Every new Robin Hobb novel is a cause for celebration.Along with millions of her other fans, I delight in every visit to the Six Duchies, the Rain Wilds, and the Out Islands, and can’t wait to see where she’ll take me next.”—George R. R. Martin The story direction obviously means—once again—that the book is almost completely zero of action sequences. I’m seriously glad for this, Hobb in my opinion is a not a good battle/action scenes writer, Hobb is always at her best when she dived deep into her characters’ personalities and thoughts. Reading her prose about Fitz contemplating about the passage of time and how age changed a person physically and mentally in this book turns out to be the best sequences she ever wrote so far; she could go on and on about this and I’ll devour it with joy.

Glorious and beautiful storytelling . . . Hobb lets rip with revelations, treachery, vengeance, sword fights and full on magical mayhem.”—SciFiNow Much to Fitz's reluctance, the Fool leaves him on a journey to his home Clerres. Over a score of years, Fitz meets and reconciles with Molly; the trilogy ends with them together in Chivalry's former estate. But FitzChivalry Farseer is not without weapons of his own. An ancient magic still lives in his veins. And though he may have let his skills as royal assassin diminish over the years, such things, once learned, are not so easily forgotten.

One thing that bothered me throughout the trilogy, but I now realize was intentional, was how oblivious Fitz was to obvious things. He didn't realize Shun was Chade's daughter when it was so obvious (I mean, he even gave her his last name), he didn't realize Bee was a White even after she told him about her dreams and he was reminded of the Fool, he lost his edge as an assassin and spy... I don't blame him for not understanding Lant was also Chade's son because that I didn't catch on my own as well. But I understand that all of these things are meant to show how he aged and softened. His body was the body of a man in his late thirties or early forties, but his mind was not. The thing that bothered me the most, though, and I almost consider a continuity mistake, was how he didn't remember that he already knew Paragon was carved in his likeness. In Tawny Man, he eavesdropped on Jek and Amber and he heard about Paragon, and was bothered by it. Was I supposed to believe he forgot that, when his memory is so exceptional? But I can give Hobb the benefit of the doubt on that. The Fool's physical appearance changes throughout the series. He regularly suffers from a flu-like illness which leaves him bedridden for several days, after which his skin sloughs off to reveal darker skin underneath. The Fool alters his actions and mannerisms to maintain the façade of the characters he plays. As King Shrewd's jester, he is acrobatic, sing-song, and fond of publicly embarrassing most who speak to him. Lord Golden delights in finery and frippery and flirting. Some of these traits appear to be part of his intrinsic personality. Even in private he is frequently sarcastic and takes great pleasure in teasing his friends. He comments on his delight in dressing himself and Fitz in fancier clothing, and also appears to enjoy making himself up as Amber. However, he is also prone to graveness or even despair when reflecting on his role in the world and the tasks he feels he must accomplish. Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son, destined from birth to carry a sword. The wealthy young noble will follow his father—newly made a lord by the King of Gernia—into the cavalry, training in the military arts at the elite King's Cavella Academy in the capital city of Old Thares. Bright and well-educated, an excellent horseman with an advantageous engagement, Nevare's future appears golden.

Mariah Larsson views the series as ecocentric in nature, questioning the intrinsic value of human over other forms of life. The re-emergence of dragons in the series poses a challenge to anthropocentrism, or the supremacy of man's place in the world, with humans forced to re-adjust in relation to a stronger, more intelligent predator. [15] The Wit, an ill-regarded ability associated with the animal world, is shown through Fitz's perspective as a natural extension of the senses and as an interconnectedness to all living things. [16] Reception [ edit ] Fitz’s young daughter, Bee, has been kidnapped by the Servants, a secret society whose members not only dream of possible futures but use their prophecies to add to their wealth and influence. Bee plays a crucial part in these dreams—but just what part remains uncertain. Many of us have a particular series (whether it’s books, films, graphic novels or a TV show) that we follow over a number of years and that comes to mean more to us than most fiction, the characters growing with us and changing as we change. For me, that series is Robin Hobb’s Realm Of The Elderlings books, which I started reading nearly 20 years ago, in 1998 (the first book was published in 1995) and which has just come to a possibly-final conclusion with the publication of the latest book, Assassin’s Fate. This series has had a huge impact on me and, I think, many others, so what I want to offer here is a fairly personal reflection on the highs and lows of the whole series, and on how effective Assassin’s Fate is as a conclusion, if that is what it turns out to be.Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga. I think Fitz had an unhealthy fixation on Molly for his entire life. She was the first person in his life who he was absolutely certain loved him, and he was unable to conceive about loving someone else after her. He showed attraction and even fondness to Starling and Jinna (and let's be honest, probably other women in the unaccounted years between Farseer and Tawny Man) and he was unable to truly care for them, because they weren't Molly. a b Brown, Charles N.; Contento, William G. (2010). "Hobb, Robin". The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 2004. Locus. a b Clute, John (October 29, 2021). "Hobb, Robin". In Clute, John; etal. (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (3rded.). Gollancz. Adams, John Joseph; Kirtley, David Barr (April 2012). "Interview: Robin Hobb". Lightspeed Magazine. Vol.23.

No, the thing is... this book is objectively sedate. The currents of being a dad, missing his old friend the Fool, loving his wife... all these things are written so well that it's gripping and fascinating, but as we keep feeling the tension build, knowing that something will inevitably go wrong, we're left hanging on the edge. I particularly enjoy the way the several of the main characters have aged through this book, particularly Fitz, who was a young boy when this series began, and is now an older man. Never before have I read a series that so perfectly encapsulates the transition from youth, through all stages of life, and it's going to make me extremely sad when this series is done and I can't go through this journey with these characters anymore. It's genius writing, and I hope dearly that someone else can give me this feeling again. I think that Fitz, even so many years after Nighteyes' death, still not bonding another partner was very like him, but also showed the depth of his loyalty and his inability to forgive himself and keep living his life. Web told him that it was unnatural for a Witted person to be unbonded so long, and I agreed that he deserved that closeness. His refusal to bond with Fleeter was expected, but I hoped he wouldn't be able to control it like it was with Nighteyes. A complex tapestry of adventure, betrayal, destiny, and unrelenting peril . . . Hobb’s expertise is evident as always.”—Publishers WeeklyIf you're - even a little - accustomed to this series, you must know that every chapter is introduced by a short excerpt from someone's memoirs - mostly Fitz's. That's why I chose to write this review as an outlet for my memories linked to these amazing books. In this Greatest Hits compilation, how much did I miss Nighteyes! He has always been my favourite character with the Fool. We do have bits and pieces of him, as we did in the last two volumes of the Tawny Man, and a bit more, but not enough for this reader, never enough.

Robin Hobb is a marvelous writer, and her ability to make you sympathize with literally every single character in this book makes this an instant masterpiece. Everything is written in such amazingly vivid detail, and even when things aren't tense (which most things aren't in this book) it is gripping and extremely difficult to put down. You are a completist and cannot ignore a continuation of the story you know is out there. Have at it – make sure you read the Rain Wilds Chronicles, Fool’s Quest, and Assassin’s Fate, and if you want to understand the latter two, you’ll probably want to catch up on all the other books as well. Ah, those gorgeous Liveship Traders books! Were the many narrators in that series all beautifully fleshed-out characters with unique voices, in Fool’s Assassin the two new characters were cookie-cutter idiots (My guess? It's a transparent strategy to make their coming-of-age in the following books more striking). And Fitz and his daughter (in many chapters a toddler still!) sounded so alike that at the beginning of a new chapter it wasn’t always clear whose head I was in. Bee’s narrative voice was perfectly uninteresting and added zero oomph to the story, since she mostly described exactly the same daily grind as Fitz. A missed opportunity that’s so unlike Hobb... I despair.The Rain Wilds Chronicles, on the other hand, are rather more skippable. The conclusion to the series affects developments in the Fitz And The Fool trilogy, characters from the quartet appear in that trilogy and certain elements of the fantasy world are built upon further, so completists will need to read it. But the most important point of view characters from Rain Wilds to have an impact on Fitz And The Fool are characters we know from the Liveship trilogy, and the major events of the Chronicles are not too terribly unpredictable, given the events of the other sub-series. If you’re a big fan of Fitz but less interested in the rest of the Realm, I’d say you might want to think again about the Liveship trilogy, but you can get away without reading the Rain Wilds Chronicles, and simply discover the consequences of those books as Fitz does.