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ofthebrownajah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Torture
themysteriouserk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.75
Fitz and The Fool, now posing as the fashionable foreign noble Lord Golden, return to the political intrigue of the Six Duchies after a long absence. Their return will be welcome to fans of Robin Hobb’s sprawling Realm of the Elderlings series as Fitz’s psychology is further explored and his relationships with The Fool, his beloved wolf Nighteyes, and the others with whom he’s shared his life are both deepened and challenged. To top it all, readers will find one of the fastest-paced and most self-contained stories in the series so far, without sacrificing the character development and extensive worldbuilding that make the series so memorable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
hardbackednooks's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I liked the first trilogy in this universe well enough, but this is turning out even better.
EDIT 4/29/2022: Just finished my second read of this and this book was SO SLOW compared to the others, which also weren't very fast. The first portion of the book is slice-of-life storytelling with Fitz/Tom Badgerlock, Hap, and Nighteyes living their idyllic life on the farm, which was honestly super lovely. The majority of the book, however, is endless traveling, witnessed/experienced persecution, and "tell don't show" style worldbuilding. The last 1/3 or so ramps up the action, drama, and tension which has basically everything that was missing at the beginning. It's definitely slower-paced than the others, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing since we do have a fairly large time gap to address and fill in. Based on what I could tell, it's somewhere around 8-10 years between the end of the first trilogy and the beginning of this one. The Liveship Traders trilogy events occurred towards the end of that time period, but since they didn't have much from the Six Duchies, there are a lot of events to cover.
Overall, this started out feeling like a weaker book in the overall series, but Hobbs' writing has improved so much at this point and the plots and intrigue ramp up more than enough towards the end of the book that it basically evens itself out for me. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the Tawny Man trilogy measures up.
EDIT 4/29/2022: Just finished my second read of this and this book was SO SLOW compared to the others, which also weren't very fast. The first portion of the book is slice-of-life storytelling with Fitz/Tom Badgerlock, Hap, and Nighteyes living their idyllic life on the farm, which was honestly super lovely. The majority of the book, however, is endless traveling, witnessed/experienced persecution, and "tell don't show" style worldbuilding. The last 1/3 or so ramps up the action, drama, and tension which has basically everything that was missing at the beginning. It's definitely slower-paced than the others, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing since we do have a fairly large time gap to address and fill in. Based on what I could tell, it's somewhere around 8-10 years between the end of the first trilogy and the beginning of this one. The Liveship Traders trilogy events occurred towards the end of that time period, but since they didn't have much from the Six Duchies, there are a lot of events to cover.
Overall, this started out feeling like a weaker book in the overall series, but Hobbs' writing has improved so much at this point and the plots and intrigue ramp up more than enough towards the end of the book that it basically evens itself out for me. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the Tawny Man trilogy measures up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail