Bee. Such an amazing character. I didn't want to hope that Molly was truly pregnant, and I think Hobb and Fitz were pretty convincing that she was delusional. I recall a plot line from That 70's Show (yes, weird thing to compare to) where Kitty thought she was pregnant but it turned out to be menopause. I thought the same thing was going on, and I felt Fitz and Nettle's suffering when they thought she was losing her mind. But then Bee was born. I had already gotten to that part when I wrote the post about Rain Wilds and I wanted to put a little footnote, saying "I get the bee in the sub logo now" :). It was pretty clear to me she was a White, from Molly's long pregnancy to Bee's slow development, and also that she was Skilled, when Fitz tried to use the Skill to examine her and she resisted. But I didn't realize she was a White because she had some of the Fool's DNA (or the equivalent in that world), I just thought that it was something that came up in some babies randomly. A complex tapestry of adventure, betrayal, destiny, and unrelenting peril . . . Hobb’s expertise is evident as always.”—Publishers Weekly This is where it gets really interesting, because we see this kid grow up with our favorite hero, the Catalyst without the White Prophet, and we as readers are making all the connections as Fitz does not, safe in his marital and familial bliss, even after his poor wife has died. On top of that, his daughter Bee is easily one of the most fascinating characters in the book. This book shattered that, not by expanding the abilities themselves, but introducing a character that interacts with them in a different way. I can't say much more than this without spoiling something major, but it's an extremely satisfying way of exploring this magic system and makes me so excited to read more about in future books. Pulley, Natasha (July 10, 2015). "Character is in the Details: Robin Hobb's Golden Fool". Tor.com. Macmillan.

I continue to adore Nettle, and her relationship with Fitz. The first time she called him "Da" and almost every time after that, I felt a warm feeling and happiness that she was able to forgive him and have that relationship with him. I was happy that she found happiness with Riddle and Hope. Repetitive clues. Look, I’m someone who usually blazes through books, devouring them as fast as I can. I’m therefore probably the last person to point out the culprit in a murder mystery. Then how is it possible, I ask, that a writer that I hold in such high regard due to her proven brilliance in weaving subtle hints and clues into a story, managed to insult my intelligence so this time? I was so disappointed in Hobb’s Fitz in this book. I found it unacceptable that in spite of an avalanche of clues - almost patronizing in their blatancy - Fitz was this blind to the gigantic elephant in the room: the fact that his daughter was a Mary Sue “white prophet”. As Bee is dragged by her sadistic captors across half the world, Fitz and the Fool, believing her dead, embark on a mission of revenge that will take them to the distant island where the Servants reside—a place the Fool once called home and later called prison. It was a hell the Fool escaped, maimed and blinded, swearing never to return. The Fool's physical appearance changes throughout the series. He regularly suffers from a flu-like illness which leaves him bedridden for several days, after which his skin sloughs off to reveal darker skin underneath. Zutter, Natalie (October 24, 2019). " "I Have Been Incredibly Privileged to Write the Full Arc of Fitz's Story": Robin Hobb on 25 Years of Assassin's Apprentice". Tor.com.

Customer reviews

Fitz's description of Bee's early years was beautiful and sad. I completely understood how he found it difficult to love her, and his shame in that, and I felt his pain when Bee hated his touch and was apathetic to him. When Bee's first POV chapter came, I shivered with excitement and had goosebumps. It was such a sudden change from every previous Fitz book, where it was one hundred percent Fitz's POV, but it also felt so right. Her interpretation of the world, being simultaneously so very precocious and adult but also childlike and naive, was something I rarely experienced in other characters. Her relationship with Fitz after Molly died was so beautifully written — how they discovered each other, how Fitz tried so earnestly to be a good father to her but failed so much. And her experiences with Wolf-Father (so many tears) gave me even more goosebumps. Fool's Errand was published in October 2001 by HarperCollins Voyager in the UK, [3] and in January 2002 by Bantam Spectra in the US. [4] The second volume followed exactly one year later in each country, and was titled The Golden Fool in the UK and Golden Fool in the US. [5] The concluding book, Fool's Fate, was released in October 2003 in the UK, [6] and in February 2004 in the US. [7] The series was marketed as The Tawny Man trilogy, [4] and is also known as the Tawny Man trilogy. [8] [9] The UK covers were illustrated by John Howe, while the US versions were designed by Stephen Youll. [4] [5] [6] [7] Robin Hobb’s novels are superb. It is easy to become lost in her wonderful world. She is my favourite fantasy author. For me, she is just the best out there, at the moment, in her genre. No other writer I’ve come across can write friendships this deep and meaningful. This series gets better as it goes along. I am looking forward to seeing how it will all end, but I’d rather it didn’t end because then I could keep reading these books. It would be impossible to write a review for this book and not mention the ending; it has left me in suspense for a whole year. I think it was the best ending she has written so far, I do hope Fitz finds his Bee, and that the Fool gets his revenge. So I think he and Molly worked, and I'm happy he experienced love for the twenty-odd years before she died. I'm just sad he was so limited in that love.

While less common, it is of course equally possible for fans of the Liveship books to wonder if they need to read the other books in the series. The Liveship trilogy probably stands on its own better than any of the others, for while the effectiveness of the original ending to the Farseer trilogy depends on how you feel about very bittersweet endings, and the later series are built on the foundations of the first two, the Liveship trilogy offers a complete story that builds the parts of the world it inhabits from scratch, comes to a wholly satisfying conclusion and tells its own clear narrative about the tragedy of cycles of abuse and the power of memory. The Fool predicts the future and uses Fitz to change it to his vision, which is not always easy on the Catalyst. The Fool tells FitzChivalry that they are to save the world by saving the Six Duchies. If you save part of the world, you save all of it, as that is the only way it can be done, or so he says.Scholars see queer themes in Hobb's portrayal of the Fool, a character who alternately presents as masculine and feminine in different segments of the Elderlings series, and in Fitz's possession of the Wit, a form of magic seen by society as an unnatural inclination. [8] [9] The dynamic between Fitz and the Fool, described in the series as "two halves of a whole, sundered and come together again" when they connect via the Skill, has romantic overtones, [10] and critic Amanda Craig sees Fitz as "half in love with his friend". [11] While positively viewing how Hobb's work blurs gender boundaries, Lenise Prater criticizes Hobb's emphasis on "monogamous, romantic love" in the Rain Wild Chronicles, seeing that series as a conservative representation of queer relationships. [12] [13] Peter Melville disagrees, viewing the concluding image of Fitz and the Fool trilogy as "confirm[ing] the series' place within the larger history of queerness in the fantasy genre". [14]

There are two other characters that grabs a lot of attention in this story. First is Fool, seriously anything related to Fitz is incomplete without him. They are the ultimate soulmates. No matter from which point they start their journey but one way or the other, their paths are bound to converge. For most part Fool we see in Fitz's memories and how he worried himself to know if the Fool is safe. Fool's appearance in the book is brief but once he is there it is all about him and the different paths world could take, all depend on, like every other time, on the actions of Fitz and the Fool (so the name of the trilogy is actually the exploration of the relationship of the two).That, I could write off to Fitz possibly having lost his “edge”, a fear that he and others expressed throughout the book. Stranger is that he only briefly considered the “suspicious” events, before re-immersing himself in his domestic, talcum-powdered dream with a slightly mellowed, yet still occasionally scathing Molly.

But FitzChivalry Farseer is not without weapons of his own. An ancient magic still lives in his veins. And though he may have let his skills as royal assassin diminish over the years, such things, once learned, are not so easily forgotten. I am very rattled. These books have meant so much to me in the past two months. I don't want to get too personal, but I'm in a stressful and difficult part of my life, and these books have been an incredible escape, a source of joy and tears, an inspiration, and a release. And this community has made me feel very welcome. Your respect for spoilers (not a single thing was spoiled for me!), your willingness to engage in conversation with a new reader and even your help in digesting the series as I went through it, greatly enhanced my experience, and I thank you guys sincerely. First published through the Del Rey publishing label, this was the original book in the ‘Fitz and the Fool Trilogy’ to come out. Setting up the new line of books, it was also the fourteenth book to come out in the ‘Realms of the Elderlings’ to come out too, establishing a whole new narrative. Released on the 12th of August in 2014, it would later be followed by a sequel the following year, as it would re-establish already pre-existing characters into new situations. In addition, he is disquieted by his unconventional girl-cousin Epiny—who challenges his heretofore unwavering world view—and by the bizarre dreams that haunt his nights. When directly questioned on the matter, the Fool has said that their gender is no one's business but their own.

Book III of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy

This is a book that wouldn't be possible without the groundwork laid before. It builds on the history we have with these characters and exploits it. The story that we see unfold has echoes the story that has gone before. Like a piece of music it builds on themes, reflects earlier melodies, improvises around them, and plays an old refrain.