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A review by poisonenvy
Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
<b>SECOND READTHROUGH</b> Knocking a star off upon a reread.
My original review still stands, but on my reread I was incredibly frustrated by Fitz, and the fact that he seems to be too stupid to live in this book. I want to believe that Robin Hobb is a good enough author that she doesn't <I>need</I> to severely dumb down her characters so the plot can work, but honestly, it's hard to read this in any other way: Fitz seems to loss any ability to reason at some points in this book so that the plot can proceed.
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The Fool's Assassin is incredibly slow. This is not unexpected from Robin Hobb's Fitz books. Most of them tend to be on the slow side. This one was slower than usual. I would venture to say that 80% of the book is just Fitz running his estate.
And yet, Robin Hobb is such a masterful writer that I ate up every moment of it. I could barely put this book down. I would happily read Fitz Runs His Estate for 600 pages no questions asked. Her character work is sublime. Her prose is masterful. Her ability to drop just enough intrigue to keep you guessing is really, truly wonderful.
Robin Hobb has very rapidly become my favourite author, which is a title that I've changed over maybe 4 times in my life. Fitz has become one of my all-time favourite characters in literature, even if I was already wanting to smack him for being an idiot less than half-way into chapter one.
I probably shouldn't start Fool's Quest with only half an hour before bedtime, but I'm gonna and you can't stop me.
My original review still stands, but on my reread I was incredibly frustrated by Fitz, and the fact that he seems to be too stupid to live in this book. I want to believe that Robin Hobb is a good enough author that she doesn't <I>need</I> to severely dumb down her characters so the plot can work, but honestly, it's hard to read this in any other way: Fitz seems to loss any ability to reason at some points in this book so that the plot can proceed.
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The Fool's Assassin is incredibly slow. This is not unexpected from Robin Hobb's Fitz books. Most of them tend to be on the slow side. This one was slower than usual. I would venture to say that 80% of the book is just Fitz running his estate.
And yet, Robin Hobb is such a masterful writer that I ate up every moment of it. I could barely put this book down. I would happily read Fitz Runs His Estate for 600 pages no questions asked. Her character work is sublime. Her prose is masterful. Her ability to drop just enough intrigue to keep you guessing is really, truly wonderful.
Robin Hobb has very rapidly become my favourite author, which is a title that I've changed over maybe 4 times in my life. Fitz has become one of my all-time favourite characters in literature, even if I was already wanting to smack him for being an idiot less than half-way into chapter one.
I probably shouldn't start Fool's Quest with only half an hour before bedtime, but I'm gonna and you can't stop me.