A Very Belated Book Review
I have a veritable trove of unfinished blog posts, mostly about books, because I haven't had any inclination to reflect on my own life. Here's one from February 2016, when I finished the most recent in Robin Hobb's Fitz and the Fool trilogy - Fool's Quest. If you haven't read the books and you like fantasy, this has a lot of spoilers, so maybe sit this one out. If you haven't read them and don't care, probably also sit this out because it will make very little sense.
The book is the second in a trilogy, but there are two trilogies before this one that you would need to read first. So, all told, there are eight books to put on your fantasy reading list - 1. Assassin's Apprentice
2. Royal Assassin
3. Assassin's Quest
4. Fool's Errand
5. Golden Fool
6. Fool's Fate
7. Fool's Assassin
8. Fool's Quest
There are also three other series (trilogies and quartets) that are set in the same world and relate somewhat, but aren't terribly necessary for understanding the Fitz and the Fool storyline. Robin Hobb's books are here if you want to read them.
Here goes...
I have the strangest feeling of reverence and impatience warring in my mind. I raced through Fool's Quest knowing that the third book won't come out for years and knowing it would end in a cliffhanger, and yet here I am wanting to linger endlessly in the pages with Fitz and the Fool and Perseverance and Spark, and even Lant, a little bit. They've evolved so much since the first books when Fitz was just a youngster, which is something I love. Most books happen within the space of days or at most a year, but these have followed Fitz from age 10 to well into his 60's. All the little pieces slowly come together, and the idea that Bee is both Fitz and the Fool's child is lovely and perfect. And now there are dragons and elderlings and so many wonderful fantasy things, and I find myself delighted at the wonder and seriousness of both Spark and Perseverance, while also cherishing the fraught relationship between Fitz and the Fool. If I could wish for anything, it's that Fitz would bond again so that the story would be punctuated by the cautious opening of his mind and heart, and the fierce pride and strength of his wit partner. I wonder about Vindelair and about the servants, but know that Bee will take herself to them. I love the idea of wolf father, and those are some of my favorite parts. I also have been enjoying that parts of the story are told from Bee's perspective, which I thought would bother me but actually is interesting and a good contrast to Fitz's worry and self remonstrations. Now that the book is complete; however, I find myself strangely reluctant to pick up another one because I am loathe to leave this world behind. Some authors do that for me - create a world that's compelling and characters I love - and I cannot thank them enough. Sometimes it's one or the other, but this time it's both. Laini Taylor did that in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and now having the opportunity to follow a character through adulthood, I wish I could see Karou twenty years later. The timeline is so different in these books - ten years passed in the first couple of chapters, and Fitz was allowed to live them quietly and in happiness. The gap between the Assassin's Apprentice and the Tawny Man trilogy was 15 years, and it changes Fitz's perspective. It's still the character I love, but more complex, as a real person would be. That the author allowed Fitz the luxury of a life with Molly makes me happy and grateful. I concede I perhaps shouldn't care so much about fictional characters, but I've found that my inner life is much more active than my 9-5, and the stories resonate. It's like a conversation with the author, masked in the fantasy world we both inhabit in the pages. When Fitz rejects the Fool, I wanted to race to the Fool's aid. It was a balm to hear the Fool reprimand Fitz, saying something along the lines of, "I would never offer what you did not want," and it was even better when in this book Fitz sees Perseverance struggling to accept Ash/Spark and Fitz himself readily accepts and understands. He even has a conversation with the Fool when he's dressed as Amber, saying "Time was, you would have hated this disguise," and Fitz acknowledging that it was time past, not present. And oh, the poor Fool with his lovely agile hands brought to the brink of destruction, both inside and out. That's another thing about the timeline. Healing takes months and preparations take days, and Hobb gives them that. It's infuriating because I know Bee is getting farther and farther away, but also a fantastic way to keep the reader impatient and wary as the hours tick by and you know the wheels are turning elsewhere in the world. And the Skill, and that every so often Verity drifts into the story and I just miss him because I can feel how much Fitz misses him and looked up to him. Everyone is intense and emotional, but the moments of levity are wonderful. Because the timeline is so long, the characters have a chance to develop those deep bonds and have endless inside jokes and memories together.
The book is the second in a trilogy, but there are two trilogies before this one that you would need to read first. So, all told, there are eight books to put on your fantasy reading list - 1. Assassin's Apprentice2. Royal Assassin
3. Assassin's Quest
4. Fool's Errand
5. Golden Fool
6. Fool's Fate
7. Fool's Assassin
8. Fool's Quest
There are also three other series (trilogies and quartets) that are set in the same world and relate somewhat, but aren't terribly necessary for understanding the Fitz and the Fool storyline. Robin Hobb's books are here if you want to read them.
Here goes...
I have the strangest feeling of reverence and impatience warring in my mind. I raced through Fool's Quest knowing that the third book won't come out for years and knowing it would end in a cliffhanger, and yet here I am wanting to linger endlessly in the pages with Fitz and the Fool and Perseverance and Spark, and even Lant, a little bit. They've evolved so much since the first books when Fitz was just a youngster, which is something I love. Most books happen within the space of days or at most a year, but these have followed Fitz from age 10 to well into his 60's. All the little pieces slowly come together, and the idea that Bee is both Fitz and the Fool's child is lovely and perfect. And now there are dragons and elderlings and so many wonderful fantasy things, and I find myself delighted at the wonder and seriousness of both Spark and Perseverance, while also cherishing the fraught relationship between Fitz and the Fool. If I could wish for anything, it's that Fitz would bond again so that the story would be punctuated by the cautious opening of his mind and heart, and the fierce pride and strength of his wit partner. I wonder about Vindelair and about the servants, but know that Bee will take herself to them. I love the idea of wolf father, and those are some of my favorite parts. I also have been enjoying that parts of the story are told from Bee's perspective, which I thought would bother me but actually is interesting and a good contrast to Fitz's worry and self remonstrations. Now that the book is complete; however, I find myself strangely reluctant to pick up another one because I am loathe to leave this world behind. Some authors do that for me - create a world that's compelling and characters I love - and I cannot thank them enough. Sometimes it's one or the other, but this time it's both. Laini Taylor did that in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and now having the opportunity to follow a character through adulthood, I wish I could see Karou twenty years later. The timeline is so different in these books - ten years passed in the first couple of chapters, and Fitz was allowed to live them quietly and in happiness. The gap between the Assassin's Apprentice and the Tawny Man trilogy was 15 years, and it changes Fitz's perspective. It's still the character I love, but more complex, as a real person would be. That the author allowed Fitz the luxury of a life with Molly makes me happy and grateful. I concede I perhaps shouldn't care so much about fictional characters, but I've found that my inner life is much more active than my 9-5, and the stories resonate. It's like a conversation with the author, masked in the fantasy world we both inhabit in the pages. When Fitz rejects the Fool, I wanted to race to the Fool's aid. It was a balm to hear the Fool reprimand Fitz, saying something along the lines of, "I would never offer what you did not want," and it was even better when in this book Fitz sees Perseverance struggling to accept Ash/Spark and Fitz himself readily accepts and understands. He even has a conversation with the Fool when he's dressed as Amber, saying "Time was, you would have hated this disguise," and Fitz acknowledging that it was time past, not present. And oh, the poor Fool with his lovely agile hands brought to the brink of destruction, both inside and out. That's another thing about the timeline. Healing takes months and preparations take days, and Hobb gives them that. It's infuriating because I know Bee is getting farther and farther away, but also a fantastic way to keep the reader impatient and wary as the hours tick by and you know the wheels are turning elsewhere in the world. And the Skill, and that every so often Verity drifts into the story and I just miss him because I can feel how much Fitz misses him and looked up to him. Everyone is intense and emotional, but the moments of levity are wonderful. Because the timeline is so long, the characters have a chance to develop those deep bonds and have endless inside jokes and memories together.
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