Robin Hobb biography

Robin Hobb, real name Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, was born in 1952 in California. She uses the pen name of Robin Hobb due to unsatisfactory sales when writing under the name of Megan Lindholm.

At nine years of age Robin and her family left California to live a self-sufficient life in Alaska. It was here she met her first friend and companion, a wolf/dog hybrid called Bruno that joined her as she explored the woods that surrounded her new family home. Due to living this "back to basics" lifestyle she became proficient in plumbing and electrics. She writes fantasy fiction under the names of Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm and presently lives in Tacoma, Washington.

After attending Denver University she returned to Alaska and married a fisherman. They lived on a small island of the coast of Alaska called Kodiak and have lived near the sea ever since. The writer of twelve novels, she has been nominated for both the Hugo and Novela awards but has yet to win as of yet.

Robin Hobb has written stories ever since she learned to write. She knew from a very early age that she wanted to be an author but was also realistic in knowing that very few are able to support themselves financially through writing alone. However, she clung on to the dream and was prepared to do other jobs to bring in the money whilst she continued writing. At the age of ten she moved from California to Alaska in a Volkswagen Camper Van and the family settled into a far less comfortable but far more exciting life. Hobb holds the move to Alaska as the single most important thing is her shaping as a writer, the rural setting involved getting her hands dirty and tasks such as harvesting and rearing animals helped her to gain an insight into what living in medieval times (the predominant setting of fantasy novels) was really like.

At the age of 17 she graduated from high school and went off to the University of Colorado in Denver where the urban/rural move was reversed. After a year in Colorado she returned to Fairbanks in Alaska and married a local fisherman and moved to Kodiak Island, off the coast of Alaska. It was then that she began to submit the stories that she had been writing. Initially the stories were for children but these were found to be far more difficult than was initially thought. The introduction of computers and word processors had a positive effect on Hobb and she found that she was able to spend more time writing and less time correcting.

Over the course of the following 10 years Robin Hobb had three children and she also managed to continue writing and submitting stories. 1982 brought the sale of her first book, Harpy’s Flight and three other books with the same characters quickly followed. These books were written under the name of Megan Lindholm and although the feedback from readers and critics was positive fame and fortune were still a very distant glimmer. After several collaborations and more published work she sat down to start something different, a piece of work under the writing name of Chivalry’s Bastard, she also chose to write in the first-person narrative that is far from common. It was at this time, in talks with her agent, that she decided to create a new name to go with the new writing style – the androgynous Robin Hobb was selected, Robin could be a man’s or a woman’s name and Hobb was used due to its similarity to fantasy folk like Hobbits and Hobgoblins.

The fantasy series that Robin Hobb is best known for is The Farseer Trilogy.The idea for the trilogy came from a scrap of paper that she kept in a drawer - it simply stated - "What if magic were addictive?" "And what if the magic was destructive or degenerative?". Comprising of three books, the plot follows the adventures of a trained assassin called Fitz. The trilogy began with Assassin's Apprentice, published in 1995, then followed by Royal Assassin in 1996 and completed by Assassin's Quest in 1997. The Farseer trilogy brought Robin Hobb both success and critical acclaim.

A short time after completing the The Farseer Trilogy, she wrote The Liveship Traders Trilogy. This was viewed as a "necessary relationship" to the Farseer books. The trilogy is a nautical tale that begins with the Ship of Magic, published in 1998, The Mad Ship (1999) and Ship of Destiny in the year 2000.

Two years after the publication of Ship of Destiny, Robin Hobb's new trilogy, The Tawny Man continued the story of Fitz and commences 15 years after the events in Assassin's Quest. The three books were Fool's Errand (2002), Golden Fool (2003) and Fool's Fate (2003).

In 2005, Robin Hobb left the safety of the previous trilogies behind and wrote the Soldier Son Trilogy which follows the life of Nevare Burvelle and his preparation for and education at the King's Cavalla Academy. So far two books have been released, Shaman's Crossing (2005) and Forest Mage (2006). Renegade's Magic is expected to be released in 2007.

In addition to writing, her interests include gardening, mushrooming, and beachcombing. She and her husband Fred have three grown children and one teenager, and three grand-children.

As Megan Lindolm, she has written a number of fantasy novels, most notably, The Reindeer People and Wolf's Brother.

For more information, including a very useful FAQ section you should visit the official Robin Hobb site.
Robin Hobb FAQ - Official Robin Hobb web site

Robin Hobb books

Wizard of the Pigeons (1986)

• Alien Earth (1992)

The Farseer Trilogy

• Assassin's Apprentice (1995)
• Royal Assassin (1996)
• Assassin's Quest (1997)

The Liveship Traders

• Ship of Magic (1998)
• The Mad Ship (1999)
• Ship of Destiny (2000)

The Tawny Man

• Fool's Errand (2001)
• The Golden Fool (2003)
• Fool's Fate (2004)

Soldier Son Trilogy

• Shaman's Crossing (2005)
• Forest Mage (2006)
• Renegade's Magic (2007)

The Rainwild Chronicles

• Dragon Keeper (2009)
• Dragon Haven (2010)

Robin Hobb interviews

A pleasant interview in 1998, midway through writing the Liveship Traders, in which she explains the ideas behind her books and some similarities with the Lord of the Rings. Robin Hobb interview with Locus Magazine (1998) >>

Robin Hobb was interviewed by Paul Norman from gatewaymonthly.com in July 2006. The interview mainly regards Forest Mage but Robin Hobb also talks about the Assassin books and her methods of writing. Robin Hobb interview, July 2006

In 2005, SFFWorld.com interviewed Robin Hobb. This is an insightful interview, conducted just after the release of Renegade’s Magic, the first book in the Soldier Son Trilogy. http://www.sffworld.com/interview/122p0.html

Robin Hobb critical acclaim

"Robin Hobb writes achingly well" SFX

"Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers ... what makes her novels as addctive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics" The Times

Latest news: Robin Hobb

Audio book review: Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, read by Saskia Butler
Rating 8.0/10 Dragon Keeper is an intriguing look at human nature and interaction. Guided by the great blue dragon Tintaglia, they came from the sea: a Tangle of serpents fighting their way up the Rain Wilds River, the first to make the perilous journey to the cocooning grounds in genera [...]

The Prophecy of Kings returns with new look
Many moons ago we read and reviewed a really good, solid fantasy trilogy called The Prophecy of Kings. David Burrows’s work, although not perfect, contained much that was excellent and compared favourably to both JRR Tolkien (who was a large inspiration to the author) and Robin Hobb. For the trilog [...]

Robin Hobb’s US book tour dates (Dragon Haven)
Fantasy Book Review favourite Robin Hobb [link to biography], the author of the Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, and Soldier Son trilogies,  is currently on a US tour promoting the second volume of The Rain Wilds Chronicles, Dragon Haven. It is unlikely that the author will be touring the [...]

Warriors: including new novellas from George RR Martin, Robin Hobb and Peter S Beagle
The world’s most talented science fiction and fantasy writers have grouped together to pen a collection of stories, all with warriors as the central theme. Fantasy fans will be eager to get their hands on a copy of Warriors, particularly as it features a George RR Martin novella set in the world of [...]

Robin Hobb’s 2010 Book Tour
Robin Hobb, the author of the wonderful Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies will be promoting her new books  Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven with a short tour in her native country. Here is a list of the dates and places: Promoting Dragon Keeper Tuesday, January 26, 2010 [...]

Twilight rules audio-book downloads at Christmas
A glance at the best-selling science fiction and fantasy downloads on Audible.co.uk shows that Stephenie Meyer's enormous popularity is also evident amongst those who like to listen to a good story. Twilight and New Moon list #1 and #2 respectively, with Eclipse and Breaking Dawn coming in at #4 and [...]

Eagerly anticipated fantasy books: October 2009
Steven Erikson’s Dust of Dreams and Robin Hobb’s Dragon Keeper were the books that we were most looking forward to this year. But luckily the anticipation does not stop there and there are still several titles due out in the next couple of months that are sure to be bestsellers. Unseen Academicals [...]

Jasper Kent interview (July 2009)
Jasper Kent was born in Worcestershire in 1968. Twelve, a horror / thriller / fantasy set in Russia amongst Napoleon's invasion of 1812, was published in 2008 to great acclaim. Jasper kindly spoke to Fantasy Book Review in July of 2009. Fantasy Book Review: Twelve was set in Russia during Napoleon [...]

Fantasy Book Review: The High Lord by Trudi Canavan
Review by Joshua S Hill In reading an increasing amount of fantasy books over the past few years, I have found myself continually looking for “that” book that makes me feel something. The first time it happened was with Lord of the Rings, followed a year or so later by Robin Hobb’s trilogy of trilo [...]

Robin Hobb schedules book signing in London
Fantasy author Robin Hobb will be signing her latest novel The Dragon Keeper at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 11th July 2009 from 1 - 2pm. Robin Hobb has written stories ever since she learned to write. She knew from a very early age that she [...]