Robin Hobb

Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden was born in Berkeley, California, on 5 March 1952 and grew up in Alaska. The landscapes and wildlife of her childhood form part of the background to a body of fiction deeply interested in the relationships between people, animals and their surroundings.

Writing as Megan Lindholm, she published short stories and novels that explore different forms of fantasy. These include the Ki and Vandien stories, The Reindeer People and Wizard of the Pigeons.

In 1995, she introduced the name Robin Hobb with Assassin's Apprentice, the opening novel of the Farseer trilogy. Its narrator, FitzChivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard trained as an assassin. His close, personal account of loyalty, loss and belonging became the foundation of a much larger story.

The Realm of the Elderlings spans five connected series: the Farseer trilogy, The Liveship Traders, the Tawny Man trilogy, The Rain Wild Chronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Some follow Fitz directly; others explore trading families, living ships and dragons in different parts of the same world.

Hobb also wrote the Soldier Son trilogy, which takes place in a separate setting. Her fiction is known for patient character development, complicated loyalties and the lasting consequences of personal choices.