Fool's Assassin: Book One of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

To be honest, I was very nervous about reading this book. I am one of those readers who did NOT like the way this tale ended 10 years ago with "Fool's Fate". I was emotionally crushed to think the story was over, leaving Fitz and the Fool parting ways and never knowing what happened to each other. And I've not been able to get that interested in Hobb's books since then. But, of course, I HAD to read this book. I had to know what happened, like it or not. Well.....I LOVED IT! I really and truly loved it! All of the glorious magic of Robin Hobb is back!Yes, the pace is quite slow, but I think it gave us readers time to reconnect with the characters and feel that very close, personal intimacy that made us all fall in love with Fitz, the Fool, and Nighteyes to begin with. The reader feels so intimate with the main characters in this story, so familiar with each nuance of who they are, that you can almost feel yourself crawling inside each character's skin and becoming that person. That's why each joy or sorrow is so intense that you just can't help but laugh or cry. It really takes your emotions on a roller coaster ride, and Hobb can do that like no other writer.And I simply love the new character Bee. She gives us such a wonderful new perspective of Fitz and also a special insight into the Fool that we wouldn't have had otherwise. She's a unique, feisty, and lovable little person all on her own, yet so much a part of those we already know and love. I'm very excited as to where this story might take us because of her existence.To those of you who haven't read the Farseer or Tawny Man trilogies before this, I strongly urge you to start from the beginning and read those books before heading into Fool's Assassin. Not that you wouldn't enjoy this book without having read them, but there is so much depth and history with these characters that you really would be doing yourself a huge favor to have experienced everything that came before this so you can truly appreciate where we are now.I believe that Fool's Assassin may be one of Hobb's finest masterpieces. It was so carefully and beautifully written that it really brought all of that wonderful old magic that I used to feel back to me again. For that, Robin Hobb, I thank you. Bravo!Update 8/25/15 - Book 2 - Fool's Quest - 5 stars for the brilliant writing, but excruciatingly slow-moving sequel! I loved it regardless.

Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb, was described by George R. R. Martin as “fantasy as it ought to be written.” Until I read the novel, I didn’t really know quite what Martin meant, but having devoured this next episode in The Fitz and The Fool fables, I understand. This is a simply sublime book that takes the reader on an incredible emotional and psychological journey into family, love, paternity, childhood, and the difficulties of raising a child who’s deemed “different” and the immense suffering that comes with great love and loss.This novel reintroduces Fitz, the unwilling assassin, gifted with both The Wit and The Skill, the man who’s described as The Fool’s Catalyst and a power to be reckoned with in his own right. It also plunges readers back into the hauntingly beautiful and wonderfully imagined wider world Hobb has crafted over so many books and of which Fitz is an integral part. Now a middle-aged landholder, who goes by the name of Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is living a contented existence. Hiding in the counties, happy to live out his final years with his beloved wife Molly, he resists and resents the occasional call of the Farseer rulers and his former mentor, Chade.One cold, Winterfest night, a pale messenger seeks out Fitz. With the house of full of guests and strangers and as host, Fitz is much distracted. Too busy to see her, he sends a request she waits till morning. When she vanishes in a trail of blood before she can deliver her message, it’s a decision he lives to regret. Trying to put his perturbation behind him, Fitz cannot dismiss the messenger’s presence let alone disappearance entirely. What happened to her and what did she want? More importantly, who sent her?Years pass and it’s not till a miracle happens in Fitz’s and Molly’s life and a series of events follow that do not augur well, that the night of the messenger comes back to haunt Fitz.On the footsteps of great joy, tragedy must follow but it’s not until someone from Fitz’s past reappears in dire need that the king’s former assassin knows his life and that of all those he loves will never be the same again.I really cannot say too much more without risking spoiling what is an incredible, heart-wrenching, moving, joyous, tragic and simply astonishingly beautiful tale. There is a raw honesty and truth in every page, every word that lingers long after you close the novel for the night. I found the story and those populating it were at the back of my mind most days. When I finished the book, I wanted to discuss it with my friends, not only to shed light on the characters and their choices, but so I didn’t have to leave Fitz’s world.Each and every character in this tale is so real and raw – whether it’s a servant in the house, a distant relative, an unwelcome guest or a member of the immediate family. You live and breath each moment with them as their thoughts and thus hearts, souls and minds are laid bare. I think this is what made the book so utterly special and unputdownable. I made excuses not to work but to return to the novel over and over and felt so lost when I finished it.The hardest thing of all is knowing how long I have to wait to read the next instalment in the series…This isn’t just fantasy at its best – this is writing at its very finest. A story to be treasured and savoured.

One reviewer in Seattle said that you don't just read a Robin Hobb novel, you inhabit it, and I think that's a good description. Her novels are long, and the events in the plot are complicated, but she does so well with people's emotions and the effects of magic in Skill-able people. A very good story, and I was sorry when it finished, despite the length.

És l'esperat d'aquesta saga.Amb idioma original tn és un perfecte regal pels fills.

One of the other customer said that the book was bad and that You dont feel anything for the characters....Ok, Robin Hobb is known for her character development and how she makes us feel connected to the characters. I assure you that fool's assassin is one of the most amazing book i've read. There is a scene in the book which made me cry. There is a scene in the next book which made me cry. There are literally a no.of chapters in the last book that made me cry. Only because of the character did i cry... only because of the bond i shared with Fitz.And know that this is not the first trilogy.The order is farseer, the liveship traders, the twany man, rain wild chronicles(not a trilogy), the fitz and the fool.Good luck!

シリーズ第1、第2作は翻訳されているが、第2作の訳者あとがきによるともう翻訳はされないようです。Kindleだと１クリックで辞書も引けるので、わりと快適に読了することができました。本作ではまだ出ませんが、この後Book2,3では翻訳されていない外伝的シリーズが深く関わってきます。Liveship Traders Trilogyと、The Rain Wilds Chroniclesを先に読んでおくことをオススメします。ロビンホブ作品は着地点が分かっていると一気に面白くなくなるので、時系列順（出版された順と同じ）で読むべきです。

Es ist großartig, dass Robin Hobb uns noch einmal mitnimmt in die Welt der Six Duchies und wir unsere alten - und auch gealterten - Helden aus den früheren Büchern wiedertreffen.Hauptperson ist wieder FitzChivalry Farseer, den wir als in Würde gealterten Helden treffen, der endlich das ruhige Leben eines Landadeligen führt, seine große Liebe Molly geheiratet hat und die gepflegte Langeweile seines Daseins genießt.Das kann natürlich nicht so bleiben. Aber Robin Hobb lässt sich Zeit. Neue Figuren müssen eingeführt werden und die Familie von Fitz und Molly ist groß. Und wird grösser.Molly - obwohl bereits fünfzig und gesundheitlich angeschlagen - behauptet, schwanger zu sein. Natürlich zweifelt nicht nur ihr Mann, sondern auch ihre ganze Umgebung (die erwachsenen Kinder, die Bediensteten des Hauses ...) die mysteriöse Schwangerschaft an, umso mehr, als nach neun Monaten kein Kind zur Welt kommt.Erst nach fast zwei Jahren - in denen Molly von ihrer Umgebung für leicht verrückt gehalten wird - kommt schließlich doch ein Kind zur Welt: die winzige Bee.Sie scheint kaum lebensfähig zu sein und ihre Existenz wird daher zwar nicht direkt geheim gehalten - aber sie wird auch nicht offiziell in die königliche Familie Farseer aufgenommen.Bee reagiert auf die Magie in ihrer Familie, aber natürlich begreift Fitz in der für typischen Begriffsstutzigkeit das erst viel später. Er gibt sich auch nach wie vor gerne selber die Schuld an jeder möglichen Katastrophe. Das ist ein Charakterzug, der mir persönlich manchmal auf die Nerven geht, aber gleichzeitig Fitz als Person so viel glaubwürdiger macht.Entgegen aller Annahmen bleibt Bee am Leben, entwickelt sich aber sehr langsam.Mit vielen kleinen und grösseren Details wird dem Leser (nicht Fitz!) bald immer klarer, dass Bee etwas mit Fool, Fitz' altem Gefährten, Freund und Propheten zu tun haben muss.Der Roman beschreibt Bees Kindheit bis zu ihrem neunten Lebensjahr.Sie erlebt den Tod ihrer geliebten Mütter und wird durch ihre späte Entwicklung zur Außenseiterin unter den anderen Kindern. Erst sehr spät begreift unser (manchmal begriffsstutziger, ihr erinnert euch) Fitz, dass seine Tochter zwar klein, aber hochintelligent ist.Dann wird die Erziehung des Mädchens in Angiff genommen. Ein Lehrer wird engagiert - es ist der heimliche Sohn von Chase Fallstar, Fitz' altem Lehrmeister. Auch dessen Tochter, die verwöhnte Nervensäge Shun, wird zu Fitz geschickt und ihm anvertraut.Damit ist Bühne für das kommende Disaster bereitet ...Es ist klar, das dieser Roman erst das Fundament für eine Weiterführung der großen Geschichte legt. Eine neue Generation ist geboren - und muss von den alten Helden beschützt werden.Bee ist ein zauberhafter Charakter, und die Welt der Six Duchies fühlt sich einfach sehr echt und vertraut an. Sie bleibt nicht statischer Hintergrund, sondern wächst und verändert sich.Als Einstieg ist der Roman sicher nicht so geeignet. Und Robin Hobb schreibt so gut, dass man gegen Ende des Buches langsamer lesen will, damit es noch ein bißchen länger dauert ...