Fool's Assassin

[KekPafrany]

Hobb has placed some limitations on what she can work with in the coming series. It has been a while since I read the books. Fitz talked about several things tying up loose ends when Hobb finished the final Fool book. Didn't Fitz describe how he never ended up bonding with another animal after Nighteyes?

Fitz likes to be melodramatic. At the end of the first trilogy he wrote he is old and tired, has a son, and the old wolf..

Then came the third trilogy and we found out: Fitz is not old yet.

So he often says "never" - don't trust him!

[o0Ampy0o]

I went back and found the passage I was referring to. It seems to be speaking from a time when there is still much of his life ahead of him rather than at the very end of it looking back. So there is room for a lot more than I thought.

I miss him often [The Fool], but in the same way that I miss Nighteyes. I know that such a one will not come again. I count myself fortunate for what I had of them. I do not think I will ever Wit-bond again, or know such a deep friendship as I had with the Fool. As Burrich once observed to Patience, one horse cannot wear two saddles. I have Molly and she is enough for me, and more. I am content.

Having reread the Epilogue after quite a long time I cringed at the syrupy tidings Hobb threw in to create a happy ending. I did not like it when I first encountered it. Yet it is even more apparent to me now than then. I won't be jumping into the coming books as soon as they are released unless I have nothing else to read at that time. Hobb has a lot to overcome.

[joost]

Dutch cover:
http://www.dromen-demonen.nl/upload/imag...omslag.jpg (link, image is quite large)

And a short synopsis:

Spoiler

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...

[joost]

One chapter from Fool's assasin, and a new cover image:

http://io9.com/first-exclusive-look-at-r...1533631696

[Image: n2p0lpxyhjpbjcefrj7v.jpg]

[Jussi]

Official plot synopsis:

Spoiler

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. . . .

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/240295/f...0553392425

[joost]

There will be a signed Dutch version in an edition of 100 copies. Strangely enough, Robin herself didn't even know there was going to be a signed version

https://twitter.com/DromenDemonen/status...52/photo/1

[Mervi]

I am getting ridiculously excited about this. Both amazons have descriptions up :

Spoiler

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...

I've been mulling over the title and its possible meanings most of today. It's pretty sinister no matter which way you look at it, isn't it?

[Mervi]

I just moved this topic from the RotE room since this is an upcoming book and it helps people who want to avoid spoilers to keep the published canon separate from the speculations and news. Here's also an old thread back from the time when it was all mostly just whispers in the binary winds if anyone wants to take a look.

[joost]

Dutch translation is scheduled for september 2014 (which could also be seen in the picture I posted earlier), so for once the original version is published before the translation. Damn slow translators this time .

[o0Ampy0o]

I've been mulling over the title and its possible meanings most of today. It's pretty sinister no matter which way you look at it, isn't it?

Well you added "no matter which way you look at it" so I'll comment. Looking at it one way, Fitz is/was an assassin. There is The Fool and Fitz is The Assassin of the series. The Fool is particularly fond of Fitz. Had Fitz been a shop keeper, a fitting title could have been The Fool's Shop Keeper. Neither imply The Fool is hiring an assassin or shop keeper.

Additionally, well conceived literature is not so obvious and often the obvious interpretation of a title or chapter title is not at all where the story goes. It has been a while since reading Hobb books. The one chapter title that I recall is "Regal" and given that point in the story it pretty much provided the closure we might have expected of it. So maybe Hobb is not an author who uses clever titles that suggest something and turn out to be something entirely unexpected.

Seeing the cover and release date now I am probably going to read it as soon as it is available after all.

Pay particular attention to those antlers behind Fitz all you Wit bond speculators. (I don't read reviews and avoid spoilers of any kind including a book's synopsis until after I have read the book so I have no idea).