NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BUZZFEED AND THE INDEPENDENT • Ranking alongside George R. R. Martin as a groundbreaking master of fantasy, Robin Hobb delivers the second book in her long-awaited Fitz and the Fool trilogy.The harrowing adventures of FitzChivalry Farseer and his enigmatic friend the Fool continue in Robin Hobb’s triumphant follow-up to Fool’s … in Robin Hobb’s triumphant follow-up to Fool’s Assassin. But Fool’s Quest is more than just a sequel. With the artistry and imagination her fans have come to expect, Hobb builds masterfully on all that has gone before, revealing devastating secrets and shocking conspiracies that cast a dark shadow over the history of Fitz and his world—a shadow that now stretches to darken all future hope.
Long ago, Fitz and the Fool changed the world, bringing back the magic of dragons and securing both the Farseer succession and the stability of the kingdom. Or so they thought. But now the Fool is near death, maimed by mysterious pale-skinned figures whose plans for world domination hinge upon the powers the Fool may share with Fitz’s own daughter.
Distracted by the Fool’s perilous health, and swept up against his will in the intrigues of the royal court, Fitz lets down his guard . . . and in a horrible instant, his world is undone and his beloved daughter stolen away by those who would use her as they had once sought to use the Fool—as a weapon.
But FitzChivalry Farseer is not without weapons of his own. An ancient magic still lives in his veins. And though he may have let his skills as royal assassin diminish over the years, such things, once learned, are not so easily forgotten.
Now enemies and friends alike are about to learn that nothing is more dangerous than a man who has nothing left to lose.
Praise for Fool’s Quest
“A complex tapestry of adventure, betrayal, destiny, and unrelenting peril . . . Hobb’s expertise is evident as always.”—Publishers Weekly
“Glorious and beautiful storytelling . . . Hobb lets rip with revelations, treachery, vengeance, sword fights and full on magical mayhem.”—SciFiNow
“If readers have any doubt that Robin Hobb is one of the finest writers in the fantasy genre, then they haven’t read any of her work.”—SFFWorld
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Robin Hobb has long been one of my favourite fantasy authors. I rate her up there with George RR Martin, although their styles are quite different. Both write books that you can read again and again. Try her for yourself. She’s created a believable and compelling alternative world that you may love.
Normally, I like every entry in a series to stand on its own. Not entirely—it’s (obviously!) fun to have a larger narrative that runs through each book, grows and complicates along the way, and doesn’t fully resolve until the finale. But I generally find it more satisfying if the novels are independent enough to conclude with an ending that wraps up a smaller storyline.
Robin Hobb’s FitzChivalry Farseer trilogies don’t really work that way.
The first trilogy comes closest. Books 1 and 2 close with major turning points that lead to an exceptional Book 3. The second trilogy begins with the most self-contained tale of the bunch, but Book 5—while enjoyable—wouldn’t work without Book 6. And the final trilogy starts with my least-favorite installment, a story defined by low tension until the last chapters, when Fitz’s daughter Bee is taken by the Servants, the same shadowy group who tortured his friend the Fool.
Book 7, Fool’s Quest, picks up immediately after. The Servants have concealed their actions, erasing the memories of their misdeeds from the minds of those who witnessed them. Fitz—who’d left Bee in the care of others—doesn’t realize what’s happened for a good chunk of the novel. Then he and his mentor Chade begin the agonizing process of piecing together who attacked Fitz’s home and why. There’s no mystery for the reader, though: we already saw the tragedy unfold from Bee’s perspective. (A leaner version of this trilogy might have had her simply vanish so that we could solve the riddle along with Fitz.) Eventually, he uncovers the truth and sets out after Bee. The book ends in mid-hunt, with no resolution other than the promise of a sequel.
But despite the lack of suspense and closure, I still devoured Fool’s Quest. I remain enthralled by the characters, and they’re finally on the move again, leaving the familiarity of Buckkeep and Withywoods for new lands, a shift that allows Hobb to play to one of her great strengths: epic, original worldbuilding. I’m also glad to have more sense of where the larger story is going. (Fitz is presumably going to track down the Servants and kill them.) That’s the right kind of spoiler, an implicit promise that builds anticipation. Good authors fulfill those promises in unpredictable ways, and I fully expect Hobb to do that in Book 9.
And once I’m there, I bet I’ll judge this trilogy as I did the previous ones: as a single tale split into multiple volumes. The breakpoints might have been frustrating, but the collective experience is hard to beat.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com)
Part of a series that I totally enjoy. Darker then a lot of fantasy but with a basic decency in the main characters
“Fool’s Quest” starts off right where “Fool’s Assassin” ends, which, for those of you who aren’t up to speed, was on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. So you’re probably best off starting with the first book in the series. Actually, you’re best advised to start with “Assassin’s Apprentice,” the first book in this 9-part series. Trust me, if you like epic fantasy, you will not be sorry.
But assuming you’ve read the first seven books in the overall uber-series, or at least the first book in this trilogy-within-a-trilogy, you’re probably not even going to waste time reading this review before jumping into “Fool’s Quest.” But if you did have any doubts, rest assured: the middle book of this series is crazy full of adventure, intrigue, and just…epicness. The Farseer series may be the best series modern epic fantasy out there. I used to place it at around #3, behind “A Song of Ice and Fire” and the Kushiel series, but at this point those three are all neck-and-neck in my opinion.
Anyway, “Fool’s Quest” is long, convoluted, and ends on yet another cliffhanger, but don’t let any of that stop you. Jump in and immerse yourself!