Assassin's Fate, Robin Hobb

[mangolassi]

Hey all! I read this thread a couple days ago and had some points to make but making an account here was a lenghty process and I forgot almost all I wanted to say. But I do remember two points I wanted to make.

 

Re: wit. Burrich's grandmother was chalcedean and she had wit, so wit isn't only 6D thing.

 

Re: Wolf of the West. It's not a stone wolf so it doesn't need to rest like Verity does. The block they used was small and it was rich in silver plus the silver the Fool and Fitz had was enough to transform it from stone to flesh, like those liveships transformed to dragons when they were given silver.

[Knight Of Winter]

Whew, finished a book finally. I don't know whether anyone will read this, but with so much to comment on I have to vent somewhere

Spoiler tags due to length and spoiler-ous plot information

Overall, it's a great book and certainly a fitting end to Fitz&Fool nonology (is that a word?). Good plot, characters excellent as usual, well done pacing and awesome worldbuilding elevate Assassin's Fate well  above your standard fantasy book.

 

Spoiler

 

Moreover, this work clearly has the aspiration not only to conclude Fitz plotline, but also the ones of Liveship and Rain Wild triologies. Inclusion of Althea, Malta, Reyn, Etta, Wintrow, Alise and others in such a degree signifies an intent to make Assassin's Fate a crowning mangum opus to end all the Hobb's books located in so-called Realm of the Elderings. That intent, I fear, is not quite realized, for plenty of non-Fitz plotlines end without any kind of resolution in sight. What will happen in Bingtown, with open confrontation between liveships and Traders? How will Althea and Brashen make their living? What's the fate of Pirate Isles, now that their heir is dead – do they have any chance of remaining stable state or will they degrade into internal power grabs, maybe even civil war? What about Malta, Reyn and people of Kelsingra, who leave the plot without much resolution?

Character analysis is next, and I feel like I have to start with Fitz here. Having spent so much time in his skin, I've come to think of him as an old friend, who visits rarely but whose every visit I treasure greatly. Whenever I pick up a book with Fitz as a POV, slipping into his skin feels like reuniting with a long-lost friend. I know what it will be like, and I know I'll enjoy it very much. His characterization doesn't change much – again he's secretive as hell, and again his lack of assertiveness gets him in in all sorts of problems. Let's just take a look at a situation on a journey to Clerres where, out of Fool, Per, Spark, Lant and himself he's the natural candidate for a leader – being highest ranking there, sort-of-officially sanctioned by Dutiful; as well as having years of experience in such a subterfuge work. Still, he ignores all of it and lets other, less competent people like Fool do alk the planning. Is it any wonder they get into so many problems? I was, however, joyous for him when he found out he became a grandfather and wept with him when he broke into tears in front of Nettle and Bee for not being a good enough father – this one being especially excruciating. And count me in among the people who stood in wonder why didn't Dutiful&co even try to heal him at the end of book. Even if his own body reserves were too weak to perform Skill-healing, why didn't all of cotteries simply transfer some of their strength onto him? The entire concept of so-called King's Men, whose promary purpse was to borrow other their strength was established long ago – and I don't know why was it forgotten so suddenly.

Onto our next deurtagonist – Bee, who, I feel, deserves a lifetime of hugs after all she's been through. What she survived and lived through are series of events that would have psychologically broken more mature and stronger adults, and yet she persisted. The way she handled herself surrounded by Whites&Chalcedonians shows great intelligence, resourcefulness and mental strength, especially at her age. I only wonder how well she will fit into Buckkeep court by the end of the book, surrounded by stuck-up companions who know nothing of her and what she's been through. Thank Eda&El Ffor Fitz here, the only one to remember to elevate into a noble, a position where it's socially acceptable for them to hang out together. And for Per, for their friendship is awesome and one of most sincere, innocent and uplifting relationships in the series. And for Wolf Father – Nighteyes's devotion never ceases to amaze me.

And now – Beloved aka Fool. Actually, I've head a theory regarding him. You know how, in Six Duchies, a child is sometimes named with hopes (s)he'll eventually grow into a said virtuous name (Verity, Patience, Chivalry...). Well, it took him 9 books and over 50 years, but our Fool has now truly become - a fool. Self-centered, selfish, trecherous and contempt-worthy fool. Never have I felt this way about any Hobb's character like this before: that the fate he deserved  was to be abandoned by all the people he betrayed in some way and dying alone somewhere without anyone to help him. Really, entire book's plotline seemed like he's surrounded by better men and women whose friendship he didn't deserve and who kept being screwed up by him. Let's start with Spark, who he basically uses as his errand girl and gets her into all sorts of trouble (I remember a particular instance where Fool and her planned the entire „get into Clerres“ scheme, only for Spark to feel hurt after Fool decides to sneak on his own. Lol, foolish Spark, did you truly think Fool cares for you or your opinion?). Or Althea and Brashen, for whom he decided (and screwed) their fates without telling them anything. And most of all, there's his friendship with Fitz, which is, as of Assassin's Fate, one of most one-sided and toxic relationships I've ever seen described in Hobb's books. Literally everything about it sucks: from the way that he insistently calls himself Bee's father (no, Fool, having your essence somehow mixed with Fitz's so Bee took some of White's characteristics does not make you her father. Not biologically and especially not socially – given how Fitz and especially Molly raised and cared for Bee her entire life); to the fact he stole dragon's blood from him (hey, seeing Fitz is most able and only Skill-user out of entire group, shouldn't him be the one to get to use it? Given that their primary mission is to rescue Bee, you'd want your best and most capable fighter to be in best shape? Imagine how much easier would entire group's passage through Clerres be if Fitz has e.g. Vindeliar's abilities); to the fact he manipulated him countless times and threw tantrums every time someone disagreed with him. Really, how childish must you be to assume different identity (Amber) every argument you have with your friend? Not to mention how horribly hypocritical he is – constantly demanding time, effort and information from other people while giving almost none of his own. Particularly jarring is his „our bond has no boundaries“ speech to Fitz – by which he obviously means that Fitz should remove his boundaries and Fool gets to keep and enforce his. Oh, and his plan to sneak on his own and free Bee and Prilkop all by himself is horribly stupid as well – no wonder it gets him captured (again, shouldn't Fitz, and most able spy and fighter, get to use their most valuable asset: cloak of invisibility? Or os Fool too selfish to realize that? ). I actually liked him the best near the end of book – where he was just an ordinary guy trying his best to honor his dead friend's wish by raising his daughter; but by then, it was already too late to elicit any sympathy from me. Gah; rant over.

Per is generally awesome – gem hiding inside Whiteywoods's stables. Lant continued to grow on me during this book, warranting biggest change of opinion between books 1 and 3. Spark, with her potential, could be whatever she wanted, but alas, she wasted her friendship on an undeserving git (Fool). I found myself rooting for her and Lant. Althea, Brashen, Malta and Reyn – you were sorely missed – welcome back with hugs. Wintrow I feel terribly sorry for – he spent his life  chasing after a women who isn't interested in any way in him, finally leaving only after 20+ years. Chade is another character with a horrible end – dying believing everyone deserted and betrayed him. Awful. Paragon I genuinely don't understand – after more than twenty years on the sea, he still behaves like an immature brat. And while he's certainly capable of forming strong emotions towards certain people (Trellvestrit, Kennitson), how come he's co dismissing and disnant towards Althea and Brashen, people who captained him for all that time. Shouldn't his bond with them be way stronger than the one he has with Fool, for example?

Kettricken deserves special mention. For I don't know any other character with such a ratio of small number of scenes and powerful emotional impact she caused on me. Her confession to Fitz chewed my heart and spat it out as a deformed mess. Ouch, ouch and ouch. At least Fitz came to his senses and appointed her as his daughter's guardian. I wish for any sequel which would feature Bee's and Kettricken's relationship's development.

And now our antagonists – the Servants and specifically – the Four, which are so laughably dumb that it makes me wonder how did they ever manage to amass such power and wealth. For one, they're ridiculously incompetent – Capra is the only one with brains there. Fellowdy is sick paedophile who does all the thinking with his lower head. Symphe places her trust and her entire plan in Dwalia's (of all people) hands. And Coultry is a bit slow, insecure and easily manipulated. Let's take a look at their record through the book and how much of their goals did they accomplish. Since they're an organization with the power to predict every possible future, you'd think they'd be nigh invincible, but alas, this doesn't happen.

For starters, they failed to realize/predict that their kidnapping of Bee would lead to their destruction – their dreams of Destoyer started to appear only after Dwalia's visit to Whiteywoods. For two, all their dreams of Destroyer failed to tell them anything specific about it – just that there are someone really powerful out there who wants to destroy them (gee, you'd think that Farseer princess would have some powerful protectors even without your super-special abilities). Who is Destroyer? Man or women? One or many? Human or dragon? For the good potion of the series, there were at least good candidates for the „position“: Fitz, Bee and dragons. Servants failed to prepare against any of them.

Quick, who thinks it's a good idea to find especially bratty 6-year olds and give them access to nuclear heads. Because that's what our next protagonists – dragons – are. Every time they appeared in a scene, they made me wonder why exactly is the world with them a better place. Ok, Heeby seemed reasonable, but others (starting from Tintaglia) all seemed way too proud, boastful, petty, arrogant and utterly unconcerning of anyone and everyone who's not a dragon. What to say about Tintaglia, who almost killed Fitz for curing Ephron, whom she treated like her plaything? Or about our soon-to-be dragon Paragon, who refused to move from Servants headquarters because he wanted to watch Clerres' destruction, resulting in him getting burned and all the crew having to save him by quickly pouring dragonblood onto him, many of whom dying in the process – Kennitson included. Paragon shows zero remorse. But that's okay, because two resulting dragons ate Kennitson's body, so now they're cool. Or about few dragons who participated in Clerres' utter destruction. Innumerable amount of merchants, peasants, craftsmen and ordinary folk were brutally killed because dragons wanted to exact their revenge heedless of anyone else's lives.

I find it one of book's bigger flaws, to be frank. The narrative is twisted in such a way that aiding a  dragons' cause is always presented good, and opposing them makes one an evil bastard without exception. It's like Hobb had realized how jerkish dragons are, and decided to integrate them into „Team Good“ by making their enemies even bigger jerks. Servants and Chalcedonians are comically evil without any redeeming qualities. Pale Women's arguments made most sense to me, and I would have rooted for her if she wasn't deliberately made into a moustache-twirling psychopathic villain.

On that note, while their methods are deplorable, I can't but feel sorry for Others. Half-human half-dragon abominations, detested by latter (and probably the former as well), they probably clinged so hard to Servants because they were probably the only ones to treat them with any amount of kindness.

And now it's time for the spectacle of the evening: handing out Darwin Awards. Nominees, a staggering amount of them, tried their hardest and outdid each other trying to do the most senselessly stupid act in the book. Without further ado, we proudly present:

Paragon: who refused to move from danger zone, getting burned in the process, almost dying and causing Kennitson's death when he tried to come to rescue

Servants: as mentioned, are laughably incompetent for future-predicting seers.

Dwalia: who mistreated, sold into slavery and outright caused deaths of dozens of her companions who were deliberately given to her as most able and valuable of their generation. No wonder Four was pissed at her. And deliberately having returned to Clerres while with all of of her companions dead, while having great alternative – just having Vindeliar keep charming the sea captain would have secured her good life to the rest of her days. Also, mistreating her only source of power – Vindeliar – was terribly stupid and works only because latter is spineless dumbass without rival in a history of humankind.

Fool: I've mentioned how sneaking out trying to rescue Bee and Prilkop all by himself was monumentally dumb and should have gotten him killed, but Fool's foolishness doesn't stop there. His plan to free the liveships is amazingly stupid as well. If he wanted to free dragons (and I agree dragons have the right to choose whether to remain liveships or not) – he should have done so when the ship is safely docked in port, not while on a journey leaving the entire crew at the mercy of half-mad Paragon. Does he not have any kind of friendly obligations towards Brashen and Althea? And why even start with Paragon – wouldn't for example Vivacia or Ophelia be better candidates for this experiment, or literally any sane liveship? Anyone other than Paragon? Literally hundreds of things could have gone wrong on this journey.

Vindeliar: who, I believe, deserves the award for „the stupidest being in the history of literary characters“. This guy received beatings, death threats, his companions getting offed for no good reason, his „brother“ getting smacked around like a bag of potatoes; for fuck's sake, he watched his sister getting gang raped – all of that at the hands or orders of exactly one perpetrator, and he returns the favour by giving her his utmost loyalty. His lack of any self-respect really knows no bounds and ultimately gets him killed when he continues to associate with Dwalia and her stupid decision-making.

And finally, we found out some things about Skill and its nature. As speculated, it originated in dragons, and was probably „realized“ by Elderings who developed a method to communicate with their dragon companions. And it's even more powerful than we previously thought, having literally the power to bring people back from the brink of death. Also, all the powerful object that Elderings created  (cloak of invisibility, always-warm brick etc. ) surely have the origin in Skill (Silver) magic.

It would also be interesting to speculate about the relationship between Skill and other types of magic. Does Skill have anything to do with Whites and their future-predicting ablities. I find it interesting how two different kinds of magic are represented by two similar colors: white and silver. People with Skill are the ones where Eldering genes manifest strongly, but are people with an penchant for scrying the ones with prononced White genes? And does With play into all of this? What is the origin of Wit anyway? Meh, I hope Hobb writes one more book just to answer all of these questions.

 

 

[RedEyedGhost]

Good post KoW.  I've had a tab opened in my browser since you posted it, but only now got around to reading it.

 

On 11/15/2017 at 2:45 PM, Knight Of Winter said:

Paragon I genuinely don't understand – after more than twenty years on the sea, he still behaves like an immature brat. And while he's certainly capable of forming strong emotions towards certain people (Trellvestrit, Kennitson), how come he's co dismissing and disnant towards Althea and Brashen, people who captained him for all that time. Shouldn't his bond with them be way stronger than the one he has with Fool, for example?

I think Paragon's behavior is consistent with somebody that is extremely mentally ill, and have no problems with him behaving as such. I had a patient the other day who was bit on the eye by his nearly 30 year old son, and all too often there's stories of mentally ill adult children murdering their parents - the people how love them the most, as Althea and Brashen do Paragon.

 

On 11/15/2017 at 2:45 PM, Knight Of Winter said:

Innumerable amount of merchants, peasants, craftsmen and ordinary folk were brutally killed because dragons wanted to exact their revenge heedless of anyone else's lives.

I feel no sympathy for them because they are profiting on the Servants actions, and likely hoping to get their own status elevated. 

 

On 11/15/2017 at 2:45 PM, Knight Of Winter said:

And now it's time for the spectacle of the evening: handing out Darwin Awards. Nominees, a staggering amount of them, tried their hardest and outdid each other trying to do the most senselessly stupid act in the book. Without further ado, we proudly present:

There was certainly a lot of stupid actions in this book, but I think that's so completely expected in a Fitz book.  I do disagree about Vindeliar though.  He was the definition of a whooped dog.  Bee kept trying to get him to think for himself or to become her tool, but even the latter was too big of a jump for his severely abused personality.

 

On 11/15/2017 at 2:45 PM, Knight Of Winter said:

Meh, I hope Hobb writes one more book just to answer all of these questions.

Indeed, and in the other thread it sounds like it might be in the works.

[Knight Of Winter]

On 12/1/2017 at 10:12 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

Good post KoW.  I've had a tab opened in my browser since you posted it, but only now got around to reading it.

 

I think Paragon's behavior is consistent with somebody that is extremely mentally ill, and have no problems with him behaving as such. I had a patient the other day who was bit on the eye by his nearly 30 year old son, and all too often there's stories of mentally ill adult children murdering their parents - the people how love them the most, as Althea and Brashen do Paragon.

Fair enough.

On 12/1/2017 at 10:12 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

I feel no sympathy for them because they are profiting on the Servants actions, and likely hoping to get their own status elevated.

They're simple smallfolk, no different from ones in Six Duchies in Bingtown. Usually, whether a country is ruler by a king (Six Duchies), emperor (Jamalia) or theocracy (Clerres), it's all one and the same to them: they just go on living their lives heedless of any politics their ruler(s) engage in. And keep in mind that Clerres had excellent PR: pretty much noone other than Fool and people he told knew how rotten they truly are. For everyone else, Clerres was famous and respected institution doing exactly what it said it was doing - namely teaching young Prophets.
 

All in all, sorry fate for people of Clerres. They just had the bad luck to be born in a country whose rulers crossed ultra-powerful and ultra-ruthless enemy.

On 12/1/2017 at 10:12 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

There was certainly a lot of stupid actions in this book, but I think that's so completely expected in a Fitz book.  I do disagree about Vindeliar though.  He was the definition of a whooped dog.  Bee kept trying to get him to think for himself or to become her tool, but even the latter was too big of a jump for his severely abused personality.

The thing is, I don't know what kind of loyalty did Vindeliar have towards Dwalia. If it's personal, it should have been destroyed by Dwalia's constant abuse. If it's familiar (towards his caretaker/mother figure), then his loyalty towards his sister should have overriden it. If it's religious (as in, Dwalia being his superior in Clerres hierarchy), then it should have vanished when Four humiliated and mocked Dwalia's actions.

It was as if Dwalia was playing some sort of game, abusing Vindeliar harder and harder just to see when he will (finally) break. I honestly don't know what else could have Dwalia possibly tried to turn him against her, but I can't deny that she did her best.

On 12/1/2017 at 10:12 PM, RedEyedGhost said:

Indeed, and in the other thread it sounds like it might be in the works.

Keeping my fingers crossed