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motherofbooks93 's review for:
The Golden Fool
by Robin Hobb
*4.5 stars
“His absence seemed a solid thing, a burden I must carry in addition to my grief... Yet I knew I would continue to live. Sometimes that knowledge seemed the worst part of my loss.”
Fitz is now dealing with the loss of Nighteyes and is back at court to once again serve his queen, prince, and the Farseer’s. He is undercover as Lord Golden (The Fool’s) servant. Eventually he is forcibly persuaded to be the skillmaster to the Prince Dutiful. At the same time, Kettricken has set up an arranged marriage between Prince Dutiful and the Narcheska Elliana of the Outislanders.
I know so many people feel that this book was boring compared to the first book, but I loved this slightly more than the first book. This book is a bit slower and takes a little longer to get to the meat of the story, but I just adore Hobb’s writing and character work that I was having the best time.
Fitz goes through a lot of grief in this book. He is still trying to heal from the loss of his companion, Nighteyes. There were moments where he was almost still expecting him to be there and when it hits him that he’s not, we see him grieving. It is so weird not seeing Nighteyes there with Fitz; and Fitz realizes that he is not the only one grieving Nighteyes. Kettricken and The Fool also have their moments of missing the wolf.
Fitz also is having a hard time as a parent. Hap has now joined him at Buckeep and he is a country boy getting a taste of the city life. He is handling it as well as most other young boys would. He is meeting new people, and that includes women. I will say that there were moments where Hap got on my nerves. I had to constantly remind myself that he was young and wasn’t used to being in a city with all of these wild and experienced city folk. He is at a stage where he thinks he knows everything and doesn’t really want to listen to Fitz and his advice.
There is also Nettle to contend with. Nettle is popping up in Fitz's dream and she wants to know who he is and what her connection to him is. Of course Fitz doesn’t want her to find out anything. He is doing everything he can to protect her and keep her away from Buckkeep, but that gets harder when the Farseers might need her, and they feel it’s her duty to serve.
A conversation that is being had in this book about Fitz and everything he has given to the Farseers was such a necessary conversation. I realized, while reading this eighth book, how much the Farseers have demanded of Fitz. He has done all these things for the royal line and what does he really get in return? He can’t even enjoy all of the benefits of being a Farseer because he is a bastard. I love that Fitz finally put his foot down and drew the line at Nettle being used for the benefit of their family, even though I don’t see that lasting for long.
Just like in previous books, Fitz got on my nerves as well. There is one particular point where he is having a conversation with the Fool and he is being so nasty and rude. I understand why he was upset, but the way he acted was unacceptable, and it unfortunately affects his relationship with the Fool.
There are a couple of new characters we meet and one of them is Thick. Thick is described as a dimwit and I’m going to be honest, I didn’t like how Hobb described him and how the people, including Fitz, treated him for the first half of the book. I know this was written back 2002 and we weren’t as publicly critical of the things we’re critical of now, but it was offensive the way he was described. I hope in the last book, we fix that issue because it was not pleasant for me to read.
The reason this is not getting a five star is because of the ending. It was just anticlimactic. I wanted that typical edge of my seat ending that Hobb usually delivers, but this one was just pure setup for the final book in the trilogy. I still love this series and Hobb, and I’m sad that I’m getting closer and closer to the end.
CW for sexual assault (off page, just indicated).
“His absence seemed a solid thing, a burden I must carry in addition to my grief... Yet I knew I would continue to live. Sometimes that knowledge seemed the worst part of my loss.”
Fitz is now dealing with the loss of Nighteyes and is back at court to once again serve his queen, prince, and the Farseer’s. He is undercover as Lord Golden (The Fool’s) servant. Eventually he is forcibly persuaded to be the skillmaster to the Prince Dutiful. At the same time, Kettricken has set up an arranged marriage between Prince Dutiful and the Narcheska Elliana of the Outislanders.
I know so many people feel that this book was boring compared to the first book, but I loved this slightly more than the first book. This book is a bit slower and takes a little longer to get to the meat of the story, but I just adore Hobb’s writing and character work that I was having the best time.
Fitz goes through a lot of grief in this book. He is still trying to heal from the loss of his companion, Nighteyes. There were moments where he was almost still expecting him to be there and when it hits him that he’s not, we see him grieving. It is so weird not seeing Nighteyes there with Fitz; and Fitz realizes that he is not the only one grieving Nighteyes. Kettricken and The Fool also have their moments of missing the wolf.
Fitz also is having a hard time as a parent. Hap has now joined him at Buckeep and he is a country boy getting a taste of the city life. He is handling it as well as most other young boys would. He is meeting new people, and that includes women. I will say that there were moments where Hap got on my nerves. I had to constantly remind myself that he was young and wasn’t used to being in a city with all of these wild and experienced city folk. He is at a stage where he thinks he knows everything and doesn’t really want to listen to Fitz and his advice.
There is also Nettle to contend with. Nettle is popping up in Fitz's dream and she wants to know who he is and what her connection to him is. Of course Fitz doesn’t want her to find out anything. He is doing everything he can to protect her and keep her away from Buckkeep, but that gets harder when the Farseers might need her, and they feel it’s her duty to serve.
A conversation that is being had in this book about Fitz and everything he has given to the Farseers was such a necessary conversation. I realized, while reading this eighth book, how much the Farseers have demanded of Fitz. He has done all these things for the royal line and what does he really get in return? He can’t even enjoy all of the benefits of being a Farseer because he is a bastard. I love that Fitz finally put his foot down and drew the line at Nettle being used for the benefit of their family, even though I don’t see that lasting for long.
Just like in previous books, Fitz got on my nerves as well. There is one particular point where he is having a conversation with the Fool and he is being so nasty and rude. I understand why he was upset, but the way he acted was unacceptable, and it unfortunately affects his relationship with the Fool.
There are a couple of new characters we meet and one of them is Thick. Thick is described as a dimwit and I’m going to be honest, I didn’t like how Hobb described him and how the people, including Fitz, treated him for the first half of the book. I know this was written back 2002 and we weren’t as publicly critical of the things we’re critical of now, but it was offensive the way he was described. I hope in the last book, we fix that issue because it was not pleasant for me to read.
The reason this is not getting a five star is because of the ending. It was just anticlimactic. I wanted that typical edge of my seat ending that Hobb usually delivers, but this one was just pure setup for the final book in the trilogy. I still love this series and Hobb, and I’m sad that I’m getting closer and closer to the end.
CW for sexual assault (off page, just indicated).