Reviews

Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb

thewisewombat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

katieo156's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Oh we are BACK! I wasn't crazy about the end of the Farseer Trilogy and enjoyed The Liveship Traders enough (through no fault of their own I wasn't super into them) but being back with my boy Fitz was all I needed. Robin Hobb's character work continues and I resonated so strongly with the Fool's comment about still wanting to protect the child he was because my heart broke every other chapter. The way Chade reacts to seeing him (and the way

Dutiful

thoughtlessly mentions how Chade refers to Fitz with so much affection that he assumed Fitz was his son??? "My first boy" 😭). Fitz has always been so loved and it was just as hard to read it now as it was in the first trilogy because he doesn't get it!

We are not talking about Nighteyes because I can't yet, but that death scene was one of the most beautiful ways I could imagine saying goodbye to a character- feeling all of life at once as they go.

 

Finally: "I recognized and pushed away a truth I did not want to know".  Fitz I will beat you myself 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

amyzab's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

philippa14's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jessimond's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

aglaya221b's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shandyt's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars, rounded down.

This first book of the second Fitz trilogy is marked by a large time gap that I thought might be an issue for me, as a reader. Some part of me, though I'm entering my latter thirties myself, wants to read about a protagonist at their peak—and I'm not sure this is "peak" Fitz. But what he is, is wiser. If I had frustrations with Fitz in the Farseer Trilogy, they're mostly allayed here. Fitz was never stupid, but now he applies his knowledge and reaches the conclusions his younger self would have been willfully blind to. And there is a homey warmth about a protagonist with adult concerns, and even adult aches and pains. There's still plenty of life left in Fitz, even if it has to be pointed out to him. With this new generation of Skilled and Witted Ones,

Spoiler

of his own blood, even,

we get a chance to see Fitz step into the mentor role.

It's interesting to see Fitz at his most angry and malevolent in this book. His behavior is born out of pain and anger at the way he himself was treated, even by those he loved, such as Burrich. I think there's even a line similar to the adage, "hurt people hurt people."

Spoiler

Fitz and Dutiful's initial interactions feel like an extension of that sentiment. I wonder if some of Fitz's antipathy toward Dutiful stems from what Verity did to Fitz to conceive the boy. It was very touching to see Fitz begin to move past his feelings of disappointment to have compassion for Dutiful, and treat him more like a son than a burden. And Fitz would be mightily hypocritical to come down too hard on Dutiful for naïveté about matters of love.

The titular Fool is a delight to have back in this book. Their Lord Golden persona is pitch perfect, and it's funny and sad to watch Fitz struggle to play the part of Golden's serving man. All the more poignant are the scenes where they can drop all pretenses and be who they truly are to each other. I remember being confused by all the love for the Fool when I'd only read Assassin's Apprentice, because I thought they were annoyingly silly and offputting. The nuance the Fool has developed over time, though, has made them my second-favorite character in the series—only after dear Fitzy-Fitz.

Of course, in a very close third place is Nighteyes. Despite that Nighteyes only becomes truly relevant in Assassin's Quest, only to be aged up to elderly by the time skip, I felt like we'd spent the intervening fifteen years together. The images Hobb gives us of years of travels, hunts, and quiet life fill in the gap beautifully. I have read other reviews of this book and am a bit baffled by claims that

Spoiler

Nighteyes' eventual death felt abrupt. I thought it was extremely telegraphed, from the moment Fitz thought of him as old. All the time he lived after Fitz saved him from the heart attack was borrowed time—in fact, I was baffled when we made it to the end of the book and Nighteyes hadn't died yet. And then, in the very next paragraph, he finally did. I don't know that I've ever read a more beautiful death scene. More poignant, maybe. But certainly none so beautiful

.

Overall, the main plot of this story, as well as its antagonists, did not engage me as much as those of Assassin's Quest. However, it has set up some incredible potential for character and story arcs that I am eager to explore.

Onward!

nathaliagoncalves's review against another edition

5.0

Lendo esse livro eu percebo ainda mais como a trilogia anterior não me pegou

Voltar a perspectiva do Fitz foi bom demaaiis, a forma como em pensa e age, a amizade dele com o Fool e o lobo são tudo nesse livro, só acho que eu teria aproveitado ainda mais se eu tivesse lido os livros mais próximos uns dos outros, porque teve algumas referências que eu perdi, mas não tirou o encanto do livro, já vou começar o próximo

katieheartsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25