Robin Hobb may be my most loved author of all time.

Her novels have been affecting my self-perception and mindset since grade 9 of high school.

Her ability to create unique settings and believable characters is exceptional, but that’s not what blows me away. Ms. Hobb has an incredible ability to construct and orchestrate stories; then she throws her characters in headfirst.

Intro

I am a huge fantasy fiction novel fan having torn through every fantasy novel I can lay my hands on since I’ve been able to read (seven or eight). This means that while I still love reading novels I am now more sensitive to the tropes and patterns common between authors of the genre. This is probably why I constantly return to Ms. Hobbs writings.

This author typically writes trilogies of novels with her own formula that I find intensely interesting to read. What sets her writings apart for me is her ability to take advantage of the trilogy format to create real characters, real emotional turbulence, and an ever increasing set of stakes.

You can find her trilogies at http://www.robinhobb.com/novels/. (Spoiler alert, I will be drawing conclusions and discussing the endings of these series).

In order to discuss what separates Ms. Hobb from other authors I must first outline the most common style of fantasy writing. I’ll dub this the “Formulaic Fantasy Trilogy”. Tuesday's article will describe this particular style.

After outlining the characteristics inherent to this structure I’ll go on to discuss the restrictions it forces onto authors. This will be posted on Wednesday.

I will then describe Robin Hobb’s structural changes to the Formulaic Fantasy Trilogy. This will allow me to describe why her writing stands out and how she is able to compress an impressive amount of content into each book. Thursday will discuss her modified structure, and Friday I will analyze it's use impacts the story told.

Finally, Saturday's post will present my conclusions and personal connection to these trilogies of books.

I hope that this article will encourage the examination of your favorite stories and give you a new found appreciation for the people that craft them..

See you tomorrow!