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A review by sambora
The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
2.75
Everyone knows at this point just how great Robin Hobb is. Her characters are some of the most life-like, multi-faceted and believable in fantasy fiction. But...
*This will be a Spoiler-Free review.*
The Golden Fool is definitely the second book in a trilogy, thus it suffers from many of the trappings #2's tend to do.
It has a lot of weight to carry, dealing with ramifications from book 1 - because my lordy that was a ride, all the while setting up the climax in the finale.
So yeah, this is definitely a bridge-book, but still an unquestionably enjoyable one.
It is beautifully written, there are some great character moments and a bunch of easter-eggs, crossovers and revelations...
But unfortunately I think it all came at the cost of the plot somewhat. There was a lot of the same thing happening again and again here - walking into town, trying to repair a relationship or spying on a conversation... One of these basic things happened in almost every single chapter.
Exciting? Often! But still repetitive.
This somewhat leads into my next minor complaint - the passing of time is a bit garbled here. According to the end of this book, less than a year has passed since the first book started, but multiple times quite substantial chunks of time have been told to pass, seasons change... It left me quite confused because it certainly felt like multiple years had come and gone. Maybe this is just me though.
Lastly, and I WILL be keeping this spoiler-free; something was missing from this book, and those that have read it will know what that is.
I am sure it's deliberate, Hobb without a doubt wants us to feel like it's missing, but still, it was certainly made lesser because of it.
I shall say no more on that.
But otherwise, my gripes aside, this was still a great read. I feel as though I learned a lot about the world and it's systems, as well as the timeline and how this story intersects with the other stories in the world.
Very enjoyable, but a little flawed and missing one of the core components that make these books so special.
*This will be a Spoiler-Free review.*
The Golden Fool is definitely the second book in a trilogy, thus it suffers from many of the trappings #2's tend to do.
It has a lot of weight to carry, dealing with ramifications from book 1 - because my lordy that was a ride, all the while setting up the climax in the finale.
So yeah, this is definitely a bridge-book, but still an unquestionably enjoyable one.
It is beautifully written, there are some great character moments and a bunch of easter-eggs, crossovers and revelations...
But unfortunately I think it all came at the cost of the plot somewhat. There was a lot of the same thing happening again and again here - walking into town, trying to repair a relationship or spying on a conversation... One of these basic things happened in almost every single chapter.
Exciting? Often! But still repetitive.
This somewhat leads into my next minor complaint - the passing of time is a bit garbled here. According to the end of this book, less than a year has passed since the first book started, but multiple times quite substantial chunks of time have been told to pass, seasons change... It left me quite confused because it certainly felt like multiple years had come and gone. Maybe this is just me though.
Lastly, and I WILL be keeping this spoiler-free; something was missing from this book, and those that have read it will know what that is.
I am sure it's deliberate, Hobb without a doubt wants us to feel like it's missing, but still, it was certainly made lesser because of it.
I shall say no more on that.
But otherwise, my gripes aside, this was still a great read. I feel as though I learned a lot about the world and it's systems, as well as the timeline and how this story intersects with the other stories in the world.
Very enjoyable, but a little flawed and missing one of the core components that make these books so special.