Assassin’s fate [book review]

I am afraid it is impossible to report on Assassin’s Fate without introducing spoilers, so would-be readers, be warned! The end of a long if enjoyable journey with FitzChivalry, the royal Assassin created by Robin Hobb two decades ago, in a book that brings together almost all characters she introduced in the five trilogies linking the Six Duchies, the Rain Wild, and beyond. Beyond the imperfections of some slow-pace sections and of the infuriating stubbornness of Fitz along with his righteousness at times, the conclusion of the book is stunning and perfectly closes the series, leaving the reader who has followed these characters for years and enjoyed the carefully constructed universe behind them, as well as the psychological depth of most of them, with a peaceful and bittersweet sadness. Never have so many owed so much to so few, some would add about Fitz, The Fool and Bee, given the upheaval they bring to this whole universe, impacting first and foremost the Liveship traders… In my opinion, the saga of FitzChivalry that concludes with this book stands among the most realised and elaborated ones in fantasy, primarily for its highly attaching (and far from heroic) characters. Who definitely belong to a pantheon of fantasy characters that one remembers along the years, even with long interruptions.

Fool’s quest [book review]

Although I bought this second volume in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy quite a while ago, I only came to read it very recently. And enjoyed it unreservedly! While the novel builds upon the universe Hobb created in the liveship traders trilogy (forget the second trilogy!) and the Assassin and Fool trilogies, the story is compelling enough to bring out excitement and longing for further adventures of Fitz and the Fool. Many characters that were introduced in the earlier volume suddenly take on substance and meaning, while the main characters are no longer heroes of past eras, but also acquire further depth and subtlety. Even long-lasting ones like Chade. I cannot tell whether this new dimension of the plights affecting the Six Duchies and its ruler, King Verity, was conceived from the start or came later to the author, but it really fits seamlessly and increases by several orders of magnitude the epic feeling of the creation. Although it is hard to rank this book against the very first ones, like Royal Assassin, I feel this is truly one of the best of Hobb’s books, with the right mixture of action, plotting, missed opportunities and ambiguous angles about the main characters. So many characters truly come to life in this volume that I bemoan the sluggish pace of the first one even more now. While one could see Fool’s Quest as the fourteenth book in the Realm of the Elderlings series, and hence hint at senseless exploitation of the same saga, there are just too many new threads and perspective there to maintain this posture. A wonderful book and a rarity of a middle book being so. I am clearly looking forward the third instalment!