Review: Assassin’s Fate, by Robin Hobb (book 3 of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy)

And so to the third part of the third trilogy featuring the eponymous Fitz and the Fool. I’ve been a little slower reading this than the others, partly due to a natural tendency to drag out endings of books/series I enjoy.

But I devoured the last two hundred pages in a little over a day. The climax of the story as our namesake heroes head to Clerres to try and wrest Bee, Fitz’s daughter, from the vicious, torturous grasp of the Servants is a highlight of the trilogies. I won’t betray the ending, but I found it to be perfectly done.

Naturally, there are spoilers for earlier entries in this series, as well as the preceding trilogies (Farseer, and Tawny Man).

 

The main characters have come a long way from the first book, and are accompanied by Lant (the son of Chade, who was Fitz’s mentor), Spark (Chade’s last protégé as a shadow-sneaking thief-spy-assassin), and Perseverance, the aptly named stableboy who has sworn to rescue Bee. There are some unexpected allies both within and without Clerres, some of whom may be more trouble than they’re worth. Will Bee survive? Will she see her father again? And will saving her cost him his life?

As always, Hobb absolutely excels at emotive writing that’s also incredibly easy to read, letting the reader get swept away on a churning river that ranges from slow sentimentality to rapid stress, gnawing dread, and tentative hope.

It’s a wonderful book, and if you’ve got this far then frankly you’re a daft sod if you miss out on the final book in the final trilogy.

Thaddeus

Review of Fool’s Quest (book 2 of Fitz and the Fool), by Robin Hobb

Alarmingly quickly after finishing the first book (reviewed here) I polished off the second in this third trilogy by Robin Hobb. I’ll keep things as light as possible but there will necessarily be spoilers for the first book below.

Lashings of anguish and concern lace the storyline, which has twists that turn things around in a way that’s credible and fits perfectly with the characters and plot.

Bee and Shun have been taken, but Withywoods is far from Buckkeep and a lingering curse means word will be a long time coming. Will Fitz and his allies find out in time, or will his daughter and ward be spirited away to the unknown realm of Clerres, out of reach forever?

The story feels quite close rather than being grand in scale, but loses none of its impetus or urgency for that. Indeed, the more personal stakes make it more immediately sympathetic than a global war or suchlike. As an undertone, the ageing Fitz seeing the court change around him and his old ways becoming outdated has a sentimental realism that can be readily appreciated, whether the reader is old or not.

As before, I read this book far faster than my usual rather sedate pace, in much the same way I eat chocolate rather more enthusiastically than lesser treats. I’m taking a short break before I start the third and final book.

Thaddeus