In de nieuwe Robin Hobb, De moordenaar van de Nar, het eerste deel van de fonkelnieuw trilogie De Boeken van Fitz en de Nar, een meesterwerk-in-wording, wordt de draad van het verhaal waarmee De Boeken van de Nar werd afgesloten, weer opgepakt. Fitz, ouder en wijzer, heeft zich samen met zijn oude geliefde, Molly, in betrekkelijke anonimiteit teruggetrokken binnen de muren van zijn kleine veste. Af en toe is er contact met zijn oude leermeester Chade, halve magiër en vertrouweling van de Ziener-koningen van het immense kasteel de Hertenhorst. Van zijn oude vriend de Nar heeft Fitz al jaren niets meer vernomen en zijn pogingen om hem op te sporen en het oude contact te herstellen zijn op niets uitgelopen. Maar dan...

Fool's Assassin picks up the story which we finished in Fool's Fate, but 10 years have passed. Fitz, now older and wiser, has withdrawn within his small homestead with Molly,
and lives there in relative anonimity. Once in a while there is contact with his old mentor, Chade, half mage and counsellor of the Farseer Kings at the immense castle of Buckkeep. Fitz hasn't heard in years from his old friend, the Fool, and all his attempts to trace him and re-establish contact have failed. But then...

Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.

Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.

FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .

The UK one:
Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown.

But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more…

On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing.

Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the messenger?

Suddenly Fitz's violent old life erupts into the peace of his new world, and nothing and no one is safe.

And the US one:

FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one...