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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fitz cannot catch a break.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
NOTE: This book was a 4.9! I agonized for truly a full day over whether to give it a 4.75 or a 5 but ultimately settled on the 5, because the list of things I adored about the book was so so long and my quibbles didn't have a super significant impact on my overall experience. That's one of the things I appreciated—the book is well-crafted enough that a single character, if disliked, won't color every single aspect of the story. The book isn't a romance, even if there is one, and it gets a ton of credit for that. Here now follows my pro/con list, directly copy/pasted from late-night texts to the friend whose fault my reading of the trilogy is. Spoilers where appropriate, no other edits at all even if I wanted to make them.
Pros:
Pros:
- making me scared for the future of the six duchies as a whole and also buckkeep and also every character and also fitz in very specific and tangible ways
the fact that they actually lost and just. Everything went to shit at the end. Verity didn’t show back up again. regal being such a smart villain which is unfortunate but really good and makes him so hateable- every reveal of stuff like serene and Justin siphoning skill from shrewd felt like a lifting of a veil rather than a showy Tada curtain sweep that had been obvious or a contrived left turn there are consequences for the wit!!! They’ve been alluded to by Burrich before but like it’s so good to see social stigma actually play out the way it’s supposed to - at the end of reading the book I went ohhhhh bc I understand why this one is royal assassin and the next one is assquest where the usual arc of book titles like these (trilogies) is by the end they’re royal but not in the middle yk
conflicting views on loyalty to the king and who we mean by that, as demonstrated by Fitz and Chade and Burrich and the fool - the fool :)
god watching kettricken and verity have their shitty marriage at the beginning hurt but the way they grew together and also apart felt so very human in a way that doesn’t usually get shown - I knew and cared about the situations in places that were offscreen per se- actions rippled appropriately to shoaks and bearns and neatbay rather than just feeling like a clusterfuck of names (lookin at you grrm)
- patience. Yeah.
rosemary reveal felt good - verity and fitz’s relationship is lovely :)
- kettricken gets to be a badass in a way that doesn’t feel culturally insensitive or like ya femprotagonist do you know what I mean
Burrich being heart of pack. Like yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. - the way that Fitz handles
celerity . Not Robin hobb. Fitz.
Cons:
- portrayal of
Molly . Cmon Robin ik you were born in 1950 but also you’re a woman too it’s not that hard how come fitz’s tremors just stopped being an issue? Yes they continued peripherally but the book did such a great job of letting there be consequences for the previous book’s actions and then it stopped and i felt like it could’ve been clearer how or why? Molly was involved yes but did it also just have to do w the fact that Fitz was using Skill and Wit more?
Overall, I'm pretty sure everyone in the building was mildly annoyed at me for the last 200 pages of the book since I refused to stop verbally reacting to what was going on. Gold star for that one, Robin Hobb. You've done it again.
Five stars
The farseer saga continues to get better. This book is another slow burn leading to lots of action in the last 200 pages and I like it. Hobb has a way of building tension, fleshing out characters and machinations, then unspooling it all into a beutiful mess to leave you dying for the next book.
I could read pages and pages of castle life, interactions between Fitz and the Fool, Verity and Kettricken, Burrich, Patience and Molly. Each characters desires and motivations are clear and well crafted.
I love the layers of intrigue and subterfuge within the court. Nighteyes is a clear highlight, wolves are always badass.
I don't know how everything will be resolved and I can't wait to find out.
The farseer saga continues to get better. This book is another slow burn leading to lots of action in the last 200 pages and I like it. Hobb has a way of building tension, fleshing out characters and machinations, then unspooling it all into a beutiful mess to leave you dying for the next book.
I could read pages and pages of castle life, interactions between Fitz and the Fool, Verity and Kettricken, Burrich, Patience and Molly. Each characters desires and motivations are clear and well crafted.
I love the layers of intrigue and subterfuge within the court. Nighteyes is a clear highlight, wolves are always badass.
I don't know how everything will be resolved and I can't wait to find out.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No