Sean Gursky reviewed Complete Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Review of 'Complete Tawny Man Trilogy' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
...the past had broken free of my effort to define and understand it. History is no more fixed and dead than the future. The past is no further away than the last breath you took.
On the surface this is a pretty straightforward book. The plot is simple and when the conflict passes the characters go home. But what Hobb's has managed to do is to wrap a very powerful and strong story around a simple plot.
The first few hundred pages of this book was Fitz reliving past glory and it was fantastic. It didn't drag or feel pedantic but rather served as a great way to catch up with Fitz over all these years. The Piebald's become introduced as those who are persecuted for using the Wit and this puts Fitz in an uncomfortable place between who he is and who he is loyal to.
This is a …
...the past had broken free of my effort to define and understand it. History is no more fixed and dead than the future. The past is no further away than the last breath you took.
On the surface this is a pretty straightforward book. The plot is simple and when the conflict passes the characters go home. But what Hobb's has managed to do is to wrap a very powerful and strong story around a simple plot.
The first few hundred pages of this book was Fitz reliving past glory and it was fantastic. It didn't drag or feel pedantic but rather served as a great way to catch up with Fitz over all these years. The Piebald's become introduced as those who are persecuted for using the Wit and this puts Fitz in an uncomfortable place between who he is and who he is loyal to.
This is a story of friendship, difficult life decisions and regret. The magic system is significant but it takes a backseat to the great characters that Hobb's has written and I'm eager to carry on with this trilogy.
It would be difficult to discuss this book without the end so here goes...
The entire book lead up to Nighteyes passing. Comments on his age, greying fur and overall fatigue was hard to miss. Every battle that they encountered I worried and yet Nighteyes persevered and I thought he was safe for another book...until that chapter happened. The passing of Nighteyes was so powerful that I had to hold back tears. Re-reading those paragraphs with Fitz sharing in the dream with Nighteyes was beautiful, and thinking of it now I get goosebumps of how heartbreaking it all was.
This is one of the few character deaths that moved me this way. You are given several books to appreciate what Nighteyes is to Fitz. It feels almost as if the reader has the same bond to Nighteyes as Fitz does so the passing of Nighteyes lands hard.
