Rating: 
Summary: wonderful ending
Review: I came upon the assasin series by chance perhaps 5 years ago, and have followed avidly through 3000+ pages. For all his suffering and agonizing (almost but not as bad as the stephenson leper)we have all followed Fitz and wanted his happiness as much as the FOol. What an ending. THis was magnificent. What was even better than the story in this 6th book - (which was very exciting and riveting) was the 100 pages at the end wrapping things up between all the characters you have known and loved. Many authors skip this part - but THANK YOU ROBIN HOBB - I feel very closed, ended, satisfied. You must read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough Robin Hobb!
Review: I don't read a lot of fantasy these days, but somehow I picked up Robin Hobb one day and I'm extremely grateful. I don't want to spoil the story for anyone, so I'll just say that this was a great book, and that it was just as satisfying as all the rest of her novels. The only regret I have is that there are no more for me to read, and I can't find any other fantasy author that I like nearly as well. If you're new to Hobb, you shouldn't start with Fool's fate. Begin with Assassin's apprentice and read the her other books first. And if anyone knows of another author as good as Hobb, let me know!
Rating: 
Summary: STUNNING CONCLUSION TO A WONDERFUL SERIES
Review: Turning the last page in the epilog I was finally able to let out that breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. After reading so many really bad endings to both novels and series lately (what is this, poop on your protagonist decade?) I was almost afraid to read the conclusion to FitzChivalry's story. Well without going into detail that would spoil the ending I will say that as endings go this one is darn good. Not perfect mind you, it's not an easy one, not everybody ends up in the happy ever after, although many do, but all in all considering Fitz's life and the horrendous torture, physical and emotional scaring he lived through this is like a dream come true. In addition to the tight, well thought-out conclusion (thank you Ms. Hobb!), the decent, although somewhat meandering storyline, the strong characters that have been a hallmark of the FitzChivalry saga carry the story to it's finale. For those of you who have been following these two series (it's really just one six book series) you know just how deeply involved you can get, in fact I don't know how you can avoid it, into both the psyche and life of these characters. With each volume you know more about what makes them tick then you probably do about yourself, the word portraits for each are penned just that vividly! Hopefully you have enjoyed it as much as I. For those who have not read the other two volumes in the Tawny Man series or the Farseer trilogy (I'm sorry you really have to read them even though they are arguably three of the most depressing books ever written), STOP! Don't even try to pick this up and understand. Start at the beginning with ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE and work your way to FOOL'S FATE, if you don't you simply won't know what's going on or why the characters do what they do. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this one.
Rating:
Summary: Everything and more than I could have imagined
Review: This book is a jumble of words that takes all the messy things in life and swirls them into a storm all about you, and never sets them down again. All loose threads are tied off and yet life continues on, messy as ever, because that's just life. I do not want to recount the plot because those that stuck with the series through it's last eight books will know where it must go - Buckkeep, Icefire's icy island, Tintaglia's blue skies and back again. Knowing this was the last book in the story, the very last, I treasured each page. And such is Robin Hobb's writing, that I could have accepted a dozen moments in the story as the conclusion. There are so many moments of homecoming, looming gulfs of intrigue, hopelessness and bubbling hope, that a lesser writer could have accepted any one of them as the conclusion of this book. Then, they could go on and write another book, and then another, from any of the plot twists here. Not Robin Hobb. This is a heart pouring out, not a milking cow of a book. The pacing is just what it should be. In every place where she could have gone faster, and summarized instead of showing every detail, and left me wondering forever what that scene could have been like had it been more complete - she went all out, holding nothing back. That's a gift and it is given in this book more times than I could count. It's like the moments in your favorite books that you go back to over and over and reread every year. Here, you can reread the whole book or any part of it and you'll never have enough, I think. Her talent owes me and makes me green with envy. I could think of no more perfect conclusion to not just one, but three trilogies. It is, in every way, a satisfying and crowning achievement, not least for the fact that it leaves a door open for unexpected futures to intrude.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfying conclusion to a great series
Review: The heir to the throne of the Six Duchies, Prince Dutiful promises his fiancée, that he will present her with a dragon's head, which means an expedition to the remote tundra like Out Island. The former fool Lord Golden knows that he is going to die on this northern wasteland trek, but feels it is his duty to accompany the Prince. His friend, who is also an assassin, FitzChivalry Farseertries tries to persuade Golden into not going, but fails. When they reach one of the independent Out Islands, the royal retinue meets the Hetgurd who disagree with the slaying. The teenage prince negotiates a deal with the Outislanders. He and a small party accompanied by Hetgurd warriors will set off on the trek to slice off the head of a dragon. However, Dutiful and company run into a new problem as the local dragon community refuse to cooperate. Will the two species war, cooperate with some sort of deal such as an exchange for one of the regal crew, or will Dutiful break his first promise to his future wife? The third entry in the FitzChivalry Farseertries narrated fantasy series is a delightful tale that shows the complexities of groups trying to come together on an objective, but with each member bringing baggage and an agenda to the table (ship?). The story line is exciting, but it is the ensemble that makes Robin Hobb's realm seems so real. Fans will enjoy this deep look at those who must carry out the wishes of their leader although unlike real life whether it is World War One or Operation Iraqi where the decision makers stay away from the battlefield, Dutiful to his credit joins them on the front line. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: All His Secrets Come Home to Nest
Review: Fool's Fate is the third novel in The Tawny Man series, following Golden Fool. In the previous volume, the Fool and Fitz have returned to Buckkeep Castle as Lord Golden and Tom Badgerlock. Since Dutiful has the Skill, Chade has chived him into forming a Skill coterie with Fitz as Skillmaster and with the prince, his half-witted servant Thick, and Chade himself as students. Meanwhile, the Outislanders have made a approach to Queen Kettricken for the Narcheska of the Narwhal clan to marry Prince Dutiful. Such a marriage could reduce conflict and increase trade between the Six Duchies and the Outisland clans. However, Chade and Fitz are suspicious of some strange aspects of the negotiations, particulary of the demand that Dutiful prove his worthiness by cutting off the head of a black dragon embedded in the ice on a remote island. Moreover, one of the Narcheska's handmaidens seems to have contacts with the Piebalds. In this novel, Fool is no longer talking to Fitz after a confrontation. The Fool has moved into town and is establishing quite a reputation as Lord Golden, a rich and merry noble. Fitz is still living in Buckkeep Castle as Tom Badgerlock, but he is now masquerading as a Prince's guard. His duties allow him enough spare time to continue training the coterie and perform special tasks for Chade. He is also getting better acquainted with his daughter Nettle through his dreams, for she seems to have a sizable Skill talent for entering another's dreams and taking control of them. Nettle's brother Swift has shown up at Buckkeep Castle after extensive quarrels with his father over curbing his Wit. Fitz is given charge over his training and soon steers him toward Web, the Witmaster of Dutiful's Wit Coterie. However, Swift is very argumentative and sullen and, worst yet, refuses to conceal his Wit from possible enemies. Then comes the time for Prince Dutiful and his entourage to sail for the Out Islands. The Fool insists on coming, but Chade conspires with Fitz to frustrate these plans. Fitz tries to send Swift back to his father, but Swift attaches himself to the Witmaster's party. Thick doesn't want to go onboard the ship; his attendant Sada has told him he will be seasick and may die from it, so he forces himself into sickness and Fitz is chosen to tend to him. Then Thick lapses into a fever and Fitz has to treat him for that. In this story, a historic voyage to the Six Duchies' longtime enemies is shredded by many little disappointments and aggravations. Then the Outislanders insist on additional conditions for taking the dragon's head, including a drastic reduction in the number of the Prince's guard. Also, the Outislanders send six clan warriors with them to witness the battle and, if necessary, to intervene to protect the dragon Icefyre. Things are so depressing that the growing attraction between Dutiful and Ellinia only becomes a cause for chaperoning. However, the reduced party reached Aslevjal without further incidences other than Thick having a residual cough. They set up a base camp and prepare to cross the glacier. This story brings Fitz's love for the Fool in direct conflict with his prophecy, for he is determined to protect the Fool from the death that has been forseen. But events don't always occur as expected when the Catalyst is involved. This time the White Prophet is himself surprised when the Changer intervenes in his life. Fitz also finds all his secrets unraveling and some decisions unmade. Despite the continuing danger, the dead Witted King seems to be rising from the grave. His rehabilutation, however, is not without violence. Highly recommended for Hobb fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of covert conflict within medieval settings and with strong elements of magic and prophecy.
Rating:
Summary: Fool's Fate
Review: I'm so glad I discovered Robin Hobbs! I'm a woman, but I am leary of female writers as they tend to get maudlin and too "tidy". I want pathos, action and unexpected plot twists! Ms Hobbs provides them all with admirable aplomb. I'm left wondering at the Fool's Fate. This cannot be all there is!! I hope Ms Hobbs can write more of the ever intiguing Fool, he is an ammazing character! I was left utterly bereft when this series ended. I was briefly saved when I read the Liveship series, but I'm adrift again. Please write more!
Rating:
Summary: Happily ever after?
Review: The Tawny Man series was phenomenal. Hobb built on the simpler foundation laid in the original trilogy, and made the story and the characters so much more complex and enriched. Fitz's continual rediscovery and reinvention of himself is a great read, and many other characters are revealed in a new light as all the bits of story begin to be explained and resolved in this final book.
I recommend this series greatly, as well as the original Farseer Trilogy which should definitely be read first.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: At last we have a really great fantasy series that ENDS effectively!
FitzChivalry Farseer is what Robert Jordan would call a "Ta'veren", the kind of character around whom history weaves itself, except that he has a special friend, the Fool, who helps to guide him through the changes he makes to his world. Robin Hobb has created these two characters so well that they are easily in the top 10 fantasy characters of all time. Magic is just a subtle flavour for this series, used to illuminate the moralities and intricacies of her world and the people who live in it, and as with all the best fantasies, it's use extracts an appropriate consequence from the user.
I don't want to go into the plot on the 9th book of the series -- if you've read the first 8, you have an idea what's coming and don't really need this review, if not, go get "Assassin's Apprentice" and get started! The Farseer Trilogy is where it all begins, where we learn to care about the characters and their world. It ends well, with only a hint that there could be more. I actually started to read Robin Hobb with the second trilogy, The Liveship Traders, which stood by itself so well that I could have stopped there, had I not been compelled by the excellence of Hobb's writing to go back to the beginning for more! The Tawny Man Trilogy, of which this book is the finale, is the icing on the cake. It's only drawback is that the love of the ships and the sea, which fairly oozed from the oakum of the Liveship Traders, is sadly missing from the naval scenes, but this is made up for by a fabulously imagined story which leaves the reader hungry for the next installment. ALL the loose ends are wrapped up, and there is no preface for another book at the end, so if Hobb intends to write more books in this world, she will need to (and easily could) go off on a tangent. Personally, I am keeping my copies so that I can read them through again in a few years, as they are the best I have read yet, of many, many series! As Fitz would say, "I am content".
Rating:
Summary: Hobb stepped it up two notches
Review: FOOL'S FATE is the finale of the TAWNY MAN trilogy and, in reality, the finale (for now) of the nine-book series, comprised of the FARSEER, LIVESHIP, and TAWNY MAN trilogies. After using GOLDEN FOOL to develop the characters and set up the story of FOOL'S FATE, Hobb gives us a roller-coaster ride of adventures, intrigues, twists, revelations, and character transformations.
I was mildly disappointed in GOLDEN FOOL, as it seemed to be too blatantly a middle or bridge book, with excessive emphasis on character development and setting up for the next book, with not enough action. It was still a very good book, but a notch below the first book of the TAWNY MAN trilogy, FOOL'S ERRAND. GOLDEN FOOL was also a bit depressing, as FitzChivalry mourned Nighteyes, made mistake after mistake (usually based in excessive caution), and failed at most everything he attempted. Near the end of GOLDEN FOOL, the pace quickened and FitzChivalry finally became emboldened, stood up for himself, and began moving forward. Those trends carried forward into FOOL'S FATE, as FitzChivalry took charge of his own life, righted past wrongs, and became decisive and, in some ways, quite masterful, in his actions.
I will not give away any spoilers, but many, many things are accomplished in this book. Some are quite predictable, while others are not. The one thread that remains dangling, is that FitzChivalry still has not found another Wit-partner.
I could not help but notice that, at the end of FOOL'S FATE, most of the main characters are still alive, one has set off on a grand adventure, and an entire new generation of potential main characters is introduced. Whether or not Robin Hobb decides to launch another trilogy related to these series, she certainly has left herself room to do so.
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