Fool's Errand

Executive Summary: This is another great entry in the Realm of the Ederlings. It picks up not long after the Liveship Traders and 15 years after the Farseer Trilogy.

If you enjoyed those previous books, I imagine you will enjoy this one as well. If you haven't read those books, I highly recommend you do before starting this one.

Full Review
Like all the previous books in the Realm of the Ederlings books, this starts off slow without much indication as to what the main plot will be.

In a lot of books this would annoy. Fantasy in particular tends to ramble on, especially some of the extremely long epic fantasy series.

Ms. Hobb is different somehow. I'm not bored or anxious or wondering when she'll just get on with it. I'm excited to follow Fitz around discover what he's been up to while I was reading about pirates and magical ships.

The return of several characters from the Farseer trilogy brought a smile to my face. It was like catching up with old friends.

Ms. Hobb can be quite cruel to her characters, especially poor Fitz. As the catalyst he seems destined to lead a tragic life where his choices are always between bad and worse options. I was particularly sad when Nighteyes died.

The books involving the Wit make me want a pet. I've always been more of a dog person, than a cat person. These books make me want a wolf, because Nighteyes is awesome.

Despite this the addition of cats to this book from the previous trilogy is a welcome one. The cats talk and act like I'd expect them to if I could share their thoughts. I particularly love the comments from the Hedge Witch Jinna's cat Fennel. He cracks me up.

Overall an enjoyable book that looks to be setting up nicely for the rest of the trilogy.