Rating: 
Summary: Addictive and masterful
Review: I have almost come to the conclusion that Robin Hobb cannot write a book I don't like. This second volume in this series brings back much of the emotional content of the Assassin trilogy, along with superb character development for all the players, especially Chade and the Fool.Not much action in this book as usual, but I found it tremendously addictive. Fitz is older and wiser. I miss Nighteyes. A lot. Prince Dutiful is not a wuss any more. The new characters introduced in this volume are all great. The book builds and builds... I can tell that the final volume will be a blast.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Not quite as good as the first one of this series, there was almost too much history and not enough substance, but it is still an excellent, absorbing read. I kept trying to put it down to do something else and couldn't because I kept wanting to read.
Rating:
Summary: intriguing
Review: this book immediately swallows me up into the six duchies. Even if I only ready 5 or 10 minutes in traffic, I am overwhelmed and interested. However, I want to shake Fitz and tell him not to be so damned negative. Perhaps it is being an assassin makes you so. I have not met such a frustrating character since the leprosy-ridden hero of samuel donaldson's and I read all 6 of those books. Please solve the problem and finish this trilogy. Why can't he meet Nettle and bring Swift to court as a friend to Dutiful. Why is everything wrong? Is the fool a woman or what? I am reading it the third time very slowly but am still confused. Why won't he talk to the dragon-man? Maybe he would learn something. Idiot - see how angry it gets me - it must be excellent
Rating: 
Summary: Foolish molasses
Review: Golden Fool is the second book in the Tawny Man series. It's set in the same world as Hobbs' Assassin books and her Liveship Trader books, and does even more to tie the two series together, sometimes to its detriment. While it's not necessarily a bad book, it failed to hold my interest for long periods of time, which is very unusual for a Robin Hobb book. When I read the first book, Fool's Errand, I thought Hobb spent too much of the beginning going over old history in lecture-fashion, basically telling us what happened in the intervening fifteen years by one character telling another what happened. It was long and boring, but once the book got moving, I couldn't put it down. This book suffers from similar problems, but it never really recovers from them. It is packed full of character development and not a lot else. The book moves at a glacial pace, and when you get to the end of it, you'll discover that not much happened. There has been some progress in Fitz's attempt to form a group of Skill users to help the Prince, the kidnappers are eventually dealt with, and the Prince and his entourage begin a quest that will take them through the third book. A large portion of the book is taken up with events from the Liveship Trader series of books, and the war between Bingtown and Chalced from those books. A delegation from Bingtown arrives to try and get the Queen to join their side, and there is much discussion of the different natures of dragons in this world (there appeared to be some incompatibility between the dragons in the original Farseer books and the Liveship Traders books...these incompatibilities are explained). Thus, there is much exposition explaining what happened in that series, ostensibly because only rumours and weird accounts have reached the ears of the Six Duchies. Again, this slows the book to a crawl, and I didn't see a lot of benefit to it, as the Bingtown people eventually disappear without much being done with them. It seems like such a waste, though I suppose this may be a setup for the next book. The other problem with the book is that it's very depressing, as Fitz has nothing but relationship problems in the book. The relationship between him and The Fool (his best friend and a strange man who is more than he seems) takes a really sour turn. We do learn a lot about the Fool, but it comes at the expense of their relationship. Then there is his relationship with his foster son, Hap, and the trials and tribulations that come with that. There is Jinna, a hedge witch who he sleeps with but doesn't love, and thus feels awful about it. He and Chade argue quite often, even as Chade pushes him to not only teach the Prince the Skill, but himself as well. At times, the book seems to be nothing but arguments, and while many of them are dealt with eventually, they're tedious to read through. The characters themselves are ok, but I don't like what was done with them. I've already detailed Fitz's problems, but there are others as well. The Fool, my favourite character in the previous book, doesn't do a whole lot in this one. He sulks a lot, helps Fitz out occasionally before their relationship goes sour, and is generally boring otherwise. I never thought I'd say that about this character. His connection to the Liveship Trader series is revealed, but never really explained. I would have appreciated either one or the other: either explain most of it, or don't reveal it. Instead, it's the worst of both worlds as we know the truth but we have no idea why it is the truth. Fitz is a spy as well as an assassin, and he spends a lot of time observing things from secret tunnels. Thus, Hobb gets around the limitation of first person storytelling: you can only reveal the narrator's point of view. There are times where this doesn't feel natural, like it's only there so Hobb can tell us something is happening. He also spends a lot of time recovering from the only real action in the novel, and this tends to drag as well, again exposing another weakness of first-person: when the main character gets boring, you can't move on to somebody else. It took me a couple of weeks to read this book, where the first one just took a few days. I never had the feeling that I couldn't put it down, or that I must pick it up and read more to see what's happening. I love the characters in this series, and I feel a lot of loyalty to them. I think that's the only reason I kept going. There is also a lot of potential, and the book ends with the beginning of an interesting-sounding quest. This one has the same feel that many other "second books" have, which is as a placeholder. Hopefully Hobb will rebound with the third and final book.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable addition to this series.
Review: I absolutely love the characters that Hobb came up, and thrilled that she continues to progress each and everyone of them. That is one thing that makes her books stand out. She comes up with a plot then builds and progresses complex characters through a wonderfully written story. For example, Fitz, the "main" character throughout the farseer trilogy and then this one constantly makes mistakes, but learns from them in a real way. He is bull-headed and very quick to make assumptions and decisions. He never thinks about the reaction to his action. But as the story continues through this Tawny Man series, Fitz groes and begins to see what the reaction is. He begins to look through other characters eyes and see how his actions affect those closest to him. Another example is Chade. In the Farseer series he was a man that could do no wrong and always seemed to have the correct answer and best way to do things. This isn't always so, as his character gets older, he does so in a realistic sort of way. These are just a few reasons why I enjoyed this series and the last. I like characters that grow. Not ones that consistently portray the same image. If you've read the Farseer trilogy and aren't sure if you should read the Tawny Man, I will say this. Read it you won't be disapointed. If you haven't read the farseer trilogy just yet then turn yourself around man, your jumping the gun here. Read that series first and maybe even the bingtown traders series. They are both very good series to read, including this one.
Rating:
Summary: Golden Fool
Review: Fitz and his allies must contend with increasing political complexities, as well as challenges to their loyalty to one another. I was disappointed with this book in comparison to the one before it, which I really loved. It felt as if there wasn't really enough plot here for a whole novel (at least at this wordcount) and a lot of padding in the form of expository introspection had been added in. Something was strange about the way characters interacted: a tense, emotional scene would be followed by a mutual backing off, especially toward the end of the book where Lord Golden nearly vanishes from the scene. There's a realistic quality to that, but the characters never seemed to really resolve anything between themselves in any of these scenes, and I became frustrated with the "one step forward, two steps back" effect. While in the first volume I loved the mystery about the Fool/Golden's gender and the romantic tension between him and Fitz, by the end of this volume I was ready to have the truth already. I'm going to be disappointed if he turns out to be a woman (it would be too obvious; I'm rooting for androgynous) but either way, I'm ready to know. The repeated almost-but-not-quite scenes have given the mystery almost a boy who cried wolf feeling for me. Despite all this, I did enjoy the book. The events that did take place were exciting, Hobb maintains her good grasp of personality, and I like the emotional, character-driven nature of the story. I think the transitional plot here, since it's the second in a trilogy, created some difficulties for the author, but we do get important information. I'm looking forward to the third installment, and I optimistically expect it will be tighter and faster-moving.
Rating:
Summary: More on Fitz and the intro to a quest
Review: This book continues the story of Fitz. It follows his growth into his new /old setting of Buck Keep and its intrigues and introduces what will be the quest for the next book. Hobbs is very comfortable with the character of Fitz as well as those from the earlier book and she uses that comfort level to move the characters from one point to another both in the plot and in their growth as a character. The only fault I could give is that for a second book it doesn't go very far. This is more because of it being an intro to the quest and following the growth of the characters rather than the second book in a larger story. I give it a B+ on the StuPage.
Rating:
Summary: Strong sequel
Review: Often the second book of a trilogy is a let-down. You've already met the characters and must plod thru the middle to get to the end. The Golden Fool is, however, one of the most rewarding 2nd-of-3 books I've read, providing not only a great bridge in the trilogy, but providing fascinating insights that link it to other books by Robin Hobb, including the excellent Ships of Magic series. Well-written in and of itself, it is best understood by those who've read the prior books by Hobb.
Rating:
Summary: This book was EXCELLENT!
Review: I got this book in January, but for a variety of reasons, I was forced to wait 4 months before I read it -- and it was every bit worth the wait. This book was great!
Rating:
Summary: Well written; need to start with Assassin's Apprentice
Review: In order to appreciate this book, one needs to start at the beginning of this series--not Tawny Man 1: Fool's Errand, but Farseer 1: Assassin's Apprentice. SO MUCH is lost if a reader neglects the previous trilogy or even skips books. Hobb's great prose brings the reader back. There is more revealed about the Skill and Out Islands, and characters such as Kettricken and Dutiful, but less emphasis on the White Prophet/Catalyst roles in history. This book, like Royal Assassin, feels more like a transition than a stand alone book since its beginning and conclusion are found in the other books, but it cannot be left out. This isn't as great an emotional roller coaster or action thriller as the two or three preceeding it, but it definitely sets up a good third book. As usual, Hobb leaves a cliffhanger ending, so you'll want Tawny Man 3 NOW as soon as you've finished it.
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