long last. Again, it took a very, very long time for everything to mesh, but I think that was sort of the point. I teared up quite often over the last hundred pages, and I finished with a grin on my face. I was very pleased with the ending. I'm sure you could argue that it undercuts what's come before, but I don't think that's really the case. Nevare has changed a great deal over the course of his story, and I think the ending puts him in position to use his knowledge. I loved it.

I was pleased with the book, but it does have its problems. Hobb begins with pages and pages of summary. (She did the same in FOREST MAGE, but not in any of her previous trilogies. I wonder if this was an editorial demand). I have quite a good memory, so I found this tedious. She then introduces a plot twist that leaves Nevare distanced from the action for much of the novel. This was a logical extension of everything that had come before, and I can see why it was necessary, but it did make the book drag at times. I eventually got to the point where I had to take a brief break from it. I wanted to enjoy it, and I was having trouble doing so. It all worked out in the end, but for a while there it was touch and go.

I'll be interested in seeing how the series rereads. I'm sure I'll appreciate the progression more when I know how it all comes together in the end. For now, though, I'm not sure that I can wholeheartedly recommend this trilogy. If you'd like to give Hobb a try, you'd do best to start with THE FARSEER, then work your way on through THE LIVESHIP TRADERS and THE TAWNY MAN. They're all awesome. THE SOLDIER SON TRILOGY is good, but it doesn't quite reach the same level.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

I thought this trilogy really picked up with the last book, however the last hundred or so pages seemed a bit unnecessary. Still I remain satisfied overall, and in spite of the author's desire to fix absolutely *everything* before letting the book end, I found the conclusion much more satisfying than that of her previous trilogy. Except for the tiny little detail that I'm not sure whether or not we are supposed to know what happens to the main character right after the last page! ( )

This is an odd book to review. On a tactical scale - words, sentences, paragraphs I found that it was quite engaging. When I was reading it, I liked reading it. However when I wasn't reading it found it quite an effort to go back to.

The story of Nevarre continues, this time with him living wholly among the Speck. There is a LOT of writing about food and eating: I'd suggest avoiding this book if you're on a diet. Nevarre-the-Speck tries to rescue them from the intruders from Gettys with very mixed success. Finally they realise they must marry his two halves for the magic to work properly. They sort of manage this, everything sorts itself out and the Great Man he has become dies.

The pesky God of Balances comes along and parts of Nevarre go on, find Amzil, marry her and you get the impression lives happily ever after.

I've tried to work out why I don't like this in the overall sense. There are a few reasons.

First I get the impression it's a story that ought to have been told in a single book, it could have been great told small and tight, but it was padded into the inevitable fantasy trilogy at someone's behest. This leaves it slow and meandering.

Second, there are some messages about culture clashes in there. That's fine, good even. Most of them are, rather disappointingly, completely laid out in front of you at various points, explicitly. The problem is that it feels as if there's a mish-mash of cultures to have the clashes between. Each of the cultures has identifiable bits of several real cultures mixed into it, and this makes them feel spongy and not quite comfortable in themselves which also makes their inability to deal with each other feel off.

Third I don't like the hero. I don't respect him. Ms. Hobb has tried to lay out how his past has affected him and made him into these characters that I don't like and whilst I buy the explanation it doesn't really help. If you're going to read 2,000 pages about someone liking them or at least being interested in them helps I find. If you've managed to get through the first two books, this is better than Forest Mage, and it completes the story, but I wouldn't suggest starting the series. In fact you could probably pick this book up and get most of the back story and have a much more satisfying experience. ( )

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