by Robin Hobb
865pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 7/10
Amazon Rating: 4.8/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.56/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.7/5
Book Description from Penguin Random House (CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FOOL’S ASSASSIN and FOOL’S QUEST):
More than twenty years ago, the first epic fantasy novel featuring FitzChivalry Farseer and his mysterious, often maddening friend the Fool struck like a bolt of brilliant lightning. Now New York Times bestselling author Robin Hobb brings to a momentous close the third trilogy featuring these beloved characters in a novel of unsurpassed artistry that is sure to endure as one of the great masterworks of the genre.
Fitz’s young daughter, Bee, has been kidnapped by the Servants, a secret society whose members not only dream of possible futures but use their prophecies to add to their wealth and influence. Bee plays a crucial part in these dreams—but just what part remains uncertain.
As Bee is dragged by her sadistic captors across half the world, Fitz and the Fool, believing her dead, embark on a mission of revenge that will take them to the distant island where the Servants reside—a place the Fool once called home and later called prison. It was a hell the Fool escaped, maimed and blinded, swearing never to return.
For all his injuries, however, the Fool is not as helpless as he seems. He is a dreamer too, able to shape the future. And though Fitz is no longer the peerless assassin of his youth, he remains a man to be reckoned with—deadly with blades and poison, and adept in Farseer magic. And their goal is simple: to make sure not a single Servant survives their scourge.
Assassin’s Fate, the third book in Robin Hobb’s Fitz and the Fool trilogy and the sixteenth novel set in the Realm of the Elderlings, was one of my top most anticipated books of 2017 since I loved both the previous books, Fool’s Assassin and Fool’s Quest. Like my reviews of the preceding installments, I’m not going to discuss Assassin’s Fate in depth to avoid spoilers: after all, this is the conclusion to the third trilogy about FitzChivalry Farseer, as well as the fifth series in this world. If you’ve read this far, you know what the series is about and probably don’t want to read any plot-related details (and if you haven’t read these books and enjoy character-driven fantasy, magic and kingdoms, animal companions, and dragons, and you don’t mind angst or books in which characters endure significant hardship, start with the first book in the Farseer trilogy, Assassin’s Apprentice).
Although I found it nearly impossible to put down throughout the last 40% or so, Assassin’s Fate is my least favorite book in this trilogy mainly because the first 60% of it seemed excessively long. While Fool’s Assassin was not at all fast paced, it was riveting due to the characters and their relationships—and those were just not as compelling in this final installment as in the first (or second) book, even though there were still some great scenes. At first, I wondered if I found it less engaging than the previous installments due to a lack of familiarity with the characters from the Rain Wilds Chronicles quartet, the only Realm of the Elderlings novels I have not yet read. Yet I still found it slow even after it shifted to primarily focusing on this trilogy’s characters and some who appeared in previous books I had read, plus the second storyline also seemed longer than necessary. The journeys seemed to drag on and on, and there were not a lot of interesting plot or character developments throughout these pages—nor were there many interesting interactions between the characters who have been present throughout this trilogy.
Once the traveling finally came to an end, the book was quite readable complete with more excitement and Epic Events. Though this trilogy is primarily focused on Fitz and characters close to him, occurrences in Assassin’s Fate have some large ramifications for the liveship merchants and include revelations involving dragons (and fantastic scenes involving dragons!), and the ties to these other series are some of the best parts.
As with all of Hobb’s books, one of the most memorable aspects is the emotional journey, but I didn’t think that measured up to previous books in the series: these parts seemed rushed, especially after reading so many pages that meandered. Though heartbreaking, even the ending didn’t hit me as hard as I would have expected. It was so heavily foreshadowed that it wasn’t surprising to me, but predictable scenes in Hobb’s books have often managed to elicit strong feeling—the characters just didn’t seem as vivid in this novel to me as in others, and I think that also affected my experience with it.
Although I’m glad I finished the Fitz and the Fool trilogy since there are some momentous scenes that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss, I did feel that Assassin’s Fate was a bit disappointing compared to most of the other Realm of the Elderlings novels. While Hobb’s deft characterization usually keeps me invested despite any slow pacing, more than half of this installment seemed far too drawn out for both the amount of plot and character development it contained. It does eventually become more engaging with more action and compelling character interaction, but many of these parts have the opposite issue with pacing and seem too rushed, especially considering they follow a large portion containing little of interest. It’s still a keeper as an important volume in the series, but it doesn’t have the same high quality I’ve come to expect from these books (although you should probably take my opinion with a grain of salt since most readers seem to think better of it than I do!).
My Rating: 7/10
Where I got my reading copy: Finished copy from the publisher.
