Fool’s Errand (The Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 1) - Softcover

Hobb, Robin

4.36

92,462 ratings by Goodreads

9780007110568: Fool’s Errand (The Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 1)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007110561 ISBN 13: 9780007110568

Publisher: Voyager, 2002

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The start of a thrilling new fantasy series, from the author of the bestselling Assassin trilogy.

When Assassin’s Quest closed, Fitz was living in self-imposed exile. Wracked with pain, he had chosen to discard the magical gifts that had seen him survive the wonders and torments of navigating the legendary city of the Elderlings, and of raising a dragon.
Now, in this the first of a new trilogy, we are returned to the world of the Six Duchies and the lives of those who managed to survive the events of the first Assassin trilogy.
Fifteen years have passed and events are about to sweep Fitz out of his quiet backwater life and into the main political current again. Persecution of the Witted has become rampant throughout the Six Duchies despite Queen Kettricken’s effort to damp it. The Witted themselves have begun to strike back. So when 15 year old Prince Dutiful disappears, is it only because he is nervous about his betrothal ceremony to an Outislander princess, or has he been taken hostage by the Witted? Worse, is he perhaps another ‘Piebald Prince’, a Farseer tainted by Wit magic? As the desperate situation worsens, Kettricken has no choice but to summon Fitz to Buckkeep, for who better to track the young prince down than another gifted with the Wit, together with his bonded companion, the wolf Nighteyes?

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Review:

In Fool's Errand, first of the "Tawny Man" trilogy, Robin Hobb brings back Fitz, hero of her emotionally powerful and intrigue-filled Assassin trilogy, from 15 years of self-imposed exile from his royal relations and from the world of power. Hobb is particularly good at the passage of time and the things it does not change; Fitz plausibly thinks of himself as older and more settled than he actually is. She is also good on the actual changes--Fitz's mentor Chade is teetering on the brink of old age and his androgynous ally the Fool has returned to court as the fop Lord Gallant; these are characters we cared about before and she makes it matter that they have aged or altered. Fitz is bonded by Wit to a wolf; the heir, Prince Dutiful, the son he never saw, is adrift with his own Wit in a world where people get lynched for it. Hobb's leisurely story-telling never lacks urgency and menace; this is a humane book which includes nightmarish touches along the way. Her sense of the world of magic and the world of political power is acute--she makes us see more than her flawed hero, even though we share his eyes.--Roz Kaveney

Review:

Ship of Magic:
‘Promises to be a truly extraordinary saga... the characterizations are consistently superb, and [Hobb] animates everything with love for and knowledge of the sea. If Patrick O’Brian were to turn to writing high fantasy, he might produce something like this.’
BOOKLIST

‘A wonderful book, written by a writer at the height of her abilities’
J V JONES

Assassin’s Apprentice:
‘A gleaming debut’
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Royal Assassin:
‘Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the deeply shocking...’
LOCUS

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