Fool's Fate

4.5 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Fool's Fate sets out at a sluggish pace, with the characters sailing to various territories in the Outislands. While this fleshed out the culture of the Outislanders in a compelling way, it mostly felt plodding and overlong. I was worried that this story would follow the same trajectory as the third book in the Farseer Trilogy, with Assassin's Quest feeling much more meandering and unfocused than the preceding two books. Luckily, the story takes off at the halfway mark, and all my qualms were washed away.

Dragons, deaths, betrayals, family reunions — it's jam-packed and Robin Hobb's talents are on full display. The writing is imbued with so much care and emotion that it's impossible not to care tremendously for each of our main characters. This was a beautiful conclusion to an excellent trilogy. I'm sad to leave Fitz behind to journey into the Rain Wilds, but it's a comfort to know that there are three more Fitz books waiting for me on the other side.

Executive Summary: I've been trying to be cautious about the books I give 5 stars. I really enjoyed the 8 books before this one. Most are very high 4's, but this one was a 5.

From an author who seems to take pleasure in tormenting her characters, this was a surprisingly satisfying ending.

Full Review: As the year draws to a close, I look back on 9 books I read in the last 4 months by Robin Hobb. Books I might never have read if not for good reads.

This book caps off 3 stand alone trilogy that's by themselves are excellent. You can't really read Tawny Man without reading Farseer, but I suppose you could read Liveship without reading Farseer and many people have said their is no need to read Liveship before Tawny man.

To that I say why? Why would you deprive yourself of great books for one. For another this book once again strengthens my belief that you do yourself a disservice by skipping Liveship. While I can imagine you won't be confused without reading it, you certainly miss out on a lot of the back story and significance of certain things.

I had not expected to finish all 9 books this year, but once I finished my December book club pick with most of the month left, I resolved to read the whole Tawny Man trilogy before what stands to be a very busy reading year in 2013.

I'm glad I did. It was a great way to cap off the year in between all the holiday busyness finding time here and there to read.

Ms. Hobb found a way to resolve things in satisfying manner while still leaving me with a few questions that I'm OK with not having answers to. Sometimes speculating is the best part of a good book. That way the book never truly ends.

Before coming to this trilogy I've read people who have clamored for more Fitz and the Fool books by Ms. Hobb. Her most recent entries in the Eldering series (Rain Wild Chronicles) which takes place at the same time as this series apparently contain neither. I expect I will read that series, but plan to take a break before doing so.

I would happily read another book with those characters if done right. But I'm perfectly content at leaving well enough alone for fear of ruining a good thing.