Just finished Assassin's Quest (spoilers), should I keep reading?

[matt_o]

So, I just finished Assassin's Quest.

I got attached to Fitz in book 1, felt like book 2 showed him oppressed with many injustices and implied that he'd somehow find a way to be with Molly, and then the end of book 3 felt like a kick to my gut.  Poor Fitz tries so hard but has failed at everything he has attempted in regards to accomplishing his personal goals.  And everyone is mean to him.

Heck, the only non-villains in the book by the end are the Fool and Nighteyes. (Nighteyes is such an awesome character.. I love how he tells that Elderlings that 'we are pack' when they are awakened).

I felt like I just watched the movie Castaway where Tom Hanks strives so hard to escape the island, then when he gets back home he finds out that his girlfriend married someone else and has a bunch of kids now.  And then the movie's over. lol.

I really enjoyed the setup in these books, but the ending really did not deliver at all.  I am sincerely wondering if I should even read the next book or not?  I know that bad things happen to good people all the time, but I need to see Fitz get some justice and accomplish his dreams at some point, not continually get kicked around like a dog.

What should I do? lol...

[Mervi]

Well. To be honest, things will never be easy for Fitz. But over the next trilogies, there are moments where he's at peace or finds bits of happiness. If you get as far as the latest trilogy, you'll see he eventually gains some of the things I'm guessing you feel he's deprived of right now. It's a long road, and I think the journey alone makes it worth. It never lasts "forever" though, if that's the sort of resolution you're looking for.

These aren't easy books to read, emotionally speaking, but I think they feel truer because of the shifting states between being content and struggling. If you just want to read something to just escape and get a happy ending where all wrongs get fixed, these aren't the books for that. 

It's interesting that you brought up Castaway, I had forgotten about that movie but I see what you mean. I think it's important to consider the other side though - how long should anyone wait for someone that's missing or presumed dead? How long can you put your own life on hold for someone else?

[matt_o]

It's interesting that you brought up Castaway, I had forgotten about that movie but I see what you mean. I think it's important to consider the other side though - how long should anyone wait for someone that's missing or presumed dead? How long can you put your own life on hold for someone else?

Sure, the book did indeed foreshadow quite a bit that Burrich and Molly's relationship would eventually change especially when they think that Fitz is dead.  That part is reasonable.

However, the author clearly wanted this misfortune to befall Fitz.  It was almost like a main goal of Assassin's Quest that she had before beginning to write it.  She crafted the story such that Burrich would not tell Fitz that he would be a father, despite living with him for quite a while.  She has Fitz tell Burrich and Chade to "get out of my life" thus making it less likely that he will find Molly.  Burrich finds the dead body with the pin and assumes Fitz is dead, thus removing an obstacle for him to pursue Molly.  Fitz gets Verity's skill-command thus preventing him from returning to Molly.  And burrich watches over Molly for a lengthy period of time thus fostering his love for her.

All of this, combined with the very lengthy setup in book 2 that Fitz really really wants to be with Molly but currently can't... is where my resentment comes from.  It feels like a broken promise that the author had previously made to the reader.

Fitz seems like a character designed to ultimately fail from the start.  Having the book go to great lengths to show how hard said character is trying sets the reader's expectations that he will eventually succeed.  when this doesn't happen, it is frustrating.

When I started reading Assassin's Apprentice, I think my expectations for Fitz were that "hey, we've got this 6 year old boy that no one wants because he is illegitimate, watch how he overcomes and rises above his misfortunes and succeeds despite them."  But it seems like Fitz is more like "Hey, we've got this 6 year old boy that no one wants because he is illegitimate.  And watch how no matter what he does, he still fails as a result of things that he can't control."

[Mervi]

So do you feel that Fitz did not succeed at all?

If you're still trying to decide whether to continue reading the series, it might come as a relief that the next trilogy isn't about Fitz. The events in it will come around to affect his life in the later trilogies, however.

[matt_o]

So do you feel that Fitz did not succeed at all?

If you're still trying to decide whether to continue reading the series, it might come as a relief that the next trilogy isn't about Fitz. The events in it will come around to affect his life in the later trilogies, however.

I am probably overreacting, I am sorry

Fitz did succeed at finding Verity, and that probably saved the kingdom.

However, Fitz did not succeed at sneaking into Regal's palace to kill him.  In his own words, he's really not a very good assassin.

Fitz constantly got captured.  The first time, he did poison the soldiers himself which was good and an awesome scene.
However, when he got captured crossing the freezing river, Starling saved him from the prison.
When he was running from the horses and dogs, Nighteyes saved him (after he got shot in the back with the arrow).
When he was near death, the Fool saved him, nursed him back to health, etc.
When he was pulled into a trance on the skill road, Kettle (sp? I only listened to the book on audible, didn't read it) was the one who saved him by teaching him the board game.
When he was threatened by the soldiers around the camp fire, Verity saved him by coming through the pillar.
When he was threatened by Will/Burl at the end, the Fool saved him via the Girl on the Dragon.
He never mastered the skill and could only use it sporadically.  It is kinda implied that him never mastering the skill is a core part of his identity.
Despite being seemingly proficient at using the wit, other wit users he came across (black roth?) told him that he was doing that wrong too.

He's basically not a very competent character who endears himself to the reader by being very proactive.

I actually felt bothered by his incompetence as I continued to read, but thought "Dangit, if he can at least get back to Molly, maybe all of his suffering will be worth it."

That's kinda where I'm at.  I don't mean to be a downer.  I just want Fitz to grow and you know.. actually excel at something... and be rewarded as a result.

[Mervi]

No need to apologize!    I think we've all reacted pretty strongly to various things in these books over the years.

When you list his struggles like that, it does seem like he needs saving a lot.   And although the general tone of the books doesn't change that much going forward, Fitz does become better/wiser at some things... The nasty thing about the Skill though is that you can never "master" it because eventually, it will consume you one way or the other (you've seen several examples of this in the first trilogy already). Robin Hobb has actually said several times that the origin of these books was an idea she wrote down on a piece of paper once:"What if magic were addictive? And what if the addiction was destructive or degenerative?"

[Akkuze]

I've just finished reading the 16 books in the series back to back over the last three months.

Yes, read them all.

There are frustrating parts, but it is a great overall story (which I do hope continues in some way or another at some point)