Shaman's Crossing
Ratings33
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings33
Average rating3.5
Nevare Burvelle was destined from birth to be a soldier. The second son of a newly anointed nobleman, he must endure the rigors of military training at the elite King's Cavella Academy -- and survive the hatred, cruelty, and derision of his aristocratic classmates -- before joining the King of Gernia's brutal campaign of territorial expansion.
The life chosen for him will be fraught with hardship for he must ultimately face a forest-dwelling folk who will not submit easily to a king's tyranny. And they possess an ancient magic their would-be conquerors have long discounted -- a powerful sorcery that threatens to claim Nevare Burvelle's soul and devastate his world once the Dark Evening brings the carnival to Old Thares.
Featured Series
3 primary booksThe Soldier Son is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2005 with contributions by Robin Hobb.
Reviews with the most likes.
Very weird series that gets weirder and more difficult to read as it goes on. Does depart some from most fantasy – instead of standard “low status guy ends up high status,” this one starts with a high status character.
I want to know why this book has a 3.5 rating on here. Like, explain? Is it coz Nevare is a realistic privileged teen boy with realistic privileged teen boy views and opinions? My boy is trying his best lol :')
As always, Robin Hobbs writing is impeccable. Never let them guess you're next move, queen.
It was fun, will read the next one.
I liked this! It took a while to get going, but it got very easy to read as soon as Nevare arrived at the Academy.
I think it's unfair to compare this to anything from The Realm of the Elderlings, so I won't. This still has plenty of things I like from Robin Hobb - her characters, the way she introduces us to the world, and her writing in general. Those things remain my favorite to this day.
I have said it before, but everything at the Academy was my favorite. I needed Nevare to interact with friends and other people in general outside of a family setting. It reminded me a bit of Inda by Sherwood Smith, which I have also recently read, but I found it more engaging here. In the background there was also magic looming, but I found that part only interesting sometimes. I was mostly here for the camaraderie.
The only thing that I was missing was a real emotional connection. It's hard to care about our main character Nevare. He is very obedient, to a fault. Very traditional, also to a fault. He's very comfortable with the way things are and does not see a need for change, and some of his comments (especially regarding his female cousin) are very eyeroll-worthy. Luckily there are other characters there to call him on his occasional bullshit, and he does get a chance to grow. There is still more room to grow, but he has changed for the better by the end, so it's a start.
I'm very curious about what the rest of the trilogy entails. You could in theory stop reading here, as there isn't a cliffhanger or anything, and I'm not sure about what story threads still remain unsolved.
I'm gonna check out at least the sequel anyway, so guess I'll find out eventually!
