Soldier Son Trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Soldier Son Trilogy is a fantasy
novel series by Robin Hobb
. Set in a new world unrelated to her previous trilogies, the Soldier Son Trilogy follows the life of Nevare Burvelle, the second son of a newly elevated Lord of the Kingdom of Gernia.
The career of a person living in Gernia is heavily influenced by their parentage. Those sons born to common parentage follow their father's career. However, for the sons of a noble, things are different. The eldest son inherits his father's title, the second son serves as an officer in the army, the third son enters priesthood, while the fourth becomes an artist. This allocation continues for further sons. Daughters are relegated to submissive roles, being primarily used to forge social links with arranged marriages.
The first book, Shaman's Crossing
, concerns Nevare's education. As a young boy on the vast plains, his position as the second son, the Soldier Son, is cemented from birth. From an early age, Nevare is drilled in mounted cavalla (Cavalry
) techniques, riding, survival, tactics, and all aspects of life as an officer in the King's Cavalla. As a young man, Nevare's education at the King's Cavalla Academy begins.
Book two, Forest Mage
, finds Nevare out on his own struggling to find his identity.
The third and final book, Renegade's Magic, features the resolution to both his internal struggle and the struggle between the two people.
The greater themes of the series so far are: post-colonial backlash, loss of cultural identity
, and "Going Native"- a term applied to those of "civilized" nature who abandon their own culture and adopt the lifestyle of a more "savage" persuasion.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novel series by Robin Hobb
Robin Hobb
Robin Hobb is the second pen name of novelist Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden who produces primarily fantasy fiction, although she has published some science fiction....
. Set in a new world unrelated to her previous trilogies, the Soldier Son Trilogy follows the life of Nevare Burvelle, the second son of a newly elevated Lord of the Kingdom of Gernia.
The career of a person living in Gernia is heavily influenced by their parentage. Those sons born to common parentage follow their father's career. However, for the sons of a noble, things are different. The eldest son inherits his father's title, the second son serves as an officer in the army, the third son enters priesthood, while the fourth becomes an artist. This allocation continues for further sons. Daughters are relegated to submissive roles, being primarily used to forge social links with arranged marriages.
The first book, Shaman's Crossing
Shaman's Crossing
Shaman's Crossing is a book by Robin Hobb, the first in her Soldier Son Trilogy. It is written in first-person narrative from the viewpoint of Nevare Burvelle and follows his life through his first year in the King's Cavalla Academy.-Plot summary:...
, concerns Nevare's education. As a young boy on the vast plains, his position as the second son, the Soldier Son, is cemented from birth. From an early age, Nevare is drilled in mounted cavalla (Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
) techniques, riding, survival, tactics, and all aspects of life as an officer in the King's Cavalla. As a young man, Nevare's education at the King's Cavalla Academy begins.
Book two, Forest Mage
Forest Mage
Forest Mage is a 2006 fantasy novel by Robin Hobb, the second in her Soldier Son Trilogy.-Plot introduction:The Gernian Cavalla Academy that has been established according to the King's wishes has suffered from the rivalry between the Old Lords and the King's New Lords. These are newly raised...
, finds Nevare out on his own struggling to find his identity.
The third and final book, Renegade's Magic, features the resolution to both his internal struggle and the struggle between the two people.
Historical Themes
The world in which "Soldier Son Trilogy" is set is a post-colonial one. A civilised and warlike nation, Gernia, has taken to expanding its boundaries inland as a result of its coastal lands being lost to a neighbour's vastly superior naval force. The move inland involves conquering and assimilating native peoples- Plainsmen. It has been only one or two generations since the Plainsmen have been beaten into submission, and racial and cultural tensions simmer underneath the thin veneer of civilization.The greater themes of the series so far are: post-colonial backlash, loss of cultural identity
Cultural identity
Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
, and "Going Native"- a term applied to those of "civilized" nature who abandon their own culture and adopt the lifestyle of a more "savage" persuasion.