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Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb

Rating

Review

Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb is the second book in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. In some ways this book is a departure from the first novel in the series, Fool’s Assassin. In other ways, it is more of the same. This second book picks up right where Fool’s Assassin left off, with our two main characters just arrived in Buckkeep and Fitz’s daughter, Bee, just having been kidnapped by the very same people the Fool escaped from after a long ordeal of imprisonment and torture. Where Fool’s Quest differs from Fool’s Assassin is in the amount of forward progress we make in the story. Where Fool’s Assassin felt like a really long preamble, Fool’s Quest hits the ground running, and doesn’t stop moving until somewhere in the middle of the book. At that point the reader is eased back into Hobb’s methodically slow but still engaging storytelling up until the end when Fitz sets out to hunt down his daughter’s kidnappers and bring her safely home.

Because of the pacing, I tore through the first half of Fool’s Quest very quickly. There is so much setup done in the first book that Hobb (thankfully) uses this one to have Fitz finally take action. There’s still plenty of introspection (Fitz seems to find a way to blame himself for most everything bad that ever happens to anyone) but there’s also plenty of the “old” Fitz: the King’s assassin who will do his duty no matter the personal cost.

The Fool plays prominently in this book as well. His involvement in the larger storyline was hinted at plenty of times in the first book, but he never took center stage like he does here. Long time readers of the series will know the Fool well, though the character’s circumstances have changed significantly and not for the better. Having suffered at the hands of the Servants, the Fool is a broken man both physically and spiritually. Despite this, though, he remains driven by a singular purpose: revenge against his tormentors. The Fool and Fitz, reunited at the end of Fool’s Assassin, are at their best when together, their purpose while not exactly unified is at least headed in the same direction. Theirs is a relationship which has stood so many tests that it’s only a matter of time before their purposes become unified, whether by intention or trickery. Still, they do become unified as they head into a final confrontation with the Servants (presumably in the next book).

In many ways Fool’s Quest brings a lot of Hobb’s work full circle. Early on in the Fitz series, the reader is introduced to a lost Elderling city which Fitz visits via a Skill pillar. Later, the city is found by more conventional means and re-settled in the Rain Wilds Chronicles. Now, Fitz travels there once more, but this time instead of traversing a deserted city, Fitz meets many of the characters readers of Hobb’s earlier works know well. It’s a gratifying experience and one which gives the reader a sense of the scope of world building Hobb has slowly revealed to us over fifteen or so books.

There were numerous times while reading Fool’s Quest that I felt Hobb had earned a four rocket review from me, but I ultimately settled on three (the same rating I gave the previous book) because there just isn’t enough happening overall. Despite the book’s title, the quest doesn’t really begin until almost the end. If Hobb had moved things along more rapidly while not sacrificing her usual rich content, I would have given it a solid four rockets. But given what I feel is much room for improvement in that regard, I’m giving it three. Long time readers of Hobb’s will love this book. Others probably were discouraged enough with the slow pacing of the first book in the series that they didn’t make it this far to begin with. In any case, I’ve got the next book in the series, Assassin’s Fate, lined up for reading and reviewing soon.

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