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New trilogy featuring Fitz and the Fool by Robin Hobb


pat5150

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Just finished a reread of the Farseer/Liveship/Tawny Man trilogy. I think these nine books make up what is now my favorite series ever, and I am no longer skeptical about having another Fitz/Fool trilogy. I am eagerly awaiting Fool's Assassin.



Some thoughts:



Chade could definitely be set up as the main/a major antagonist in the new books. His reckless dive in the Skill definitely has falling-to-the-dark-side vibes, and his clashes with Dutiful/Kettricken and unwillingness to cede power to them just screams future bad guy. I think having Fitz go against Chade in the new trilogy would be nice symmetry with the Farseer books--apprentice faces off against master.



Wow, has my opinion on the Tawny Man trilogy changed. I've Farseer/Liveship books many, many times over the years, but never reread Tawny Man, almost purely because I didn't want to face Nighteyes' death again. That means that the first and last time I read those books, I was 14 years old and in 8th grade. It's amazing how much more I got out of the trilogy now, being seven years older and a little wiser.



I agree that the end of the Tawny Man was really saccharine. Aside from Fitz being separated from the Fool and Burrich's death, everything else was wrapped into a neat bow. Fitz gets to have a (mostly) positive relationship with Dutiful and Nettle, Starling is happily married and with child, Hap has found a career he loves, and Fitz gets a quiet life, the woman he loves, and a healed body and spirit. I dread what Robin Hobb is going to do to all of these characters in the new trilogy.


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Count me as someone with mixed feelings on the new trilogy. I think the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies had about perfect endings, although the Tawny Man books are a bit fuzzy in my memory.



I just reread the Farseer books and the thing I appreciate the most is how effectively Hobb pulls at my emotions without me feeling manipulated. It's a fine line to walk and she does it exceedingly well.



If she can continue with the high quality she's established with the characters and move the story forward in a new way, I think it'll be great.


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Robin Hobb is doing an AMA on Reddit tonight. Starts at 5:00 p.m. Pacific time. I'm guessing she'll be answering some questions about the new Fitz/Fool trilogy.

Just read the AMA and came to post this. Here are some key blurbs about the new trilogy

August 2014 is the book launch date for The Fool’s Assassin.

Chronologically, it begins after the events in The Rain Wild Chronicles.

Going back to those characters is like connecting with old friends. They've changed and yet they haven't.

I am most nervous about the fact that I've decided to write these books as I originally imagined I would rather than follow where many readers seemed to want me to go.

First person POV. Yes.

I will tell you that I am having an absolutely rollicking time writing the current (second) book. (Always wanted to use that word!) I'm currently writing about stuff that is absolutely disastrous and wonderful. And Ihope that if I'm having this good a time, the reader will, too.

Other stuff:

A chart of the Rain Wild River she linked to

Here's a very very interesting answer:

Q: Has a book or series ever gotten away from you -? As in, you made a turn down a path that went somewhere you never intended, and you had trouble getting your characters back down the road you meant them to go.

A: The Farseer Trilogy. Originally in the outline, the Fool took up exactly one sentence.

The Fool is such a massive part of the books, it's sort of crazy to think that they started as someone who took up just one sentence and was gone.

Apparently there are French-language graphic novels of the Farseer Trilogy

annnd I just got called to actually do some work while I'm work. The nerve!

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Cool, thanks for picking out the important stuff! Very interesting that the Fool originally only had one line. Granted, the Fool didn't have a huge role in Assassin's Apprentice, but I can't imagine the rest of the story without him/her.


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One sentence in an outline isn't quite one sentence in the book, but I am definitely glad she expanded his role! :) To be honest, I found the Fool to be a relatively minor character in the Farseer Trilogy, and it was a bit of a surprise to me that they were OMGSUCHBFFs in Tawny Man. When I re-read Farseer, I noticed it a bit more, but I'm pretty sure they spend most of their on-screen time fighting. Still, I can see the friendship having deep roots and in Tawny Man it truly blossoms.


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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry for digging up this old thread (P.S. I think we should have a thread dedicated to discussing Hobb's work, because why not?) but I finished my re-read of the Tawny Man trilogy today. I think I enjoyed it more on my re-read, although I feel that Fitz didn't seem to grieve for Burrich as much as he should have. Tbh he didnt seem to grieve at all for him. Still love Patience, that woman is my favourite.


I honestly don't know where Hobb can take the series from here. I've seen quotes where she says that readers have some ideas about loose threads that make room for another series but I can't decide what those are, except perhaps Chade and his skill ambition and reluctance to cede power to Dutiful. I suppose we will need to see more of Tintaglia and Icefyre, who are pains in the ass in my book *sigh*.




(Do you think there would be much response to starting a Hobb thread or would it be a waste?)


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Um, you know i was just thinking that, cause as much as I enjoyed books 3 and 4 of the Rail Wilds, books 1 and 2 are kind of, well, maybe not bad, but by Robin Hobb standards, they're pretty crappy.

Strangely, I thought they got better as they went along. I'm such a huge fan of hers though, I'd read just about anything she'd write.

Doesn't hurt that she has the hottest personal assistant in the publishing world either.

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Wait, didn't I just say they got better as they went? I thought I did.

I don't know whats going on on this board anymore. Am I in the matrix?

Ha, holy fuck balls, I completely misread your post. Sorry about that. Ya. We agreed on that one. Trying to reply to your post, talk to my wife, and eat sushi at the same time didn't work out all that well.

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I wouldnt count on that, it could be like the Tawny Man where there was no need to read the Liveships to understand what was going on. My guess is that reading Rain Wilds will make it easier to understand but wont be strictly needed to understsnd the new book

I might give it a read anyway, if I can squeeze it into my reading pile.

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I'd agree with that. There may be some connection between the dragons in the Rain Wilds storyline and the new Fitz trilogy though.


But overall I think it will standalone and that you can choose to only read them in a Farseer-Tawny Man- Fitzn and the Fool trilogy order.



We still have no idea about the plot of the next book though, or the trilogy as a whole. I'm ready for a synopsis at least.


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