Review: Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb

As I flick through the opening pages of Fool’s Assassin, there is a moment when I stop myself. I am at the contents page, and the realization that I am, once again, about to follow FitzChivalry Farseer through a wonderful maze of books causes my eyes to well up and an excitement to set me on edge.

So, instead of turning to the first page and ploughing ahead, I take a moment to think.

It has been eleven years since the release of Fool’s Fate, and with that comes a certain fear: though- like all fans- I wish to see a continuance of my dear Fitz’s story, I also fear the change. When I first read Fitz’s story, during the Farseer Trilogy, I was a young boy myself, barely older than fourteen years old. This created an odd connection between myself and the character, as I could easily project myself onto him.

Then, reading the Tawny Man trilogy, I was familiar enough with the world and the characters to be able to look past the difference in our age. I had grown with him, so to speak, and was ready to entre fatherhood alongside the man I now called my friend.

But now, with the Fitz and the Fool trilogy at hand, I couldn’t help but wonder: how am I going to feel, knowing now that Fitz is getting older?

Straight from page one, Fitz’s story filled me with both a profound enjoyment at being alongside my friend again, but also a melancholy realization of just how much things have changed. Over ten years have passed since the disappearance of the Fool, and Fitz is happy living a simple life beside his beloved Molly. But time changes all things, and every page is dripping with change.

Characters who were once children now have children of their own. Men and women who were old enough to be adults during Fitz’s childhood are now senile or dead, and even Molly herself is creaking with age. It hurt to see this within the beloved characters we have once loved, but is certainly an indication of the change that Robin Hobb has chosen to write about.

Fitz’s understandable reluctance to re-enter the world of politics is a large part of the story, though the nature of Fitz himself is very much called into question. Is there a part of Fitz that misses the old life? If not, why does he keep mementos of his old days? A man like Fitz can never truly move on after making so much sacrifice, surely?

These questions are what are so great about Fitz and the world around him. He is willing to look at things from many perspectives and is not just a tool used to give the reader a narration- he is a real man, with his own strengths and weaknesses, his own fears and worries. This has not changed with Fitz, nor has it changed with the entire wonderful cast of characters- both old and new. No character ever feels stale or fake.

The story seems to almost take a background route at times, while we come to terms with the changes this story has created for us. But there, hidden in the shadows, the mysterious story lies, pulling us deeper and deeper into the world and tempting us with promises of greatness. It does, however, try to trickle us with nuggets of information that any true fan could easily have come with for themselves, but the presentation of the revelations are always great and logically laid out, which certainly eases any misgivings I could have had with it.

For myself, the largest problem with the book ended up that is does end on a cliff-hanger, and I wanted to immediately grab the next book and begin again. But this is precisely what makes the books so wonderful to read.

So, dear fans and readers, prepare to feel happy and melancholic both at once, as you allow yourself to once again slip into the skin of FitzChivalry Farseer. Do not fear the changes wrought by Robin Hobb, like I did, but embrace them, and you will be once more happy.

*

Thank you very much to Harper Voyager for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. It was an ARC from Netgalley.

This review is available both on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18658063-fool-s-assassin

 

And on A Writer’s Wonderland: http://www.awriterswonderland.com