Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I respect Robin Hobb and what she has done in her previous work; I respect that she didn't tire out three very successful fantasy trilogies and ended them when it was clear that the characters and story line were ready to end (unlike Goodkind and Jordan who pedantically struggle onward with their trilogies that have turned into multiples of what they should have been). I digress; the main point I wanted to make first was that I respect and greatly enjoyed Robin Hobbs previous work and was therefore very excited to purchase her new work in a new series. I (and you the reader) will be sorely dissapointed if you read this book expecting a typical Hobb performance. The book was dry, boring and uneventful and struggled through the 500+ pages. I doubted myself as I was going through the book and found myself continually waiting for Hobb to "turn on" the talent and somehow trick me with one or two very exciting chapters that would have made the rest of the droll literature worth my time to read. I was wrong; once or twice Hobb inserted some magic and excitement into the book, but the telling of it was was so slow and mundate it was hardly worth the effort. The setting is in a medieval archetype where each son proper born has a place in the world (first born to rule the estate, second born to be a solder, third to be a priest, and so on). The book follows the soldier son of a man who himself was a soldiers son and the first 220 pages are filled with a day to day recounting the drills, practicing, studies that this solders son goes through under the tutelidge of his father. At one point excitement almost took hold, but the scene ended and was barely mentioned for 150+ pages. The characters are lifeless and devoid of emotion; there are hints of depth, but nothing is expounded on in a timely fashion. If I had a dollar for every time the father lectured the son on how to be an obediant soldier and respectful genetleman, and 50 cents for how many times the son responds in a stuffy and gentlemanly like manner; this book would have paid for itself many times over. The basic storyline takes hold after the 220 pages of home studies when the protagonist goes to the Kings military school to further learn in this studies in becoming a cavalry officer. The stuffiness and droll recounting continues mostly through this portion of the book as well with a few highlighted characters, but nothing is ever done with them so the net net in overall excitement is zero. I read this book out of duty to Robin Hobb. I think she is overall a fantastic writer and can be forgiven this misstep in her otherwise impeccable career; I can only hope that the following books are all the more exciting to make up for this one.