New trilogy featuring Fitz and the Fool by Robin Hobb

[Arkash]

Currently abroad for the moment but as soon as I get back home, I'll order it and devour it !!!!

[lojzelote]

As for the names, weren't "virtue" names quite popular in the Anglo-American world during the 19th century, for girls at least?

Faith, Grace, Patience, Temperance, Prudence, Felicity, Hope, Joy, ... Historical fiction seems to be full of them.

Personally, I do find them strange and distracting (with the exception of Hope, Grace and Joy, which I had known as names long before I even began learning English), but it's the same with flower names for me, and those are still all rage, so I have plenty of practice in ignoring them. I just take it for a peculiarity of a certain time and place. :dunno:

[Prue]

As for the names, weren't "virtue" names quite popular in the Anglo-American world during the 19th century, for girls at least?

Faith, Grace, Patience, Temperance, Prudence, Felicity, Hope, Joy, ... Historical fiction seems to be full of them.

It's an even earlier phenomenon that came up with the Calvinists/Puritans I think. Maybe they thought they could remind their children which virtues they were supposed to pursue in their lives by that. At least some of the English names sound quite nice. Hence my boardname. Ahem. Inspired by the Farseer books.

In Germany, the Pietists had extremely un-pretty virtue names like 'Fürchtegott' (Fear God!)

edit: Although, wasn't there a poor American Puritan whose name was 'Preserved Fish'? His parents must have had a really strange sense of humour.

[Darth Richard II]

Just finished it. Robin Hobb just ripped out my heart and stamped on it, then kicked me in the groin, then pushed me out of a plane.

I other words, I loved it, but man, nothing breaks my heart like a Robin Hobb book.

[Starkess]

Just finished it.

It was definitely a slower book, but I could read about Fitz all day so that didn't bother me too much.

Thoughts:

I didn't really like Bee that much. Her POVs weren't as enjoyable, and I felt like it affected the way she wrote Fitz's POVs as well. At first they were easy to tell apart, but by the time we get to the market setting near the end, I felt that the tone of Fitz's POVs had lowered to Bee's level.

It was pretty obvious to me that Bee was a White pretty early on, and remembering the androgyny of the Fool, pretty easy to conclude that she was the unexpected son. I wonder if her appearance to a most-menopausal Molly by Fitz could have something to do with the time that the Fool and Fitz switched bodies?

Bee seems to be both Skilled and Witted. I wonder how Fitz hasn't noticed her using her Wit yet? Is she just naturally "quiet" when she speaks with her cat? I too got the sense that Fitz may have a new bond companion at some point. The conversation with the Witmaster, the inability to ignore the tortured dog, and the sense that he is so unmoored. But perhaps not. Nighteyes would be hard to match. I like that Bee seems to be on her way to bonding a cat, while Fitz is clearly a dog person. That could be fun. :)

I think Shun is definitely Chade's daughter. It's been mentioned several time that he has been dallying about with younger women as he got "younger" from Skilling. And who else could it be? It's not Dutiful or Nettle, and there aren't too many Farseers running around. Plus Chade giving her the Fallstar name as a "cover". Also, she is terrible and I lost some respect for Fitz not standing up to her.

FitzVigilant seemed pretty pointless. If he's really dead, then I have no idea what his purpose in the book was. So I think he must not be dead, because Hobb is not usually so careless with characters.

RIP Revel. :( I liked him a lot, and he never even got his handkerchiefs from Bee!

And of course, RIP Molly. :crying: I read that scene on an airplane and cried like a baby and didn't even care. The bond between her and Fitz, the love that they shared and the life they scraped together after everything...too short. Plus I got all mad all over again about the whole Burrich thing. Ah, well.

Was totally not expecting the beggar to be the Fool. I had to go back and re-read the previous few pages because I was so confused and thought it was one of Bee's dreams or something weird. So sad, I hope they find a way to heal him. I think between his torture (again! wasn't the Pale Woman enough?!) and Bee's kidnapping, Fitz is going to go on a rampage. Wondering who will help him. Riddle and Nettle? Shun? Not-dead FitzVigilant? Hm.

Okay that's a lot of thoughts, and it's not even close to all of them. Cannot wait another year for the next one!!

[HexMachina]

I didn't really like Bee that much. Her POVs weren't as enjoyable, and I felt like it affected the way she wrote Fitz's POVs as well. At first they were easy to tell apart, but by the time we get to the market setting near the end, I felt that the tone of Fitz's POVs had lowered to Bee's level.

It was pretty obvious to me that Bee was a White pretty early on, and remembering the androgyny of the Fool, pretty easy to conclude that she was the unexpected son. I wonder if her appearance to a most-menopausal Molly by Fitz could have something to do with the time that the Fool and Fitz switched bodies?

.

I really liked Bee's POV, I thought it was a refreshing change from Fitz. She reminded me of him quite a lot, especially a younger Fitz from back in the Farseer Trilogy. But I certainly thought she was unique enough to make them really distinct :)

Yeah, bee as the unexpected son. Especially with the chapter where she has her "I was sure he was a man" when talking about the messenger. That was rather telling I thought.

Interesting thought about the body switch. I just assumed it was something more...arcane. I.e. it was due to the mysterious nature of the Whites

[spoilerI think Shun is definitely Chade's daughter. It's been mentioned several time that he has been dallying about with younger women as he got "younger" from Skilling. And who else could it be? It's not Dutiful or Nettle, and there aren't too many Farseers running around. Plus Chade giving her the Fallstar name as a "cover". Also, she is terrible and I lost some respect for Fitz not standing up to her.

This was my guess too. I'm curious who her mother is though, that is what will really nag me. I also quite liked that we got some backstory on Chade, with the little "diary entry" at the beginning of some of the chapters. And I agree,Shun was awful, and I was annoyed with Fitz for not doing something about it.

FitzVigilant seemed pretty pointless. If he's really dead, then I have no idea what his purpose in the book was. So I think he must not be dead, because Hobb is not usually so careless with characters.

RIP Revel. :( I liked him a lot, and he never even got his handkerchiefs from Bee!

And of course, RIP Molly. :crying: I read that scene on an airplane and cried like a baby and didn't even care. The bond between her and Fitz, the love that they shared and the life they scraped together after everything...too short. Plus I got all mad all over again about the whole Burrich thing. Ah, well.

Was totally not expecting the beggar to be the Fool. I had to go back and re-read the previous few pages because I was so confused and thought it was one of Bee's dreams or something weird. So sad, I hope they find a way to heal him. I think between his torture (again! wasn't the Pale Woman enough?!) and Bee's kidnapping, Fitz is going to go on a rampage.

FitzViligilant irritated me nearly as much as Shun. His death could just drive Fitz even more, since he has "failed" to do what Chade asked. I must say, I never guessed that his mother was Laurel.

Revel! :crying: I was sad to see him die (and why does Bee have to see all these tragic moments huh? First Molly, then Revel? :crying:

I cried like a baby at Molly too. Not even ashamed. When I thought she was imagining her pregnancy too, I cried then.

I had an inkling that the Fool was going to be at the market somewhere, but I never imagined the beggar. I thought he would be one of the ones the Fool was trying to escape. I realised it was him when he picked up Bee and had that weird sequence...

Also, the Wolf Father thing is weird to me too.How can Bee "see" him/remember him? Is it to do with Nighteyes (:crying: ) being carved into the memory stone maybe?

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah, this is not the book to finish up when you're having a crappy week in real life. :crying:

[Curethan]

Yeah, this is not the book to finish up when you're having a crappy week in real life. :crying:

Idk. Sometimes a few tears make you feel better. Some nice feels in this one too.

[Arkash]

Just finished "Fool's Assassin" and once more Robin Hobb's magic struck. I was unable to put down the book for days, her characters are so vivid, her world is so well build up, Withywoods was so alive, the dynamics between characters were as always great and I cant wait to read the next book !

Fitz is going to go on a rampage. Wondering who will help him. Riddle and Nettle? Shun? Not-dead FitzVigilant? Hm.

Spoilers :

Nettle will definitly help him as much as she can. Kettricken, Chade and Dutiful will also do their best but I dont think they'll leave Buckeep, they cannot.

I'd really like to get Web and Swift back in the midst of the story as well.

Otherwise, I think Shun will prove more useful than she was this book later on.

And if ever Fitz crosses path with characters such as Malta, Reyn, Thymara, Althea, Wintrow, Selden, Brashen, Alise, Leftrin or Tats, it would be amazing !

[Warg Arry]

I finished it at midnight last night. Not a great move since I had to be up early this morning. It's actually lucky I didn't have the next book on hand. I'm pretty sure I would have jumped straight into it regardless of how little sleep I was already going to get.

I had a feeling that Molly was going to have a White Prophet baby while she was "phantom pregnant". Something about the long pregnancy rang a bell about the Fool. Either from the books or from the Robin Hobb forum I frequented a longass time ago. But as soon as the baby was born I was certain she was a White.

From the second the Unexpected Son came into it I felt frustrated that no one seem to click Bee into that place. It would be interesting if Bee actually turned out to not be the Unexpected Son in the end. But it seems painfully obvious it's her.

I hope FitzVigilant wasn't just meant to be an unexpected son red herring. And on the subject of Lant. I was so disappointed in who he turned out to be. Although from the moment we meet him with the description of Lant's clothing and manner (at least from Fitz' perspective) he was a bit of a fop. Which should have been a clue. But after his beating and being sent away because he was a bastard. I hoped that had changed him and he and Bee could have been allies a kind of kindred spirit. (nothing at all romantic eww.) Just someone who would treat Bee in a decent friendly way.

Nope Lant was just a straight up dick. And I think it highlights Nettle and Riddles poor judgement. As they thought highly of him, thought him capable of caring for Bee and vouched for him a few times.

Which leads me too..

Fitz in mourning and being a father

The thing that pained me the most reading this. Is the constant barrage of shit people were laying on him about Bee. OK, yes Fitz needed to up his game. I mean not making sure your kid is bathed for weeks or longer. It's a bit rank. But Bee is around 9 able to mostly care for herself. She recognised that she needed a bath was able to communicate that but chose to see if her father would notice. Being a scared little girl who just lost her mum and her whole world changed in a moment. It's fair enough. The whole household dropped the ball as far as keeping anything up. As Fitz later found out. Everyone was in mourning.

Such things take time. And yet it was Fitz coping shit from people.

I have never wanted to smack Nettle more than I have in this book after Molly died. She is constantly putting Fitz down. Talking down to him and Bee. Reminding him that he is a bad father. Threatening to take Bee away. She spreads her opinion around Buck keep that Fitz is a bad father and Bee is a simpleton capable of nothing.. Even though Bee talked to her and revealed herself to Nettle. Nope, Nettle still went about proclaiming her sister has special needs and needs special care. Being in mourning herself gives her some leeway. But it didn't let up. And she kept at Fitz but actually never kept any of her promises. like returning in 3 months to see how Bee was getting along.

People may disagree but I thought Fitz was doing about as well as a dad can when he has just lost the love of his life. And he was bloody trying. He cleaned her made sure she was fed and safe among other things. Bee wasn't ever abused by him. There were some unfortunate situations. But that came from not having anyone Fitz could trust or rely on.

And then. ARGH! that moment in the Tavern when Fitz realises that Bee has been gone too long. So as he leaves to find her. Riddle pulls him up to telling him he is a bad dad and that he should take Bee away from Fitz because he didn't notice Bee was missing.

Disregard that from Bee's POV Riddle paid her very little attention and let her go out alone. And mid searching decides that was the perfect moment to stand in Fitz' way and have a conversation about his thoughts on how to be a good father.

Fuck right off Nettle and Riddle.

And all Fitz could say most of the time is. I'm sorry, you're right, I'll try harder. No! how about "Shut the F up and mind your own business. My daughter not yours. You stupid twats."

Sorry for the rant. It just hurt me in a way I wasn't expecting.

Wolf father.

Seems to me that Fitz kept some part of Nighteyes with him. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to bond with another animal since he is still very much with Nighteyes. And it seems more legitimate that he has Nighteyes spirit still because of the constant appearance of Wolf Father to Bee and at times that Fitz has been unaware.

And that story about the elderly woman who fell and her dead dog got her help.

I loved those moments with Wolf Father.

Thank goodness for Pers. Seriously love that guy. (And Revel and Careful) I love that Pers got into a fight over Bee then in explanation slyly refered to Bee as his sister and Bee's all. Sister? I didn't think he had a sister. hehehe cute.

He better not be dead.

actually

Those kids are dead. If Pers survives they'd be found. But otherwise they are In a place no one knows about. With the only entrance the kids inside know about all blocked up with boxes and they are stupid with a supply of candles. They have a few loaves of bread. But I'm not sure that water was mentioned. There was a fire mentioned. Probably the kids ended up burning the place down.

I had a feeling the Fool would be the Beggar. Mostly because of the attention that was paid to the beggar, but also the Dream Bee had. It was the Puppet with the beggar in her dream that made me suspicious. But still I was in total suspense through that whole thing.

I was shocked that Fitz went straight for the stabbing. I may have screamed a little. But I get he was on edge from the moment Shun and Lant invited themselves along to town. Then the Horrible dog incident and then the devil duo Shun and Lant their antics had me on edge. And then Bee disappears and Riddle decides to have a go at his parenting skillz. I can't blame him for being all stabby first skill questions later. He just happened to stab the wrong person. I mean Shun was right there...

Otherwise, I think Shun will prove more useful than she was this book later on.

Shun *shudder* I can not recall a time when I would have cherished a character getting trampled by horses or stabbed, drowned, fallen off a cliff, set on fire, poisoned... All of the above. I hated every second she was on page. It doesn't surprise me people were out to kill her. I can not think of one redeeming thing about her. Apart from Chade being the most likely candidate to be her father. And even then that is a seriously thin reason to exist. There were times I wanted to set the book of fire to symbolise how much I wanted Shun out of my life. The fact that she wasn't dead by the end of this book was a severe disappointment to me.

Oh, something I was just mulling over

I was a bit confused. The Fool was dying. Fitz skill healed the wounds shut but the Fools situation was dire still. Riddle went with Fitz to loan him strength. And in the process gave some of his life to the Fool. OK, but nobody knew that. All Nettle knew was the Fool was about to die. And the situation was desperate. Fitz conveyed that to her pretty well. They arrive at the infirmary and they mosey around and argue. They give Riddle their full attention. Eventually an apprentice judges that the Fool is just fine for now and Nettle is all like I agree with you. And they all fuck off back to the party. What the actual hell? And a little later the Fool says he has that poison in him and he is likely to die. The same poison that lead Fitz to his actions in taking him to Buck Keep in the first place. I just don't understand.

[Gaston de Foix]

I've just finished this book. Nobody does toe-curling slo-mo train crashes quite like Robin Hobb.

Question: why is Bee so important that a bunch of random Whites/potential white Prophets put throw their life away in order to save her life?

How is it the Fool is being horribly tortured but nonetheless has messengers/supporters/has time to write a letter? Also why exactly is he so terrible at taking care of himself?

How exactly did Molly get pregnant?

One of the things that depresses me about her books is how Robin Hobb revels in putting her protagonists of positions of great inadequacy and/or failure. It just makes the everything she writes clausterphobic. Every time I read a Robin Hobb book I have to read three Jim Butcher novels to feel better. It's very anti-fantasy actually.

[Darth Richard II]

Dresden sucks

[Warg Arry]

I've just finished this book. Nobody does toe-curling slo-mo train crashes quite like Robin Hobb.

Question: why is Bee so important that a bunch of random Whites/potential white Prophets put throw their life away in order to save her life?

How is it the Fool is being horribly tortured but nonetheless has messengers/supporters/has time to write a letter? Also why exactly is he so terrible at taking care of himself?

How exactly did Molly get pregnant?

One of the things that depresses me about her books is how Robin Hobb revels in putting her protagonists of positions of great inadequacy and/or failure. It just makes the everything she writes clausterphobic. Every time I read a Robin Hobb book I have to read three Jim Butcher novels to feel better. It's very anti-fantasy actually.

"Question: why is Bee so important that a bunch of random Whites/potential white Prophets put throw their life away in order to save her life?"

At this point it was less about risking their lives for Bee and more about their loyalty to the Fool. Why would the Servants risk all to hunt kill and raid to find the unexpected son. I'm sure will be more developed in the next book(s) to come

"How is it the Fool is being horribly tortured but nonetheless has messengers/supporters/has time to write a letter? Also why exactly is he so terrible at taking care of himself?"

The Fool goes into detail about the way things went down. When he sent the messengers and the letters and why. When he is in Chade's old room convalescing.

It's clear that the Fool knows very little about the Unexpected Son. But due to the almost desperate intensity of the interrogation and torture

It let the Fool know a couple of things. That the Unexpected Son is really freakin important to these people. Their focus on him and the people who follow him, told him it has to do with someone he knows or has crossed paths with. And if the Servants want the Unexpected Son that badly it is an entirely bad and desperate situation. They have to be thwarted.

That is all the Fool and those faithful to him - that were also getting the same treatment - had to work with.

Fitz wasn't the only person that the Fool and his followers tried to contact. Some got the message. Fitz clearly would have gotten the message if he had of been more on the ball at the beginning of the book.

Why is the Fool so terrible at taking care of himself? Not sure I get what you mean. He was practically brainwashed, broken, starved and made blind. I thought he was being pretty independent and self caring given how wrecked the poor guy is. And he managed to survive for more than a decade without getting outright killed.

"How exactly did Molly get pregnant?"

Ok this is as embarrassing for me as it will be for you. But ok here goes.

When a man and a woman love each other very very much. Sometimes they want to become a family. So after they get married. The man and woman lie in bed and pray very hard to the stork. And then after a little while the stork will leave a baby for the man and woman in the cabbage patch.

No?

Ok Fitz and Molly are the natural parents of Bee. We know Molly carried and birthed Bee and we know that Fitz through Wit and Skill recognised Bee as his own. Bee later recognises some of her features in Fitz' line. She comments that her grandfather and Bee share the same looking nose. How she came to be a white and different from the farseer 6 duchies appearance may later be covered more in depth. But there are hints in the writings at the beginning of a couple of chapters.

The actual question I find interesting is how long was Molly pregnant with Bee. Bee has memories of time in Molly's womb from a Winterfest before the one we are introduced to in the books.

It's likely that when Molly thought menopause kicked in she was actually pregnant the whole damn time.

[Calibandar]

It's always good to have a father to son talk about the birds and the bees.

[The Sleeper]

Awesome comeback can't wait for the next installment, (and for Fitz to get some long overdue therapy, and/or antidepressants)

I think Bee is Nighteyes' daughter as well as she is the Fool's. Fitz describes her wolfish mannerisms as well as the fact that she doesn't meat other people's eyes in what has described as animal like behavior. Fitz has exchanged bodies with both the Fool and Nigtheyes, through the Wit

[JoannaL]

Awesome book!!!

I have just finished it. Before reading I was a little bit afraid. The solder son and the rain wild books are ok but by far not as good as the old Fitz and Fool trilogies and so I was wondering If Hobb could still do her magic. But it is a great book and I am really looking forward to the next two. I liked to meet Fitz and the six duchies again, but there are also great new characters. I liked that we now also have a second POV. I liked that it was slow (she does slow great) and she can write so beautifully unexpected turns and twists. The only bad thing is that I now have to wait again...

@ the sleeper: I like your theory about the "fathers" of the new character, makes sense to me.

[Serious Callers Only]

It's pretty obvious that

the white prophets are the remnant of a eldering line or experiment. Plz plz don't say that the twists and turns are 'unexpected'. They're anything but. It's blindingly obvious what the new PoV is about 2 pages after introduced, before being a PoV. Even during the pregnancy.

There is nothing at all surprising about the book, except maybe the very end (if it wasn't foreshadowed, but i suspected something like it would happen before that because the writer can't help herself falling into patterns), and there is nothing wrong about that.

Here i will do you a new one: white prophets probably mature sexually differently from others duh. Probably sterile hermaphrodites or maybe only males that only grow the relevant parts later on and they don't work very well.

[kauldron26]

Just finished this today. Damn this was great. Easily the best book I've read all year. Only Robin Hobb can break your heart piece by piece and put it together again. The relationship between Fitz and Bee made me look forward to being a parent and having a daughter some day.

The mystery of this whole series remains Robin Hobb. How does she make the experiences and emotions of her characters so disturbingly real?

[Darth Richard II]

She put it back together? I must have missed that part.

[Gertrude]

Well, she did smash it again pretty quick.