Fool’s Assassin(Fitz and the Fool Trilogy) Book Review

Fool’s Assassin

Robin Hobb

Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra

Pub Date: Aug 12 2014

5/5 Stars

 

         As of this writing Fool’s Assassin comes out four months from now.  Which makes me very sad.  I don’t usually comment on this sort of thing but considering how good this book is; I’m sorry it will take that long before I can share that joy with everyone else.  I haven’t read Robin Hobb since I was young.  I read Assassin’s Apprentice and decided that Robin Hobb’s writing just wasn’t for me.  I guess I was sadly and utterly mistaken. 

         Robin Hobb is a master at the fantasy novel.  She has incredibly engaging characters, an amazing world, and she tells a story so thoroughly that some might say that her stories drag; I would not.  Her foreshadowing is first rate, dropping hints that seem meaningless at the time but once events that were foreshadowed occur the reader can’t help but remember back to when they were first hinted at.  Her world is fantastical but utterly believable.  While this is not generally the type of writing I love, with all kinds of real world touches.  I find hers to be first rate and amazing.  In a world filled with so much urban fantasy, grim dark fantasy, and of course the romance obsessed fantasy.  I find Robin Hobb’s writing to be like a breath of fresh air.  Harkening us back to a time when there could be AMAZING traditional fantasy.  Not that there are elves or dwarves.  But a more traditional European setting; with all that, that entails.

       I’m terribly sorry for all of you who can’t read Fool’s Assassin yet; but I’m going to start back up with Assassin’s Apprentice.  So perhaps when I’m done with all the books up to this one; it will be just about time for you to begin reading Fool’s Assassin.  Buy Fool’s Assassin!  You don’t need ANY prior knowledge of the characters or the world.  Many people complain of feeling left out or not getting the “in jokes,” when picking up a book this late in a cycle.  But not this one, it is a TRUE first book in the trilogy.  Certainly, all the characters have long histories and there are lots of historical events in the world that won’t be crystal clear to you.  But the author does an AMAZING job of making sure that nothing that TRULY MATTERS is left out.  I NEVER felt lost or left out!  While Robin Hobb has written MANY other books in this world to keep you busy until Fool’s Assassin comes out; trust me you will LOVE THIS BOOK!