This book made me realize I need to read a lot more Hobb. Like everything she has ever written. If you haven't read her Farseer Trilogy yet, please do yourself a favor and read it next. And then everything else. Believe me, it is such good fantasy!
Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
In Fool's Assassin, we are re-introduced to Fitz, also known as FitzChivalry Farseer - bastard of the Farseer line and royal assassin. Fitz is living out middle-age under the assumed name Tom Badgerlock with his beloved Molly as holder for the manor house at Withywoods.Robin Hobb has a way with beautiful prose and wonderful character development. Some may find an issue with the plot pacing, as it is slower than a lot of fantasy written these days, but I found it perfect. Know that you are in for a deliciously leisurely paced read, and you will be rewarded.
Hobb's depictment of Fitz and Molly's middle age relationship was something special. We see a couple that respects one another, occasionally fights with one another, and ultimately loves one another in both word and action. Truthfully, I think there are not enough stories of character's in their happy ever-afters of relationships.
I also enjoyed Hobb's depiction of Fitz in new parenthood. As a relatively new parent myself, you are quick to realize that you can never be perfect. And if you think you are doing everything right... you are probably doing something very wrong. :) I appreciated that Fitz isn't perfect, and, like any new parent, he is constantly having to adapt to new challenges as his child grows. Bee's perspective, as alien and strange as it was at times, quickly became something I looked forward to within the story.
Overall, my only complaint (and one I expressed quite loudly to my husband a few nights ago upon finishing the book), is that this book ends on such a cliffhanger. It was so good (with so many things happening all at once), and then it was done. I don't want to wait for what happens next. But I will. Because I know it will be good.
Rating: 4.5/5
Favorite lines (there are so many, it was hard to choose just a few!!!):
Time is an unkind teacher, delivering lessons that we learn far too late for them to be useful. Years after I could have benefited from them, the insights come to me.
As dye soaks fibres, drawn into them to change their colour forever, so does a memory, stinging or sweet, change the fibre of a man’s character.
There are endings. There are beginnings. Sometimes they coincide, with the ending of one thing marking the beginning of another. But sometimes there is simply a long space after an ending, a time when it seems everything has ended and nothing else can ever begin.
How often does a man know, without question, that he has done well? I do not think it happens often in anyone's life, and it becomes even rarer once one has a child.Have you read Fool's Assassin? Any thoughts on how to survive a year without know what happens next? Leave them in the comments below!
I'm always looking for new fantasy to read, and this sounds AWESOME! Great review!
ReplyDeleteHi Kendall, thanks for dropping by and commenting! :)
DeleteHave you read any of Robin Hobb's books before? If not - I would recommend starting with Assassin's Apprentice. It is the first book in the Farseer Trilogy -- which introduces you to Fitz as a child and the Six Duchies' history / unique magic. I gobbled up all three books of that trilogy, but now I want to go back and read other works in the world of the Six Duchies she has created. Hopefully that will tide me over until the next book in this series comes out -- estimated publication is August 2015, sob!
I think she does a great job in this book of introducing people to ideas that you might have missed by not reading the earlier books (I hadn't read the Tawny Man series yet, which is set before this one), but the earlier stuff is just too good to miss, in my opinion!