Fool’s Assassin

When I learned that Robin Hobb had started a new Assassin’s trilogy, Fitz and the Fool, I got a bit wary, given the poor sequel to the Liveship Traders trilogy I read in the hospital two years ago, and the imperfect Soldier Son trilogy… But also excited, for The Farseer Trilogy is one of the best fantasy series ever! Now that I have read Fool’s Assassin, the first volume of the trilogy, I can only wait for the second one, Fool’s Quest, to appear next summer.  Unsurprisingly, reconnecting with the universe of The Farseer Trilogy is almost enough per se to make reading this book a pleasure, even though it seems to draw too much from the past volumes to gain independent praise, except in the accelerating final chapters. The style conveys too much the homely feeling of Fitz as a retired country squire, surrounded by family and friends. There is obviously a new plot, a new danger to the Six Duchies, and new characters, one of which is singularly attaching!, while Fitz remains as obtuse and whining as in earlier volumes (which is a joy to behold once again!). So now that the setting has been painstakingly and that the game is afoot, I hope the second volume will keep up with the pace of the final chapters… (Nice cover by the way if unrelated to the contents of the book, apart from the snow!)