Rating: 
Summary: Another compelling chapter in a long series
Review: 2 a.m.... That's when I looked up and noticed what time it was. I remember thinking that I had to be at work in the morning and had better get some sleep. Then I kept reading...Robin Hobb has again proven to be a master storyteller, catching me up in the lives and concerns of the characters. The author weaves a mystical world of politics, intrigue and magic with enough grittiness to be believable. Before you read this book, read Hobb's Assassin series. The story picks up the lives of the main characters right where they were left at the end of the first trilogy. I don't think much of this book will make sense if you haven't already read the first trilogy. (You probably also ought to have read the Liveship trilogy. It's not essential so far, but I think I see hints that Hobb intends to tie all three trilogies together.) All in all, I thought this was a great book. Fun to read and very hard to put down. I was also please that it ended so well - enough loose ends that I can see where the trilogy is going, but not so many that I'll give up on the series before the last book is printed. I held back from 5 stars only because a trilogy of trilogies will be a bit much.
Rating: 
Summary: A new era in fantasy
Review: I believe that this series will go down as the greatest fantasy epic in this era. I started reading the Farseer trilogy and I fell in love with the characters, the story-line, and the plot. Robin Hobb has a clear and consise writing style, and it is not convoluted like several other fantasy series that I can think of. It has become popular to have multiple plots and storylines in fantasy novels lately, and what I've found is that those stories are not cohesive. They have no solid foundation, and nothing really happens. You don't get to know the characters. In this series you come to know the characters. There were times where my eyes watered with joy as I read, and this was a story that drew me out of this world and juxtaposed me into the world of FitzChivilry. It took me out of this mundane extistence and brought me somewhere new and exciting, to a place of joy and sorrow. I have not read very many series or books in recent years that have had so great an impact on me. This is a compelling series that offers a great deal to any who wishes to read it. I reccommend it. It is a breath of fresh air in a time where fantasy seems to be growing stagnant. Authors like Robin Hobb and Elizabeth Haydon are what makes fantasy great.
Rating: 
Summary: Utter Nonsense!
Review: I was shocked by how poorly Fitz's story has played out. The characters irritate more than interest and the plots are severely lacking. For some real fantasy, read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire or Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. This book is drivel. Plain and simple.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a GREAT read!!!!
Review: Robin Hobb has got to be one of the best writers of today's fantasy. Her plots are well thought out and the characters are very well drawn out, to the point that you really come to love or hate them respectively. In this book, she picks up the tale of Fitzchavalry Farseer and many of the characters from her first Farseer Trilogy. Although each trilogy is complete unto itself, many threads from her first two series, Farseer and Liveship Traders are pulled together, making all three trilogies a must read. There are many twists and turns in the plot and the reader is never left bored. The reader may be left a little anxious over the outcome of a character but Hobb always resolves each situation effectively. This world she has created is of a grand scale told in many locales on the planet. Her timing is superb. I would highly recommend this series to any fantasy fan.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Hobb.
Review: Not the best ever but a very solid book.
Rating:
Summary: well worth the wait!
Review: I love the Assassin series! I DON'T love the Liveship series. I see the ties between the two, but I do not agree that one has to have read the ship series to understand the Assassin books...probably because I didn't really understand the ship series! The Fool is such a mystery that I cannot seem to read fast enough to find out more. Poor Fitz, you have to love him. He seems so normal to me - he does dumb things, bad things happen to him...makes you want to jump in and help him. Robin Hobb's characters are so real - what an excellent writer!
Rating:
Summary: Foolish not to read this book
Review: Robin Hobb is one of those rare writers who can create a universe that entangles the readers into believing every aspect of it. We pick up Fitz's life 15 years or so after the end of the Farseer series and soon realize that Fitz (Tom Badgerlock) has no more control over his destiny than he did in the previous series. Called by his innate sense of responsiblity to friends and family, and his overwhelming sense of duty to his country, Fitz again undertakes a perilous journey to save the Kingdom. Unlike the first series though, Fitz embraces the little control that he has on events which surround him and draws strength from from that circumstance. By recognizing he has little personal choice, he is able to accomplish what must be done. Robin Hobb also brings in some more of the Mad Ship series into this seires, and I hope that a more complete explination of the Elderings (central to the Farseer and Mad Ship series) is in order. I had two quibbles with this book, first it is too much of a recap of the previous series (the curse of the second series) and it seems to me that his adopted son is too young for 15 years to have gone by.
Rating:
Summary: The White Prophet Returns
Review: Fool's Errand is the first novel in the Tawny Man trilogy. It continues the storyline described in the The Farseer and The Liveship Traders trilogies. In The Farseer trilogy, FitzChivalry Farseer, the Assassin's Assistant, has literally risen from the grave and disappeared with his wolf, Nighteyes, from the Six Duchies. Only Starling Birdsong, the Queen's Minstel, knows who and where he is. In this novel, FitzChivalry is known as Tom Badgerlock and is living with his adopted son, Hap, when his past life calls upon him in the form of Chade Fallstar, the Royal Assassin. His old mentor comes with news of family and friends and a request that Fitz return to Buckkeep Castle to tutor Prince Dutiful in the Skill. Fitz declines and and Chade returns to Buckkeep the following day. In the following months, Starling and Jinna the hedgewitch visit him and even the Fool returns for a while; the White Prophet and his Catalyst together again. After many days of exchanging the news, the Fool leaves and, some days later, Hap returns from working the harvests, disappointed in the life of a laborer. Then, a message comes from Chade urgently requesting that Fitz come to him in Buckkeep. Wanting to go to Buckkeep anyway to arrange an apprenticeship for Hap, Fitz and Hap travel with Nighteyes to the Castle. In Buckkeep town, Fitz finds the Fool, posing as Lord Golden, waiting to guide him to Chade, who informs him that Prince Dutiful has disappeared. While there is no evidence of foul play, Dutiful may have been lured away and kidnapped by the Piebalds, a group that uses exposure of their fellow Witted to gain power, for someone has sent a note claiming that Dutiful is Witted. Chade arranges an apprenticeship for Hap and Fitz and the Fool go looking for kidnappers. This new trilogy promises to take us even further into the backstory of the Six Duchies, especially in the nature of the Skill, Witted and other powers. Recommended for Hobb fans and anyone who enjoys tales of mystery and talent in a fantasy setting.
Rating:
Summary: Another fine Robin Hobb offering
Review: I always get excited when I have a new Robin Hobb to read. This is exciting, filled with emotion, action and rich detail. A great addition to the world of the Farseers and Liveships, and it's great to see the series converging.
Rating: 
Summary: Page turner despite one glaring inconsistancy
Review: If you were a fan of the original Assassin series, you're not going to be disappointed with this sequel. I wasn't. As everyone else has mentioned, you pick up the thread of Fitz's life 15 years after the last series. Hap has grown into a teenager and Fitz's life has become a dull routine until the appearence of The Fool draws him back into court politics at Buckkeep Castle. I only have two "complaints" that really didn't even stop my desire to tear through this book. The first is the slow unraveling of the tracking of Dutiful. The second is the inconsistancy with which she portrays Nighteyes. Not to give too much away about the story, but early on in the chase Nighteyes points out that Fitz may have to renew his Assassin skills in the hunt for Dutiful and kill again. Later when he needs to torture a prisoner to get information, Nighteyes comes up with an unwolflike conscience and puts a stop to it. WHAT? But like I said, it's an excellent read and doesn't disappoint. The characters, as in the Assassin series, make you root and cheer for their various dilemmas. A good page turner that you will want to fly through as fast as you can.
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