The Literary Lucy

It's been a little while now and I feel okay talking about Fool's Assassin.  I didn't at first because I was really angry at the main character.  I'm still angry but I've decided not to let it come between us. It's been some years after the events of the Tawny Man trilogy.  Fitz, as Tom Badgerlock, has everything he could have ever wanted.  He is married to Molly, steward to Withywoods, and content to live out his days in retirement.  Then Molly gets a strange notion that she is pregnant, despite being well past her birthing years.  Fitz is heartbroken at this sign of delusion, especially after it continues past the normal span of a real pregnancy.  And then Bee is born, a strange, delicate child with pale hair and features.  Fitz is understandably shocked but loves his little fey daughter with all his heart and vows to protect her from any and all harm.  And harm is coming.  Messages from The Fool, delayed and garbled, finally reach...

OMG I loved this book!  Jay Kristoff is one of my favorite new writers.  I read his samurai steampunk series, The Lotus Wars, a couple of years ago and they were amazeballs so when I saw his name on a new book I had to have it. Mia has had everything taken away from her by the corrupt officials of Godsgrave.  She decides to dedicate her life to the goddess of death in order to become an instrument of vengeance but first she must survive the Red Church's school of assassins. All of Kristoff's books boast incredibly well-realized worlds.  This one is set apart by the pattern of its three suns, almost always in the sky.  All three only set together once every five or so years, hence the title.  It's great to see the setting have such an influence on the plot and the entire feel of the book. I also really enjoy the humorous footnotes.  I was worried they would distract from the novel itself but they are incorporated nicely and reminded me in the bes...

Last one of the Tawny Man trilogy! Fitz has promised to accompany Prince Dutiful on his quest to kill the dragon Icefyre, but he is torn.  The Fool insists on going with him but has already revealed that his prophecies end on the island.  Meanwhile, the dragon Tintaglia continues to bombard Fitz's dreams, demanding Icefyre's location and threatening dire consequences should anything befall the last male dragon in the world.  The journey to the Outislands proves fraught with danger for all the Prince's companions but offers an opportunity to bond with his betrothed that he cannot ignore. The ending to this series is so perfect that I had to walk away.  It's a beautiful send-off to these characters that I have loved and it would only cheapen the experience to jump right into the next book.  There's a reason she waited ten years to bring these characters back.

My Robin Hobb adventure continues through book two of the Tawny Man series. Prince Dutiful has been rescued, just in time for his betrothal ceremony to the Narcheska Elliania of the Outislands.  Tensions remain high as these recent enemies are invited into the very heart of Buckkeep and Fitz, resurrected once more as Tom Badgerlock, manservant to Lord Golden, is in the thick of it.  He must serve as spy, confidant, Skillmaster, and Catalyst while maintaining as low a profile as he kind, for the Piebalds have sworn their vengeance on him, until Dutiful and Elliania are safely bound together.  But dark forces are working against him and the young Narchescka is but an opening gambit from the Fool's great nemesis, the Pale Woman. There's a lot of setup in this book and it is much more character-driven than some of the previous works in this series.  A host of new characters are introduced and previous characters' storylines are either expanded or wrapped enough to be...

My Robin Hobb odyssey continues with the Tawny Man trilogy.  I'm pretty sure the Liveship Traders trilogy is set between Farseer and Tawny Man but I don't own those books, though I have read the Rain Wilds Chronicles which also reference them.  I should probably read them.  Maybe for my birthday. FitzChivalry Farseer is no more.  He has embraced his public death and adopted the life of Tom Badgerlock, a hermit and sometime scribe living with his pet wolf, Nighteyes, and his adopted son, Hap.  But a man cannot outrun his past and soon the time comes for Tom Badgerlock to act again as the Catalyst of the White Prophet.  Young Prince Dutiful, heir to the Farseer throne, has gone missing just before his betrothal ceremony.  Queen Kettricken and her advisor, Chade, dispatch Tom with the prince's retrieval.  The Fool has also changed his identity for Lord Golden, a rich nobleman who takes Tom on as a servant and bodyguard.  Together, they search...

It feels really good to be able to get through two or three books at once again.  Near the end of this month, Spring semester starts and I know I won't have time again until it's over so I'm trying to get in as many as I can. Thus we come to the conclusion of the Farseer trilogy. Having escaped death's clutches once more, FitzChivalry Farseer is a wreck of both body and mind.  He slowly and reluctantly pieces himself together to discover that Regal has declared himself king and abandoned the coastal duchies to the Red Ships in favor of moving the keep to the soft, inner lands of his birth.  Fitz knows no other desire but to assassinate Regal in retribution but the king is protected by his coterie of Skilled men who would love nothing more than to drain the strength from Fitz.  Thwarted at the last by Verity's Skilled command, Fitz journeys instead past the Mountain kingdom where the deposed Queen Kettricken has fled with The Fool, jester to Verity's father,...

This is book two of the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb.  I used to have the original run back in the early 00s but they got lost with a lot of my things when I moved from California to Georgia.  When I saw she had a new trilogy coming out, I decided to revisit them. FitzChivalry Farseer, a royal by-blow, has been trained as an assassin and spy but is so much more than that.  He is gifted with two strains of magic, the Skill -a mental discipline that allows for telepathy and far-seeing- and the Wit -a more empathic magic that allows bonding and communication with animals, but is also considered low, dirty, and indecent.  Fitz survives an assassination attempt by his uncle, Prince Regal, the second in line for the throne, and successfully delivers the Mountain princess, Kettricken, to his uncle Verity, the King-in-Waiting, to be wed.  Kettricken brings the strong timbers of the mountains to build warships for Verity, in the hopes that the people can begin defend...