Fool's Assassin

[Raptori]

Wow, Raptori, you really made my day!!! Thanks a lot for your appraisal. That sounds wonderful to me.

You're welcome!

It was awesome, I just wish the whole trilogy had been released at once...

I was also a bit unsecure how to feel about a new Fitz & Fool story, because I love Farseer and Tawny Man so much (AND Liveship Traders), but was not quite that enthusiastic about RWC. And I imagine it really very, very difficult for Robin after all these years to keep up this high “Farseer”-standard and also cope with the highest expectations of her readers.

I actually liked Liveships more than the other books, the complexity of the plot and characters was perfect. Out of the rest I thought Assassin's Apprentice was almost as good as Liveships, then the rest of the Fitz books marginally behind that, then RWC not quite at the same level. Something like 5*, then 4.5*, then 4* in terms of Goodreads ratings.

I think the fact that she planned and wrote the new book without any fanfare shows that it's a story she was ready to continue, rather than her cashing in on popularity.

I never had difficulties with Robin’s slow pace. Quite the contrary - I love it when she takes her time to diligently introduce the characters and their world. She just has this magical art of writing, that makes it never boring, even if the pace is slow.

Yeah same, this book is a great example of that. A couple of times I've seen people say that the slow pace was a big negative, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't enjoy any of the rest of the series. I actually wish there were more fantasy (and sci-fi) series with more depth than action... but I guess that's not what appeals to most people. Sparkly vampires and all that.

Reading your review makes me totally nervous. One little question: this new major character, probably the second 1st person POV - do we know her/him or is it a completely new character?

Haha hopefully in a good way! The new protagonist is a completely new character. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I'll just say that you don't have to worry about it being someone unconnected who would take the story away from Fitz and the Fool. That's definitely not going to happen

From a recent review: “Fitz, my old friend, how I've missed you. Sit here by the fire, have a brandy and let us catch up."

This is how I felt coming back into Fitz's company after a decade apart. Reading this book felt like catching up with an old, dear friend. We've both changed, spent years apart, and yet as soon as I started to read the first paragraph it was as if we'd never parted.”

Gosh, I’m REALLY looking forward to that book!!!

I bought and read them all in one go a couple of years ago after a friend sent me a copy of the first book, I wish I had heard about them before. Then again, waiting between books is horrible... and even worse when it's a stupid cliffhanger