Robin Hobb Reading Order: Where to Start Her Books

Robin Hobb has been building one of fantasy's most interconnected worlds since the mid-1990s, and working out a Robin Hobb reading order can feel daunting once you see how many trilogies link together. The good news is that her books were published in a fairly clear sequence, and reading them in that order is still the best way to follow Fitz, the Fool, and the Rain Wilds as Hobb wrote them.

This guide sticks to the publication years we can confirm, so you can start in the right place and move forward with confidence.

Everything begins with Assassin's Apprentice, first published in 1995. It introduces FitzChivalry Farseer and sets up the political intrigue and magic system that the rest of Hobb's work builds on.

The trilogy continues with Royal Assassin (The Illustrated Edition) (1996) and concludes with Assassin's Quest (1997). New readers should read all three in order before touching anything else in the wider world, since later trilogies assume you already know these characters.

You can see Robin Hobb's full author page, including her other books, at Robin Hobb.

Once the Farseer trilogy is done, Hobb moves to a different set of characters and ships in the Liveship Traders books. Ship of Magic and Mad Ship were both first published in 1998, followed by Ship of Destiny in 2000. These stand slightly apart from Fitz's story but feed directly into what comes next.

Fitz returns in the Tawny Man trilogy: Fool's Errand (2001), The Golden Fool (2002) and Fool's Fate (2003). This is where the Farseer and Liveship Traders threads start to come together.

Hobb then steps away from Fitz entirely for the Soldier Son trilogy, opening with Shaman's Crossing (2005). The confirmed catalogue we track jumps to the final book, Renegade's Magic (The Soldier Son Trilogy, Book 3), published in 2007.

The Rain Wild Chronicles pick up the Liveship Traders' dragons: Dragon Keeper (2009), Dragon Haven (2010), City of Dragons (The Rain Wild Chronicles, Book 3) (2011) and Blood of Dragons (2013).

Fitz and the Fool finally get their own trilogy to close out the story: Fool's Assassin (2014), Fool's Quest (2015) and Assassin's Fate (2017), which is the most recent title with a confirmed date in the books we track.

Alongside the main sequence, our catalogue includes a few titles without a confirmed first publication year, so we won't guess at dates for these. That includes The Inheritance, The Complete Tawny Man Trilogy: Fool's Errand, The Golden Fool, Fool's Fate, Fitz and the Fool 1. Fool's Assassin, and graphic novel adaptations such as Assassin's Apprentice Volume 2, Assassin's Apprentice Volume 3 (Graphic Novel) and The Complete Assassin's Apprentice (Graphic Novel).

These are worth knowing about if you come across them while browsing, but for a first read-through, the numbered years above are the ones to follow.

Readers who enjoy how Hobb's trilogies interlock over decades often gravitate towards other long-running epic fantasy. If that's you, keep an eye on Legacies of Betrayal by Steven Erikson, due 6 October 2026, another big multi-book fantasy world in the same vein: Legacies of Betrayal.

Once you've picked your starting point in the Robin Hobb reading order, the easiest way to keep track of anything new from her, or from any other author you're working through, is to follow your authors on Bleepia.

If you haven't set one up yet, you can create a free account in a couple of minutes, and we'll email you the day a followed author's next book is out.