Worldcon 2026 brought Robin Hobb together with readers, writers and artists in Los Angeles. Her account offers a rare look at the human side of a major science-fiction and fantasy convention.
A Worldcon seen from the inside
Behind the programme and the packed halls, Worldcon is made of small encounters: a conversation after a panel, a signing, or a reader sharing what a story meant to them.
Robin Hobb’s account keeps that intimate scale. The convention is not presented as a red carpet, but as a demanding and generous week devoted to speculative fiction.
Writing, teaching and encounters
Panels and discussions place craft at the centre: how stories grow, how writers listen to their characters and how a long career continues to change a creative practice.
For readers of the Realm of the Elderlings, these moments make the author’s presence feel close without replacing the books themselves.
What readers can take away
The lasting impression is one of community. Worldcon gives fantasy readers a chance to meet around the questions that Robin Hobb’s work asks so well: loyalty, responsibility, grief and hope.