alusetti's review
5.0
Robin Hobb is a master! I love everything about this book. I am amazed at how all of her trilogies are combining and the characters are meeting. The reminders of past adventures throughout are well needed and appreciated. I can't wait for the next! Can I read this for the first time again!?
cassidee_omnilegent's review
5.0
I might just be biased because I love Fitz’s story line, but this was another outstanding book from Robin. The building of the relationship between Bee and Fitz was masterful. Robin Hobb will sometimes move so quickly with characters in her books, or she can tease out their storylines juuuust slowly enough to keep you on edge with anticipation. I personally love how she applies these techniques! It’s also amazing to see her stories come full circle, to see Fitz experience happiness and loss (and once again, live through it), to see our friends on Kelsingra and how the peaceful nature we last saw them in is disrupted. To see how Fitz is able to help them, and how they may be able to help him. The way Hobb wrote the Kelsingra healing scene was masterfully done, I could FEEL the tension from The Fool/Amber at seeing Fitz sucked in, the crowds pushing in on Fitz and him seeing everything and nothing at once, while threatened by the oblivion that awaits skill users that are overtaken by the hunger. I dread reading the next book because I’m not ready for this story to end, but I am also DYING to know what happens, so off I go.
thepaperbackboo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
5.0
Fool's Quest is the second in the Fitz and the Fool series, but 15 in the overall Realm if the Elderlings arc. So I'm not going to bother recapping the plot for you. If you haven't read these go start with Assassin's Apprentice and thank me later.
I LOVE reading these books. They are long and take me way longer than a normal book, but I so enjoy them. I simultaneously can't wait to read the last one and am dreading it (because then I won't have them to read!). But I was annoyed at most of the characters in this one. They were all so stupid and selfish! The Fool, mostly, but also Shun, Lant, Chade, and Per. Taking people with you through the pillars is way more dangerous than going alone. But they all think Fitz should bring them with him. Never mind that he just wants to do this alone, but it makes it much more dangerous if he brings people. How selfish and reckless they all are! The Fool was his own special brand of selfish, insisting that Fitz drop everything to go on his vengeance tour, and then acting like a 5yo most of the time. Shun, of course, is just extremely vain and selfish on her own, but she did get a bit better in this one. I've also found it annoying how everyone keeps saying that Lant is so awesome, when we've seen that he's really not. Of course, he can grow as a person, but all these people say this about him both before and after he went to Withywoods and we saw that, while there, he was awful.
Anyway, I plan to finish out the series next month. The only ones by Hobb I haven't read are the Soldier Son books. I've heard they aren't great, but I love her, so I'll give it a go. That is, if Ingram ever gets them back in stock.
I LOVE reading these books. They are long and take me way longer than a normal book, but I so enjoy them. I simultaneously can't wait to read the last one and am dreading it (because then I won't have them to read!). But I was annoyed at most of the characters in this one. They were all so stupid and selfish! The Fool, mostly, but also Shun, Lant, Chade, and Per. Taking people with you through the pillars is way more dangerous than going alone. But they all think Fitz should bring them with him. Never mind that he just wants to do this alone, but it makes it much more dangerous if he brings people. How selfish and reckless they all are! The Fool was his own special brand of selfish, insisting that Fitz drop everything to go on his vengeance tour, and then acting like a 5yo most of the time. Shun, of course, is just extremely vain and selfish on her own, but she did get a bit better in this one. I've also found it annoying how everyone keeps saying that Lant is so awesome, when we've seen that he's really not. Of course, he can grow as a person, but all these people say this about him both before and after he went to Withywoods and we saw that, while there, he was awful.
Anyway, I plan to finish out the series next month. The only ones by Hobb I haven't read are the Soldier Son books. I've heard they aren't great, but I love her, so I'll give it a go. That is, if Ingram ever gets them back in stock.
highking_vixen's review against another edition
4.0
I was sooooo miserable reading this book, and yet I rate it 4.5 stars! It was so slow and a perfect example of why we can't have nice things. Fitz being recognized in the royal family, then boom news of his daughter gone reached him. And it just went on and on, like it will never end. I hated it. I hated every single moment of misery.
The Fool was unbearable. I wanted to pity him. I did pity him. For a short while. But all he talked about was how he needed revenge without any care for Fitz. Sure, that's how it's always been for them. Always coming to Fitz when the need arises. Always risking his life. But that was when he still felt remorse for what he's been doing to Fitz. Now, it's just blind anger. His behaviour is not making me convinced that the scale of vengeance that he demands for Fitz is even worth it.
And Rapskal?! Don't end with such a cliff hanger.
The Fool was unbearable. I wanted to pity him. I did pity him. For a short while. But all he talked about was how he needed revenge without any care for Fitz. Sure, that's how it's always been for them. Always coming to Fitz when the need arises. Always risking his life. But that was when he still felt remorse for what he's been doing to Fitz. Now, it's just blind anger. His behaviour is not making me convinced that the scale of vengeance that he demands for Fitz is even worth it.
And Rapskal?! Don't end with such a cliff hanger.
shogins's review
3.0
I love this series, but this one was mostly boring until the end. And Fitz is so whiny!
old_tim's review
5.0
This may be the best fantasy author that you're not reading. So read it already.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/08/so-freaking-good.html
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2015/08/so-freaking-good.html
rouge_red's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Well, as expected I started crying pretty early. But what would you expect when the book began with Nighteyes-as-a-pup memories? So many things, so many things had me tearing up in this book. And I'm so looking forward to the next book. I'm loving where we are right now, at Kelsingra, bringing the dragon and Fitz storylines together because all the while I was always wondering how Robin Hobb was going to wrap this series up. I can never predict where Hobb is going to go with her stories, and this is no exception. Fitz is just getting overwhelmed left and right in this installment- from Bee getting kidnapped, to finally being publicly acknowledged as Prince FitzChivalry Farseer, to becoming a hero to the people of Kelsingra. I'm uncertain how we're going to proceed. And also I appreciate all the ladies in this book, none of whom let me down- Bee, Kettricken, Nettle, Elliana, Foxglove, Fleeter, Motley, Spark, etc. Whenever Fitz was making another bullheaded decision, I was always reminded that the ladies are really getting things done.
On a side note, I am so intrigued to see how the Fool is Amber in front of Fitz, who in Tawny Man was so disgusted by the revelation that they were one and the same. He seems comfortable.
On a side note, I am so intrigued to see how the Fool is Amber in front of Fitz, who in Tawny Man was so disgusted by the revelation that they were one and the same. He seems comfortable.