Review of "Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)" on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Holy shit.
English language
Published Nov. 7, 2015
4 stars
(26 reviews)
Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown.
But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more…
On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing.
Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the …
Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown.
But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more…
On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing.
Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the messenger?
Suddenly Fitz's violent old life erupts into the peace of his new world, and nothing and no one is safe.
ASquareClaire@bookrastinating.com reviewed Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)
Review of "Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)" on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
The first 4/5 of this book were a bit slow to get through. I was listening to the audiobook & it was much better once I sped up the narration. I think it might have been better in print, since I would have been able to skim through much of it.
Once the plot picked up, it went super fast & got a lot better. I immediately went into the next book in the trilogy.
Steen Christiansen reviewed Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)
Review of "Fool's Assassin" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
To suddenly hear another voice is first a shock but in the end it doesn't work.
Sean Gursky reviewed Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)
Review of "Fool's Assassin" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
You might be surprised to find that facing life can be much harder than facing death.
We join Fitz and Molly in their twilight years decades after the events of the last trilogy. They live a quiet and modest life and are happy. The politics and intrigue of Buckkeep continue on but don't reach their peaceful home in Withywoods.
This story is like a lazy afternoon in the sun, daydreaming of times in the past and content with what life has given you now. The tale Hobb's writes floats along like a leaf on a quiet stream. It's not really going anywhere but it's a great journey. Being back in the world of Fitz is like catching up with an old friend and I was happy each time I read the book.
I have devoted many months to reading Hobb's work and know that this quiet lullaby will go somewhere …
You might be surprised to find that facing life can be much harder than facing death.
We join Fitz and Molly in their twilight years decades after the events of the last trilogy. They live a quiet and modest life and are happy. The politics and intrigue of Buckkeep continue on but don't reach their peaceful home in Withywoods.
This story is like a lazy afternoon in the sun, daydreaming of times in the past and content with what life has given you now. The tale Hobb's writes floats along like a leaf on a quiet stream. It's not really going anywhere but it's a great journey. Being back in the world of Fitz is like catching up with an old friend and I was happy each time I read the book.
I have devoted many months to reading Hobb's work and know that this quiet lullaby will go somewhere and this is a necessary step to reorientate the reader and come back in to the world. Slowly we are shaken from this reverie and have to deal with life. Tragedy happens, heart break occurs, the characters adapt and the story moves on.
It was better to leave the space empty of words than to choose the wrong ones.
I enjoyed the story before Bee was introduced, and like Fitz, it took some time to acclimatize to this new character. The alternate POV is an interesting change but the story still saunters along at the previous pace. There are some external pressures on our characters and the story continues to advance.
As the years, and pages, go by the end of the book is fast approaching and I am doubtful that anything substantial will happen. Then, in the final few chapters the story goes from calm and casual to frantic and furious and then we're hit with a cliffhanger and not sure where this burst of excitement came from.
A cliffhanger feels unnatural in the first book of a Hobb's trilogy but it acted like a hard slap across the face and got my attention. There was never a doubt I wouldn't continue with Fool's Quest but I regret that the peaceful story of Fool's Assassin has been burned to the ground and that quiet afternoon I enjoyed with Fitz and family will never come back.
