I've just gotten to the end of Fool's Fate. I usually quite enjoy when new readers share their reactions to something I've read, so hopefully some people here will be interested in my immediate reactions to this book/series. I'm sorry if it's a bit long.
This will include major spoilers up until Fool's Fate, and a reminder to please be careful if you've read past me.
I really loved this series. It feels like an extension and improvement of everything that went into the Farseer trilogy. There were many unresolved plotlines and themes I was desperate for more depth on, and I often got even more than I expected. To order my thoughts somehow, I've decided to break it down by each character's journey.
Fitz - How can anyone not love Fitz's character arc in Tawny Man? It was so healing to watch him go from a suspicious, scowling, violent shadow of a dead man in Fool's Errand to an honest, open, even verging on optimistic person in Fool's Fate, within reach of his hopes and wishes and surrounded by all the love he denied himself. I felt that it was too much to wish for Fitz to get his memories back from the dragon, but not only did it happen, Hobb shaped it into an 'a-ha' moment where you realised just how much he was missing all along. I don't know if others relate, but I often find I take on Fitz's mood reading these books, and I felt this change viscerally as if it were my own.
I can see why some people find his ending weak after all the drama and transcendence he went through, but the Fool's analogy about Nighteyes fit well - this was Fitz's time to go be with his pack and live in the natural way he was meant to. That may be to deny higher parts of his being, but you can't say he doesn't deserve the simplicity and happiness of it.
The Fool - Oh my lord, my favourite character just became even favouriter! The Fool shoulders such a heavy burden and his storyline was exquisitely sad. It's heartbreaking that Fitz has never really loved the Fool back as fiercely and completely, always setting boundaries on it. I had to read the quarrel scene in Golden Fool twice because it was so shockingly to-the-point for these books. The scene with the rooster crown was the perfect resolution for that. I loved his sense of bewilderment at no longer knowing his purpose in the end, and it made complete sense for him to decide to leave (though I wish the parting was cleaner). If I didn't know there was a series out there titled 'Fitz and the Fool trilogy', this ending would have been unbearable.
Molly - I totally get why people see Fitz's return to her as a let-down. His relationships with Nighteyes and the Fool were given so much more development and portrayed as so pure and lofty that his human love interest seems mundane and underdeveloped by comparison. But I think that's the point. She represents the mundane and human needs Fitz never got to enjoy, and her lack of page-time creates a sense that she is Fitz's private joy, private even from us readers, and I can't begrudge him that. I love her feistiness and how she made Fitz earn his way back to her. She pales in comparison to the Fool, but I won't let that make me dislike her.
Chade - I'll always like his conniving ways, but he became much more unlikeable in this series, always trying to control Fitz and have his way while seizing at personal power. My estimation of him went down and the gap between him and Fitz now is palpable.
Burrich - I loved his reunion with Fitz and his final stand. A very fitting end for his character. I wasn't that sad because narratively, I knew he was doomed. It was sad that he never got over his internalised homophobia prejudice towards the Wit, but I love that everything he built and worked for gets to live on.
Web - The most likeable character in the series. Who knew simple kindness would be so effective? I loved him gently trying to socialise Fitz. I'm unhappy with Fitz for basically discarding him at the end.
Nettle - My powerful princess. She's basically the heroine of a different story and I loved how relevant she became. It feels like Fitz spends the least time with her out of all the children in the end, which is unfair considering she's the one who's actually his daughter and the person he did it all for.
Starling - Her ending made me the saddest. I loved her character at first, but in this series, she became increasingly petty and shallow. She's got a child, but we know her marriage isn't that great, so I think she gets the worst outcome here.
I'm conscious of this getting too long so I'll leave it there, but happy to discuss other characters/elaborate in the comments!
Abso-freaking-lutely. I'm always a mess when I'm reading this series.
Welcome to the Chade haters club. Even if it takes you a while to join us, you're always welcome.
Correct, this is something I don't think people give Burrich enough shit for on the whole.
Yeah, Web is awesome. And I don't know about you, but I was just as on guard about him as Fitz at first, but by the end he's clearly the single kindest person Fitz has met in his life and he can't find it in himself to accept that.
Starling does take quite the turn in this trilogy, but I see it as kind of a fulfillment for her. Is it perfect? Obviously not. But her main concern has always been security (and obviously not devoted romance). And in that regard she's gotten what she wanted.
I adore the TM trilogy the most but I do think it’s a shame we didn’t get more from Molly and Fitz in person.
It’s limited by being obviously Fitz’s pov so unless he’s there with her he’s not going to be talking to her, but maybe an extra chapter or two at the end dedicated to their actual interactions rather than a summary of the events would’ve helped make it feel like she’s less of an ideal and more of an actual person.
I also just finished this trilogy about two weeks ago (read for the first time) and I'm onto Dragon Keepers. My thoughts on this one:
Fitz: Fitz is a frustrating dunce at times. Maybe this is the therapist in me, but his spats with the Fool in particular were agonizing to read. "I'm just going to be upset and then we're going to avoid each other" for a book followed by "I'm gonna totally sabatogue his plan because I care about him, he'll get it" is like the worst communication I've ever seen and he does it over and over.
Speaking of therapy, I assume Fitz getting his memories back is a metaphor for dealing with trauma and grief. You just can't repress those memories and avoid those emotions. You have to feel them even if they hurt, so you can grow and move on. I also assume it was a way to have Fitz have a mulligan for how crappy he's handled himself since the end of the last trilogy and not attempting to contact the ones that care about him (Molly, Patience, Burrich, etc).
The character growth in that aspect was refreshing, especially him handling his kids of Nettle and Dutiful (sorry Fitz, but in the genetics world Dutiful is biologically your kid, it doesn't matter that Verity body swapped with you. He got the Wit from you bro). Fitz still comes across as a guy that has like no interpersonal skills which makes sense from how he was treated as a bastard to being a hermit in the woods. From his handling and navigating Hap, to bungling his relationship with Jinna he just seems to misstep socially everywhere. He also seems super oblivious to how Kettricken treats him, and it's wayyyyy outside what would be considered normal, or even civil for her station. Her tending to him while he recovered from his Skill induced healing? Fitz doesn't even dwell on the idea that she has literally a keep full of servants that can do that but for some reason he's being tended to by the QUEEN personally. And I believe she's in her nightgown. Like come on guy. Not reaching out to Patience was also frustrating to me, because she's essentially his mom.
Also his insistance of having to be Lord Golden's servant was also frustrating. Fitz later clearly is just a guardsman/Thick's babysitter during Dutiful's expedition. I think there could have easily been a recommendation made by literally anyone for Fitz to do something else in the keep if he really wanted to (but he doesn't want to even if he convinces himself otherwise). Fitz having to sneak through walls and watch things through peepholes gave off Bruno from Encanto energy (and it's sad). Then I'm like he's willingly choosing to be this way, so that's kinda on him.
I think the handling of the Skill in this trilogy is really interesting. Dutiful has it and is strong enough to break an imprint/skill command. Nettle has it and is an master of dreams, enough to banish a dragon despite being completely untrained. Thick, a random guy has it. Chade has it. This power/magic that didn't feel fully explored in the first trilogy suddenly becomes a key aspect of the trilogy. Also Fitz is a dumbass for not heeding the warnings of using the Travel Stones so often. That falls in line with like...a lot of his decisions so I'm not surprised that he magically lost a month after not listening.
The Fool: I think Fitz and his dynamic is frustrating, as mentioned. I think the foreshadowing of a "person you love that comes in and out of Fitz' life" is not actually Molly, but its The Fool instead. I did enjoy the cameo of Jek and Selden, and how that unnerved the Fool because "the bubbles are touching! They're not supposed to touch!" I get that Fitz would be upset that the Fool is suddenly also Amber (and how Paragon now has his face) but man, Fitz, everything isn't about you. I get how Fitz felt like he should know one of his closest companions, but the Fool has their own life too and if they want to go out and be a mysterious bead maker so be it. Not everyone wants to be a hermit in the woods for years and wait for Fitz.
The Fool willingly going to his death, followed by what sounds like an extended torture period, followed by death, followed by a rough rehab both in body and mind made me feel really bad for the Fool. Like the guy got betrayed by his beloved, flew on a stone/dragon lady, found the search party, got captured, got tortured, died, and then came back to find another Seer. I get why he'd want to part from Fitz, as he didn't see a future where he was alive and he's alive. Gotta do some soul searching on what to do which makes sense from me (and how selfish it was for Fitz to be upset about that).
Molly: I think they could have done a little more with Molly. More discussion about her kids, or about her life in general. I understand that it's not super important to the plot about her time with Burrich up until his death but you'd think she'd be a lot madder at Fitz for making her think he was dead for like...a decade.
Burrich: Him coming to the expedition gave off "character coming into the story to die" vibes so I wasn't surprised that that's exactly what happened. I thought it was nice that he was able to mend things with his son, and that he was also able to mend things with Fitz. I wish he had more time with Fitz but I think that's the entire point. Everyone has limited time, and sometimes that ending of time comes before it should or is convenient.
Chade: Chade went from tolerable mentor to grouchy, power hungry (in terms of the Skill) old man. Like dude we get it, you made TNT. Congratulations, now don't be stupid and use it willy nilly especially after you blew up your face and Rosemary's. His insistence to use it on the ice led directly to people dying. His excitement in the Skill learning is understandable, but I was totally expecting him to do something stupid and get lost in the Skill stream or die from attempting to heal himself. His power struggle with Fitz/Dutiful/Kettricken was frustrating (and also his weird courting of women super young than him, it gives me the ick). I'm fine if he kicks it, the future is now old man.
Web: Similarly, I agree that Web was refreshing as a character. I was totally waiting on a backstab or secret agent sort of thing, but that never happened so he's good in my book. I like how he keeps on telling Fitz that everyone keeps on saying they'll make time later, and later never comes. Something something about wisdom and old age that Fitz can learn from (but doesn't because he's a dum dum).
Nettle: One of my favorites and if anything happens to her I'd be devastated. Part of this is due to me having my own children.
Starling: Complicated feelings on this one. She's always been true to herself, but that also unfortunately looks like being flighty and not loyal in relationships. Cheating on her husband with Fitz, cheating on Fitz with her husband and keeping them separate because it made her happy. Then getting upset that Fitz is mad and is withholding affection from her because of it. Ok lady. However at the same time I've been in similar situations before where people are just unhappy in relationships (and I see it all the time in therapy with parents) and don't know what to do. So it's complicated to navigate the feelings of inadequacy of supposedly never being able to have a child and the impact that has in a relationship and have a hard time begrudging her for that, given minstrel isn't exactly a stable career choice.
Other thoughts: Elliania is an interesting character and had pretty good character development. The big secret of having to do the Pale Lady's bidding was good as well.
Fitz finds the lost Skill scrolls and just...leaves them there for the Pale Lady to then attempt to destroy them. Way to go Fitz. You were going through the Teleporting Stones anyways, would it have hurt for you to grab a few to take back? If the Pale Lady was successful, you'd be more of a dumbass.
Learning the hatched dragons are all weak and pathetic is sad. Learning some more about dragons is interesting though. An excerpt at the beginning of achapter hinted that people like Selden when they're taken in by the dragon isn't exactly a voluntary choice, and more akin to a Skill imprint to be loyal to the dragon. Which paints the dragons in a slightly different light of being a bit manipulative vs just people being awed and serving dragons.
Thick's character confuses me, due to mostly what I view as inconsistencies in relation to his mental capacities. I mentioned in a different post that I viewed him as on the autism spectrum (but could also have Down Syndrome), and him going from barely able to string words together to suddenly being able to speak in full sentences doesn't make sense to me from a developmental standpoint. I get he sees the world in a different way (hence his Skill music) but that doesn't explain how he essentially is a fully functioning, almost normal person by the end of the trilogy compared to how he was introduced.
Fitz' story could end where it did and I'd be content. However based off of the book titles, that does not seem to be the case.
I wonder if it would have been more interesting to see Molly react to rumours that Fitz is still alive. She must have heard them and how would that make her feel?
I liked Elliania, but also the fact she was acting under duress was so obvious and it was frustrating how long it took for the characters to work that out.
Thick was a really interesting character and it was refreshing to see mental difference represented in a fantasy novel. I interpreted it as him having downs syndrome. His openness and different perspective made a nice counterpoint to Fitz's sometimes closed and twisted thinking. It was a bit like how the wolf used to force him to focus on what mattered instead of convoluting everything. I agree his speech capacity did feel inconsistent - I guess it was meant to show that he was more capable all along than people had given him credit for, but it felt like an easy way to get past what were meant to be innate disabilities.
The Pale Lady was pretty good if somewhat cartoonish. I liked her being a sort of anti-Fool and I would've liked to see more interactions between those two before Fitz leaves. Trying to seduce Fitz and making the Fool watch was inspired villainy though.
This book definitely made the dragons come across as more sinister than they did in Liveship. I was glad they basically left at the end because I didn't feel any warmth towards them apart from pity at their predicament.