I recently gave a try at Robin Hobb's
Assassin's Apprentice. It was awful. Hobb can write well, but her plot is clichéd and her characters are cardboard cut-outs. There was, sorry to say, too much unnecessary description (rich, coming from a Tolkien fan!). But, where Tolkien's prose is lyrical and impressive in itself, Hobb's sounds forced, and lacks beauty.
I had high hopes for this book, but it was quite disappointing
*Shields self from Hobb fans*
Right now I'm reading a fairly new fantasy novel by Fiona McIntosh,
Royal Exile. The plot is good, and relatively original, but the prose could use a lot of work. There is little to no description, and most of the characters, houses, palaces, etc. are vague blobs. Still, it seems fairly promising, and I'll probably finish it.
I'm also in the middle of George R.R. Martin's Dreamsongs, Volume 1. It's very, very good. Managed to keep me entertained for a few nights, and I usually don't even like short stories! Two stories in particular,
The Ice Dragon and
The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr, are my personal favourites.
