Fool's Assassin

[joost]

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).

Those are the Buck antlers (Fitz' sigil was, IIRC, a charging buck), I doubt it has anything to do with a new wit-bond.

[o0Ampy0o]

If Fitz Wit bonds with a reindeer it could be interesting.

[Mervi]

I don't really see Fitz bonding with a prey animal. All his previous attempts before Nighteyes were canine anyway, right? So I'm siding with the Farseer buck theory for the US cover.

If you're not trying to avoid mild spoilers, here's an upside down shot of a galley page posted a few days ago that reveals a familiar character besides Fitz that we are going to meet...
https://twitter.com/robinhobb/status/451476195897393152

[o0Ampy0o]

Farseer's theory? Do you mean Joost's theory?

The antlers are not depicting a sigil so maybe the Farseer connection with bucks will lead to a significant buck?

Fitz achieved wolfdom after dogs, (I loved Nosy), and Fitz wouldn't drop down in Wit stature.

What is as cool or cooler than a wolf? A buck could be his new Wit bondee.

I'm not going for that tease link because upside down or not it is too much information.

[finella]

Hello again,

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18658...s-assassin

Reading the reviews of the AC-Readers, I get really exited about the new trilogy. Obviously Robin has done a brilliant job with "Fool's Assassin"
I can hardly wait for August!!!

[joost]

Rule of thumb: Never trust fan reviews, they're not the most objective . But I'm really looking forward to this too.

---

And if you want a signed copy:

http://signedpage.com/2014/05/pre-order-...obin-hobb/

The shipping costs are a bit high though if you're ordering outside US.

[finella]

Hm, I can imagine that those fan reviews are perhaps not quite "objective". But still - I just want to believe them . And reading all that stuff really makes me giddy. And that's a nice feeling.

Yes, the shipping-costs (to Germany) are exorbitant. I've done that once with "The piebald prince". That was definitely the first and the last time

[Raptori]

I've just finished reading it - but won't post any spoilers - and I'd say that for me it was at least on par with the other Fitz books. I found it slower paced than other books in the series, but I don't think it suffered because of that. I was a bit unsure when it was announced, since after so long I worried that this new Fitz trilogy wouldn't have the same feel and quality as the older books (I liked RWC, just didn't think of them as brilliant), but she's definitely hit the spot. Fitz's voice is captured perfectly as always, and the same is true for all the other characters.

The first two thirds or so meandered about slowly and gradually introduced a new major character, then the final third started to pick up the pace, and the book ended with what I felt was a brilliant final few chapters. Annoyingly it's a cliffhanger ending, but I kinda expected that. By major I mean at the same level of importance of Fitz - complete with many chapters spent from this character's viewpoint - and just as loveable as the Fool imo. The best parts of the book achieved that rare feat of making me completely unaware of the real world - the same thing happened at the end of the first book during the wine scene with Rurisk - and managed to keep it up for chapters at a time. The rest was engrossing, vivid and full of life despite there being the relatively slow-moving plot.

So yeah, all in all I'd say it's worth getting your hopes up

[finella]

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

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 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.

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?

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!!!

[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