The last book in the Farseer Trilogy we weave our way to the conclusion of Fitz’ quest to find Verity, who has been lost in the mountains since the end of book 1.
I really enjoyed the start of the book, which followed Fitz’s reintegration with the human world. The gentle way that Hobb highlights how animalistic he has become with his months of being a wolf was really fascinating to read.
Spoilers for Assassins Quest from here!
There were some parts of the book I found quite painful to read. Fitz’s pining over Molly started out as a love-struck young man and turned into a rather frustrating monologue. Yes, Fitz, she’s with someone else now. No, you can’t see her. Please can we think about something else for more than five minutes. When this is combined with the other female character’s ability to pop up and then try and sleep with Fitz, it becomes even more irritating.
On the flipside, the Fool and Fitz’ relationship is something I really enjoyed reading – it felt honest and yearning and the two of them kept making life harder the other because they kept wanting to protect them. Their dialogue and banter I really enjoyed.
As well as the Fool and Fitz’ relationship, I really enjoyed Fitz’ little meander through the alternate world. The writing in this section when he’s touching the buildings to bring the image to life is quite frankly breath-taking. I distinctly remember having to pause whilst reading to just admire how brilliantly constructed the description was. Some truly, truly excellent writing.
The ending…I have to admit the ending felt very deus ex machina to me. We find out how to create the Elderlings, and so the Elderlings super-nuke their way through the Redships. I also couldn’t help but find Verity incredibly underwhelming – I know he was slowly going mad, but by god was he frustrating to read. I did have to remind myself that this story was written in the ‘90s, and upon reflection there are a number of stories that have the same kind of arc ending (the original Shannara series came to mind), so I will cut the story some slack.
Overall, I enjoyed the book even if there were some bits that didn’t work quite so well for me. I’m now off to dive into the next book in the Realm of Elderings (chronologically) which is the Liveship trilogy. Wish me luck!
Goodbye January
January has come and gone in a blink of an eye it feels like. I’ve been improving my wordcounts on my novel, and had a few plot-based breakthroughs this month that I’ll talk about more in a separate blog. For now, the focus is to try and stay on track with my novel writing, stay…
My thoughts on Ship of Magic – beginning the Liveship Traders Trilogy
Having finished the Farseer Trilogy, I then had a decision whether I wanted to follow the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings storyline in chronological or published order. I decided to go with chronological, which then led me to the first of the Liveship Traders trilogy, the Ship of Magic. Part of my reading…
Royal Assassin – Continuing my read through of the Farseer Trilogy
Second books in trilogies sometimes struggle to find their own rhythm. They tend to be a bridging story – taking the characters from the start of their story towards were the dramatic conclusion is. The second book of Robin Hobb’s trilogy Royal Assassin is anything but that. It’s one of the few times that I’ve…
Alex.J.Cobalt 