Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So it’s been a decade since the last novel in the world of Fitz and the Fool. In preparation for FOOL’S ASSASSIN, I reread the Farseer trilogy, the Liveship Traders trilogy, and the Tawny Man trilogy, enjoying each of them (though the Tawny Man series is never as exciting for me as the Farseer books, or even the Liveship books, mainly because of the lack of Nighteyes). FOOL’S ASSASSIN picks up a few years after the events of the Tawny Man series, and spends most of its plot following Fitz and his beloved Molly as they take some well-deserved retirement of sorts at Withywoods. Although I suppose new readers wouldn’t be too confused picking this book up, I definitely recommend reading the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies before this one; there are plenty of background details that will slide right past new readers, while veterans of Robin Hobb will be pierced to the heart (especially if you just reread the series like I did).
Normally a Hobb book takes me days to get through; they’re big fat fantasy novels, which make my heart go pitter pat. However, I sped through FA in a couple of days, which surprised me (it clocked out at 818 pages in my e-reader, but certainly didn’t seem like it was that long). As much as I was excited to find out what happened to some of my favorite tortured characters, and we do find out, I found myself a little unsatisfied at the end. I’m reasonably certain I had the big twist figured out years (literally) before Fitz did. Hobb is good at playing with your emotions, making you feel exactly what the main characters are feeling, then turning the story on its head and making you realize how wrong you were. Sometimes this is a remarkable feeling. In this case, I pretty much just wanted the Fool to show up (you know, the other half of the series title?). Oddly enough, I feel like the next book in the series might have a little more action and a few more questions answered. I’m not going to abandon the series after this book, but I’m not sure I’ll be quite as excited if the pace is as slow as this one. BOO CLIFFHANGER.
Received as a free digital ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.