Rating: 
Summary: Revisiting the Six Duchies fifteen years later
Review: Although this is a return to the magical Kingdom of the Six Duchies, magic is really a secondary element of this story, even though it figures prominently in the plot.FitzChivalry Farseer, the hero of Robin Hobb's previous trilogy, is fifteen years older than when we last saw him. He and Nighteyes, the wolf whom he has Wit-bonded with, are now living far from the court where Fitz grew up, and raising the orphan boy Hap. But it seems that court intrigue will just not leave them alone. One day Fitz's mentor, the assassin Chade, pays him a visit seemingly out of the blue. A few days later the Fool, the mysterious former jester of the court, drops by and stays for several days. This is only the beginning of a story that does contain magic, but it is really more about a man who has never truly been able to live on his own, without having to answer to anyone; and about a boy who has much in common with the young FitzChivalry Farseer and who needs to learn about growing up in a hurry. In that, it is truly a story of a major aspect of the human condition. As I said, there are also many magical aspects of this story. The telepathic ability known as the Skill is explored in some detail, and the mystical man-to-animal bonding called the Wit in even more. And the book also delves into some mysteries that are left unanswered - hopefully they'll be answered in the other two installments of this trilogy. The most prominent of these is, who exactly is the Fool? He is a being of many talents and many faces, none of which appear to be his true one. We want to know more about him, but every statement he makes about himself, though apparently true, poses more questions than answers. This book is a complete story in and of itself, but I definitely want to read the other two installments, if only to (hopefully) discover the secret of the Fool.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: Not since my teen years have I stayed up until 6 am to finish a book, and I honestly didn't know how late it was, I was THAT caught up in the story. If you liked the Assassins trilogy, or the Liveship traders, you will LOVE this series....be warned that you have to wait until Feb. 04 for the third one, and you will want it a lot sooner than that.
Rating: 
Summary: A bunch of stuff, with scattered good things
Review: One damn thing after another happens to Fitz, fifteen years after the end of his previous adventures. Neat low-tech survival details followed by romance-novel gushiness seemingly designed to pre-empt the slash writers, some court intrigue, action scene, action scene, character self-torture, action scene. Dangers pile further and further on Fitz, but the whole thing is past-tense, so you know something amazingly convenient is going to get ratcheted in place just in time.... On the plus side, you no longer want to throttle the main character for his endless tortured internal conflicts---there's a _new_ character who's _worse_. Also, what could have been a simple Good Guys/Bad Guys scenario is nicely complicated (here's a hint: what if ACT UP turned really nasty). If you have a lot of free time, this is less of a waste of it than your second hour of web surfing, but more than your first.
Rating:
Summary: i couldn't put it down
Review: Ah, the familiar characters, the interesting plot twists, and the enchanting way Hobb has of telling her story. I could not put it down, and I don't regret it. This was definitely a book to savor and when I was done... I can't wait to get the 2nd book in this series. My bf and I are eagerly waiting for Dec. 2nd, when Golden Fool will come out in paperback.
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Summary: Stirring
Review: I had never read any of Robin Hobb's books when I picked this one up. I was unaware there was a previous series, but when I started reading, it didn't matter. Hobb wrote so convincingly, and was so in touch with Fitz that I understood him quickly. The book was somewhat slow at the beginning, but I didn't care. It gives the newer readers time to step back and absorb the information, and the old readers time to get used to Fitz again. Hobb's style of writing is that kind that puts a lump in your throat. It's believable, stirring. This is what is supposed to happen when you read a book: to feel all of the emotions the main character feels, to feel like you're really there walking down the road. In the story, I must admit that I felt a tad irritated with the Fool. It wasn't until I read the Assassin's trilogy that I began to connect with him. That's just as well, for you have to understand him, as the entire series is named after him. There were a few other things that brought the book down, but in the long run, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, a weak & inappropriate followup to a great trilogy
Review: Finding Hobb's "Assassin's Apprentice" and the two books that followed it were like rediscovering fantasy all over again. With the genre so flooded by Robert Jordenesque tripe, those three books stand out as wonderful, moving, masterful works. And yes, folks, let's face it, the end of the trilogy -- despite those dangling hints and untied threads -- was *perfect*. It wasn't Hollywood. It wasn't necessarily happy. But it was right. It was an ending that left you with a lump in your throat, an ending that was true to all that had come before. The only way it should have, and could have, ended. Lovely. (I mean really, even though it's hard to but a good series down, do we really want them to extend ad nauseum a la Mr. Jordan?) By picking Fitz's story back up in this series Hobb has done the character and the original series a disservice. Have to say that, as much as I like this author. On another level, this first in the new series is engaging and a good read, and in some way's Fitz's new maturity fits (and it others it doesn't, is too easy). Same however can't be said of the second (Tawny Man book 2). In the final analysis, keep supporting this author but if you loved the first three Fitz books... ...you should let the story rest where it is supposed to, in that lonely cabin, with Fitz and Nighteyes waiting to make their dragon.
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Summary: Too slow, until the end.
Review: Well... I'm a big fan of Robbin Hobbs. I loved the FarSeer trilogy, I thought the Living Ships trilogy was very good, but this new installment? I regret to inform you that this is not what a FarSeer fan would expect it to be. The biggest problem is that Fitz has grown too old and weary. I can see why he became that way, he's had so much happen to him, but it doesn't make for an interesting book. The first hundred pages are devoted to Fitz's depressed ramblings and worries as he stays inside his cot doing pretty much nothing. Nothing happens to him, he doesn't make anything happen. It's so for such a long time that I almost wanted to put the book down. The only reason I kept going was that I thought the pace would eventually pick up. Even at her worst, Hobb's writing is so good that you keep on reading to simply see how she expresses Fitz's thoughts. (The book mainly consists of Fitz's thoughts. He thinks, thinks, and thinks.) The good thing? I could completely believe everything that was happening. I'd expect someone who's gone through such trauma as Fitz has to be so depressed and boring and introverted. Still. I mean, I didn't buy the book to read a study on the human mind. I bought it for an interesting read. Now interesting doesn't mean arrows and swords flying around, but it does mean cutting out some of the more uninteresting parts of life and displaying the more interesting parts. It's what every writer should do when revising. If the writer fails, the editer should do her job. You know what this book felt like? It felt like that girl in math class who CAN'T LEAVE A SINGLE THING OUT WHEN SHE'S TALKING. You know, the one who tells you who did what, when, where, how, in what manner, what it could have meant, what she thinks it meant, what her friend thinks it meant, her related expereinces... Until you just want to slap her to make her shut up. Fitz doesn't connect with anyone else. He's stayed for too long in his cot (I told you to go out and excercise, Fitz!) and it shows. Throughout the whole book he'll connect with only two characters, and not that much. There's almost no dialogue, either. Because of Fitz's situation, which is being holed up all the time trying to conceal his identity, readers can't see what's going on. This is a big problem. The former books worked because the readers could live in the Six Duchies; now, along with Fitz, we are exiled and shuttered in the dark. Hobbs should have either changed the plot so that Fitz had more going on, or she should have told it from another view point, a view point more free to roam and experience and live. Dutiful would have been a good choice. Maybe the Fool. Or else, like the Liveship trilogy, from a third point of view... Anything that wouldn't have made this book feel so thin and stretched out. I'm disappointed. But I'm going to check out the next book to see if it's any better. I feel I have an obligation to see how the story ends.
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Summary: Too Slow
Review: I had already read the Farseer Trilogy before I picked this book up. I was a big fan of Assasins Aprentice and of Assasins Quest, however, Royal Assasin was just too slow without enough plot development to be a good book. It is one thing to have a slow book that gives backround stories at ever turn. This is the way The Wind of the Forelands is written and it is excellent. Instead, Hobb writes about the scenery and feelings in such detail that it becomes very tiresome. If you like extended scenery detail, then this is a good book. However, if you are like me and like either action or backround stories, then this book will disapoint, much like Royal Assasin.
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Summary: Fool's Errand
Review: Fitz must rejoin the world of politics, and as before, sorrow awaits him. I was up until 2 AM reading this book and cried through a good portion of it. That's a strong recommendation. This is much tighter and faster-moving than the previous books in the series (and it is very much in the series; it wouldn't stand alone well), with a lot happening, definitely a page-turner. Like the others, it's character-driven, and Hobb has an excellent grasp of personality. I particularly like the Fool -- and 1/2 way through the NEXT book I STILL don't know the answer to the big question, and actually I'm getting a bit tired of the mystery, but in this volume the tension between the Fool and Fitz works wonderfully. Whereas the Old Blood seemed a bit extraneous before, it's central here, and I was glad to find that characters who looked like simple villains at first become more complex. There are some holes in the plot, but nothing fatal. I think this will really appeal to readers who like decidedly emotional, character-driven fantasy with decent sentence-level writing and an interesting but easily understood world. Hobb has the vital talent of putting her characters through hell down pat. It isn't a series for fans of "idea stories", I don't think -- I don't mean that it doesn't have ideas but that it's almost completely character-driven. It is good solid fantasy and at its best transcends that.
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Summary: And the phoenix arises.
Review: After fifteen years FitzChivalry has finally emerged out of his shell to once again serve his Crown. Hobb's first series, the Farseer Trilogy, told of Fitz's adolescence and his struggle to aid his king against both the Red-Ship Raiders and the traitorous Prince Regal. Fitz succeeds in this, but at an extremely valuable cost. Even Mrs. Hobb admits that Fitz suffered more than she originally intended. That series was good, but it left quite a bitter aftertaste. Her next series, The Liveship Traders, was in an entirely different vein and seemed more experimental. I thought it had a good start but in the end did not live up to expectations. Now, this series she is working on seems like it will have all the best elements of her fiction with all the bad elements culled out. It seems as if her first two trilogies have been preparing her for this one. I think the book description is right when it says that this trilogy promises to be her most spectacular yet. The story starts with Fitz in his cottage, and I must admit doesn't move from there until page 220. But it didn't really seem to drag, not too much, anyway. This is because of her superb, perhaps even unmatched, characterization. In all my reading career I don't think I've ever come to know a character more than FitzChivalry. He is extremely well-crafted, with numerous flaws, as of course any person would have. But she doesn't stop with Fitz; all of her characters have such depth- the only difference between them and Fitz is that she reveals Fitz's depth while with the others it remains obscured, and this makes it all the richer. And so it was that throughout this whole book I did not get bored, action or no action. The first 220 pages were not only the story revving up, but also a rehash of the past fifteen years, and I think this is necessary. There is one part where Fitz is telling the Fool of the six years he spent traveling, and this takes up a good portion. I think this is where the book drags most. Finally he leaves his cottage and goes to Buckkeep. Once there, Chade informs him that Prince Dutiful has gone missing and that Fitz is the only one to find him. So off he goes. By page 300 the action starts picking up, and doesn't stop unitl the climax. I liked the bit about a conspiracy. Hobb's never done anything like that before, and it comes out all right. As they follow the Prince and go deeper the plot becomes darker, though it doesn't get as dark as I would have liked. It's a good story. My four stars are because of the slow start and the fact that the climax seems a bit abrupt. I know I said that I was not bored because of the characterization, but I still could have enjoyed it better if the action was better managed. And if I can think of a way for a book to be better that's not nitpicking, I won't give five stars. This is a good beginning to the series. It had a definate conclusion to it, not leaving many loose ends. I think this is because not only is it a beginning to a trilogy, but it also has to bridge that fifteen-year gap. I get the feeling that the next two books will be more tightly woven together. I also get the feeling that this series will end on a happier note than the previous series. This book, like all Hobb books, was not painless but it did end with a promise of better things to come. Hobb has done much foreshadowing concerning Dutiful, Nettle, and especially the Fool(though I won't say more for those of you who haven't figured it out yet.) I have becaome very attached to Fitz and very much want to see him receive the happiness he deserves.
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