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Robin Hobb Books in Order

Explore Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm books in order, with reading guides, short summaries and Elderlings world background to help you pick where to start.

Last updated: June 7, 2026

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Robin Hobb books in publication order

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25 books

Assassin's Apprentice

by Robin Hobb

1995

Taken from his mother to the royal keep, the bastard boy Fitz is trained in secret as an assassin while learning he carries two dangerous magics. As Outislander raiders terrorize the coasts, his loyalty to the Farseers is tested again and again.

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb

1996

Fitz returns to Buckkeep still damaged from poison, bound more deeply than ever to his wolf Nighteyes and to the king. As Red Ship raids escalate, treachery at court forces him to juggle secret assassinations, forbidden Wit magic and a doomed love.

Assassin's Quest

by Robin Hobb

1997

Raised from the edge of death, Fitz escapes the usurper king and sets out across mountains and legend to find his missing king in waiting. His journey toward the Elderling road and stone dragons will decide the fate of the Six Duchies and his own.

Ship of Magic

by Robin Hobb

1998

In Bingtown, merchant heir Althea Vestrit expects to inherit her family's newly awakened liveship Vivacia, only to see it handed to her brutal brother in law. Cast adrift, she fights to reclaim the ship as Vivacia is drawn into piracy, slavery and sea serpent haunted waters.

The Mad Ship

by Robin Hobb

1999

With Vivacia under the sway of the pirate Kennit, Althea and Brashen gamble everything on restoring the unstable liveship Paragon. In Bingtown and the Rain Wilds, rebellion and earthquakes expose buried dragon secrets while sea serpents circle restlessly offshore.

Ship of Destiny

by Robin Hobb

2000

Bingtown reels from fire and war as the Vestrit family, Paragon and Vivacia converge on a final confrontation. Political upheaval, pirate ambitions and the truth about wizardwood reshape alliances at sea and on shore, changing the fate of traders, serpents and dragons alike.

Fool's Errand

by Robin Hobb

2001

Fifteen years after the Red Ship War, Fitz lives in seclusion with his wolf Nighteyes and foster son Hap. When Prince Dutiful disappears on the eve of his betrothal, the Fool returns to drag Fitz back into court intrigue, Wit politics and a perilous rescue.

Golden Fool

by Robin Hobb

2002

Disguised as the servant Tom Badgerlock, Fitz returns to Buckkeep to secretly train Prince Dutiful in the Skill. As Outislander envoys arrive and Witted ambassadors seek acceptance at court, Fitz must balance loyalty, old wounds and his complex bond with the Fool.

Fool's Fate

by Robin Hobb

2003

Fitz joins Dutiful's quest to the frozen isle of Aslevjal to slay the legendary dragon Icefyre and win an Outislander bride. Old prophecies, the Pale Woman's schemes and Fitz's tangled loyalty to the Fool collide in a brutal, world shaping journey.

Shaman's Crossing

by Robin Hobb

2005

Noble born Nevare Burvelle is destined, by strict Gernian tradition, to become a cavalry officer and help expand his king's road through hostile lands. An encounter with the forest dwelling Specks infects him with alien magic, slowly derailing his ordered life and loyalties.

Forest Mage

by Robin Hobb

2006

After plague ravages his military academy, Nevare returns home changed in body and mind, his expanding weight and strange dreams marking him as cursed. Cast out by his family, he is drawn ever deeper into Speck magic and the battle over Gernia's encroaching road.

Renegade's Magic

by Robin Hobb

2007

Condemned for crimes he barely understands, Nevare finally gives in to the Speck magic that shares his body, watching as another self fights to stop Gernia's destruction of the ancestor forest. His struggle becomes a reckoning with colonial guilt, identity and obligation.

Dragon Keeper

by Robin Hobb

2009

Malformed young dragons languish on the toxic shores of the Rain Wild River, too weak to fend for themselves. A mismatched group of outcast keepers, a dragon obsessed scholar and the river barge Tarman set out to escort them upstream in search of the lost city Kelsingra.

Dragon Haven

by Robin Hobb

2010

Still traveling upriver with the starving dragons, the keepers and crew of Tarman face treacherous floods, predators and simmering rivalries. As human and dragon bodies begin to change in unsettling ways, the dream of reaching Kelsingra tests every loyalty and secret desire.

City of Dragons

by Robin Hobb

2011

The weakened dragon flock and their keepers finally glimpse the abandoned towers of Kelsingra across the swollen Rain Wild River. While they struggle to unlock the city's magic and survive, distant plots for dragon parts and political power push the wider world toward conflict.

The Inheritance

by Robin Hobb

2011

The Inheritance & Other Stories

by Robin Hobb

2011

This collection gathers tales written as both Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, ranging from Rain Wild settlers and Six Duchies folk to near future and urban fantasy. The stories explore family, sacrifice and small acts of magic that quietly change lives.

Words Like Coins

by Robin Hobb

2012

In a drought stricken corner of the Six Duchies, hedge witch apprentice Mirrifen struggles with her own fears when tiny, dangerous pecksies move into the farmstead. Their bargains and tempers force her to weigh the power of promises, etiquette and the literal weight of words.

Blood of Dragons

by Robin Hobb

2013

In Kelsingra, dragons and their transforming human companions race to rediscover lost Elderling arts, including the vital silver that keeps dragons healthy. Enemies close in from Bingtown and Chalced, forcing the new Elderlings to decide how fiercely they will defend dragonkind.

Dangerous Women

by George R. R. Martin, Megan E. Abbott, Cecelia Holland, Melinda Snodgrass, Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Joe R Lansdale, Robin Hobb, Lawrence Block, Brandon Sanderson, Sharon Kay Penman, Lev Grossman, Nancy Kress, Diana Rowland, Diana Gabaldon, Sherrilyn Kenyon, SM Stirling, Sam Sykes, Pat Cadigan, Caroline Spencer, Joe Abercrombie & Gardner Dozois

2013

A cross-genre anthology edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, built around women who are dangerous in different ways. The lineup ranges from fantasy and science fiction to historical and crime tales, each centered on agency, risk, and consequences.

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince

by Robin Hobb

2013

Set long before Fitz's time, this tale follows lowborn Felicity, companion to headstrong Princess Caution, who loves a Witted stableman. When Caution bears a piebald marked son, courtly fear of the Wit and buried truths about his birth ignite a deadly legend.

Fool's Assassin

by Robin Hobb

2014

FitzChivalry Farseer has hidden for years as Tom Badgerlock, tending the country estate of Withywoods with his wife and grown children. A troubling messenger, an impossible late pregnancy and the return of the broken Fool shatter his hard won quiet.

Fool's Quest

by Robin Hobb

2015

Believing his daughter Bee dead, Fitz follows the Fool toward distant Clerres to punish the secretive Servants. At Buckkeep, politics and old magic complicate the search as Bee endures captivity among people who see her as the key to their prophecies.

Assassin's Fate

by Robin Hobb

2017

Bee is dragged toward Clerres while learning to wield a frightening power of her own, and Fitz sails south on the liveship Paragon with the Fool, driven by grief and vengeance. Their paths and the dragons of Kelsingra collide in a final reckoning.

Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy

by Shawn Speakman, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, Mark Lawrence, Robin Hobb, Lev Grossman, Seanan McGuire, John Gwynne, David Anthony Durham, Callie Bates, Jason Denzel, Carrie Vaughn, Deborah A. Wolf, Anna Stephens, Patrick Swenson, Patrick Terrell, Peter Orullian, Delilah S Dawson, Cat Rambo, Anna Smith Spark, Marc Turner, Scott Sigler, Robert V. S. Redick, Ken Scholes, Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson, Terry Brooks, Todd Lockwood & Ramón Terrell

2019

The third Unfettered anthology collects original stories from many fantasy authors, including a return to Osten Ard from Tad Williams, new tales by Mark Lawrence, Brian Herbert, Anna Smith Spark, and others, all in support of a fund that helps writers facing medical debt.

Where to start with Robin Hobb

If you want to follow Fitz from the beginning: Assassin's ApprenticeRoyal AssassinAssassin's Quest.
If you prefer seafaring epics and pirates: Ship of MagicThe Mad ShipShip of Destiny.
If you like Fitz and the Fool most of all: Fool's ErrandGolden FoolFool's FateFool's AssassinFool's QuestAssassin's Fate.
If you want a fresh world beyond the Elderlings: Shaman's CrossingForest MageRenegade's Magic.
If you are curious about Megan Lindholm's early work: Harpy's FlightThe WindsingersThe Limbreth GateLuck of the Wheels.

Farseer books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Assassin's Apprentice"

    Assassin's Apprentice

    by Robin Hobb

    1995The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Royal Assassin"

    Royal Assassin

    by Robin Hobb

    1996Farseer, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Assassin's Quest"

    Assassin's Quest

    by Robin Hobb

    1997Farseer, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Words Like Coins"

    Words Like Coins

    by Robin Hobb

    2012Farseer, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince"

    The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince

    by Robin Hobb

    2013Farseer, Book 5

Farseer books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Royal Assassin"

    Royal Assassin

    by Robin Hobb

    1996Farseer, Book 2
  2. Book cover for "Assassin's Quest"

    Assassin's Quest

    by Robin Hobb

    1997Farseer, Book 3
  3. Book cover for "Words Like Coins"

    Words Like Coins

    by Robin Hobb

    2012Farseer, Book 4
  4. Book cover for "The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince"

    The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince

    by Robin Hobb

    2013Farseer, Book 5

Fitz and The Fool Trilogy books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Fool's Assassin"

    Fool's Assassin

    by Robin Hobb

    2014Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Fool's Quest"

    Fool's Quest

    by Robin Hobb

    2015Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Assassin's Fate"

    Assassin's Fate

    by Robin Hobb

    2017Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 3

Fitz and The Fool Trilogy books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Fool's Assassin"

    Fool's Assassin

    by Robin Hobb

    2014Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Fool's Quest"

    Fool's Quest

    by Robin Hobb

    2015Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Assassin's Fate"

    Assassin's Fate

    by Robin Hobb

    2017Fitz and The Fool Trilogy, Book 3

Liveship Traders books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Ship of Magic"

    Ship of Magic

    by Robin Hobb

    1998Liveship Traders, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "The Mad Ship"

    The Mad Ship

    by Robin Hobb

    1999Liveship Traders, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Ship of Destiny"

    Ship of Destiny

    by Robin Hobb

    2000Liveship Traders, Book 3

Liveship Traders books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Ship of Magic"

    Ship of Magic

    by Robin Hobb

    1998Liveship Traders, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "The Mad Ship"

    The Mad Ship

    by Robin Hobb

    1999Liveship Traders, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Ship of Destiny"

    Ship of Destiny

    by Robin Hobb

    2000Liveship Traders, Book 3

Rain Wild Chronicles books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Dragon Keeper"

    Dragon Keeper

    by Robin Hobb

    2009Rain Wilds Chronicles, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Dragon Haven"

    Dragon Haven

    by Robin Hobb

    2010Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "City of Dragons"

    City of Dragons

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 4
  4. Book cover for "The Inheritance"

    The Inheritance

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 3
  5. Book cover for "The Inheritance & Other Stories"

    The Inheritance & Other Stories

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 3
  6. Book cover for "Blood of Dragons"

    Blood of Dragons

    by Robin Hobb

    2013Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 5

Rain Wild Chronicles books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Dragon Haven"

    Dragon Haven

    by Robin Hobb

    2010Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 2
  2. Book cover for "The Inheritance & Other Stories"

    The Inheritance & Other Stories

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 3
  3. Book cover for "City of Dragons"

    City of Dragons

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 4
  4. Book cover for "Blood of Dragons"

    Blood of Dragons

    by Robin Hobb

    2013Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 5

Soldier Son Trilogy books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Shaman's Crossing"

    Shaman's Crossing

    by Robin Hobb

    2005Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Forest Mage"

    Forest Mage

    by Robin Hobb

    2006Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Renegade's Magic"

    Renegade's Magic

    by Robin Hobb

    2007Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 3

Soldier Son Trilogy books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Shaman's Crossing"

    Shaman's Crossing

    by Robin Hobb

    2005Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Forest Mage"

    Forest Mage

    by Robin Hobb

    2006Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Renegade's Magic"

    Renegade's Magic

    by Robin Hobb

    2007Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 3

Tawny Man books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Fool's Errand"

    Fool's Errand

    by Robin Hobb

    2001Tawny Man, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Golden Fool"

    Golden Fool

    by Robin Hobb

    2002Tawny Man, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Fool's Fate"

    Fool's Fate

    by Robin Hobb

    2003Tawny Man, Book 3

Tawny Man books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Fool's Errand"

    Fool's Errand

    by Robin Hobb

    2001Tawny Man, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Golden Fool"

    Golden Fool

    by Robin Hobb

    2002Tawny Man, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Fool's Fate"

    Fool's Fate

    by Robin Hobb

    2003Tawny Man, Book 3

Robin Hobb collections, short stories, and related book types

Short Story Collections

  1. Book cover for "The Inheritance & Other Stories"

    The Inheritance & Other Stories

    by Robin Hobb

    2011Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 3

Standalone Robin Hobb books

  1. Book cover for "Dangerous Women"

    Dangerous Women

    by George R. R. Martin, Megan E. Abbott, Cecelia Holland, Melinda Snodgrass, Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, Joe R Lansdale, Robin Hobb, Lawrence Block, Brandon Sanderson, Sharon Kay Penman, Lev Grossman, Nancy Kress, Diana Rowland, Diana Gabaldon, Sherrilyn Kenyon, SM Stirling, Sam Sykes, Pat Cadigan, Caroline Spencer, Joe Abercrombie & Gardner Dozois

    2013
  2. Book cover for "Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy"

    Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy

    by Shawn Speakman, Naomi Novik, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, Mark Lawrence, Robin Hobb, Lev Grossman, Seanan McGuire, John Gwynne, David Anthony Durham, Callie Bates, Jason Denzel, Carrie Vaughn, Deborah A. Wolf, Anna Stephens, Patrick Swenson, Patrick Terrell, Peter Orullian, Delilah S Dawson, Cat Rambo, Anna Smith Spark, Marc Turner, Scott Sigler, Robert V. S. Redick, Ken Scholes, Brian Herbert, Kevin J Anderson, Terry Brooks, Todd Lockwood & Ramón Terrell

    2019Unfettered, Book 2

Author bio

Robin Hobb is the pen name of Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, an American fantasy writer born in Berkeley, California in 1952. She grew up between California and Alaska, and the cold, remote landscapes of the north have never really left her imagination.

Her family moved to Fairbanks when she was a child, into a life that involved big gardens, hunting, fishing and long winters. That mix of self reliance and close attention to weather, animals and wilderness later fed straight into her stories of harsh coasts, deep forests and dangerous seas.

She married young and spent years in coastal Alaska, raising children while her husband worked at sea. In between shifts as a waitress and other jobs, she wrote poems and short pieces for local newspapers and children’s magazines, learning how to fit writing into every spare corner of the day.

Under the name Megan Lindholm she began selling speculative short fiction in the late 1970s, then moved into novels with the Ki and Vandien books, the prehistoric Reindeer People duology and standalones like Wizard of the Pigeons and Alien Earth. Those stories often blended magic with everyday worries about money, family and belonging rather than distant kings and prophecies.

In the mid 1990s she chose a new byline, Robin Hobb, for a different kind of project, an epic fantasy told as the memoir of a royal bastard raised as an assassin. Assassin's Apprentice introduced FitzChivalry Farseer and the Realm of the Elderlings, a world of coastal duchies, pirate isles, toxic river cities and long vanished dragon linked Elderlings.

Across the Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, Rain Wild Chronicles and Fitz and the Fool series she followed that world for more than twenty years. Some books stay close to Fitz’s first person voice, charting the cost of loyalty, trauma and magic on a single life. Others pull back into broader sagas about traders, dragons and revolution, but the focus on flawed, believable people never really shifts.

Readers often talk about a handful of titles as touchstones. Assassin's Apprentice captures the loneliness of a boy who is both needed and unwanted at court. Ship of Magic dives into seafaring politics, slavery and sentient ships off the coast of Bingtown. Shaman's Crossing and its sequels move to a new continent, using fantasy to examine colonial expansion, disease and the weight of inherited duty. As Megan Lindholm, Wizard of the Pigeons set a fragile urban wizard among the homeless of Seattle decades before urban fantasy became a familiar label.

Certain themes run quietly through all of it, the fear and necessity of change, the way power marks bodies, the tension between human needs and the nonhuman world, and a deep interest in people who live at the edge of their societies. Her fiction returns often to chosen families, difficult friendships and relationships that have to weather years of damage.

She and her husband, Fred Ogden, have made their home in rural Washington for many years, on a small, damp farm with poultry, garden rows and dogs underfoot. They raised four children there, and now have several grandchildren. Hobb still writes under both her Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm names, and in 2021 she received a World Fantasy Life Achievement award recognizing the long arc of that work.

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