Robin Hobb Will Read From a New Realm of the Elderlings Story at Worldcon

Robin Hobb is returning to the Realm of the Elderlings, at least for one reading.

Hobb is scheduled to appear at LACon V, this year’s World Science Fiction Convention, on August 30, where the official schedule says she will read from an “unpublished (as of yet) Hobb ROTE story.”

That small bit of wording is enough to make the event pretty interesting for Realm of the Elderlings fans. Hobb hasn’t published a new novel in the series since Assassin’s Fate in 2017, and she has talked several times over the years about ideas for returning to the world.

What she plans to read at LACon, however, hasn’t been revealed.

Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings reading is set for August 30

Hobb’s reading is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday, August 30 at LACon V in Anaheim, California.

The convention description is short:

“She will read from an unpublished (as of yet) Hobb ROTE story.”

If there’s enough time, Hobb is also expected to read from an unpublished short story written as Megan Lindholm, the name she uses for some of her other fiction.

The event is listed by LACon as being recorded and streamed.

Is this connected to Hobb’s Bee book?

Hobb has previously talked about possible new stories set in the Realm of the Elderlings. On her website, she said she had outlines for two possible projects, including one involving Bee, the daughter of FitzChivalry Farseer.

She gave another update in 2023 when asked whether Bee appeared in a book she was working on.

“Does Bee figure in it? Yes,” Hobb wrote, while also making clear that she was working on the project slowly.

That doesn’t mean the story she plans to read at LACon is from that book. The convention listing doesn’t mention Bee, give the story a title or even specify whether the material comes from a novel.

For now, the connection is speculation. That same question is already being raised by fans in the original Reddit discussion about the LACon listing.

Hobb has also signed a contract for another book

There is another reason fans have been watching Hobb’s upcoming work closely.

During Dragonsteel Nexus in December 2024, Hobb told attendees that she had several unfinished manuscripts on her computer, some of them already largely written, and that she had recently signed a contract for a book.

According to fans who attended the discussion, Hobb explained that she sometimes gets most of the way through a project before moving on to another idea. Having a contract and deadline, she said, gave her a reason to return to one and finish it.

She didn’t identify that contracted book as a Realm of the Elderlings project, so there’s no confirmation that it has anything to do with the story being read at LACon.

Realm of the Elderlings ended with Assassin’s Fate in 2017

The Realm of the Elderlings currently consists of 16 novels spread across five connected series, beginning with Assassin’s Apprentice in 1995.

Its most recent book, Assassin’s Fate, concluded the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy in 2017.

Hobb has never completely closed the door on returning to the setting, but there hasn’t been an announced follow-up novel in the nine years since.

That makes the August 30 reading the first concrete sign in some time that Hobb has new Realm of the Elderlings material ready to share.

Whether it’s a standalone story, part of a future novel or something connected to the long-discussed Bee project, make sure to come back to Mana Toast Media next week to find out what Hobb shares on the stage at LACon.

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