Rating: 
Summary: Amazing, a great ending to a great series
Review: A fantastic, all though a little sad, ending to a great series. I can only hope she writes another story with the Fool and Fitz. I skipped her Liveship series but after reading the Tawny Man series and I regret it. I got the distinct fealing I missed something. So to anyone looking for a good fantasy series, definetly read these.
Rating: 
Summary: Hated the ending!
Review: After NINE books, I was looking forward to some answers to a few questions, one huge one of which Hobb leaves hanging, making me wonder if she's coming back to the series at a later date. I hope so, since the ending left me not only cold, but resentful. The book is well paced and well written, and as with all Hobb books, I have teared up unexpectedly and then laughed a few pages later. The character of Thick is so gently drawn, and the Fool is one of my favorite fantasy characters, reminding me in a way of Agent Pendergast from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's books. But Fitz, poor Fitz, "poor me" Fitz- he was never meant for a storybook ending. Life isn't that way, and I really, truly feel like Hobb copped out. I was left holding the book, looking for a postscript, SOMETHING, to remove my utter distaste and disbelief at what I had just read. It's a magnificent series of books, all nine, but to me, the ending was a revolting letdown!
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.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it.
Review: I couldn't read this book fast enough, but it is impossible to read this book quickly. This is not an action book. It is a character driven novel, but that does not mean that it lacks action. Robin Hobb develops characters like few others. I found myself alternatively furious with Fitz and then cheering him on. I'm not a big fan of First Person narrative since it limits exposure to other characters, but this book couldn't have been written any other way.
This was an extemely satisfying ending to three very good series. All the characters evolve and grow as the pages turn and each one is satisfyingly complete when the book is done.
Before starting the book, my expecations for FitzChivalry's and the Fool's relationship were sky high. As I read, I felt a little let down by that devolpment, but when I wrapped up the entire book, I felt a real since of satisfaction.
Rating: 
Summary: reads like life, and yet not quite like life
Review: I find I shouldn't leave the Fitz books without saying goodbye in a review. The series as a whole is perhaps my favorite story to come out in the last decade. Fitz is a splendid protagonist, the Fool perhaps the greatest fantasy character of all time. The Assassin trilogy in particular renewed my faith in the emotional power of story, after I thought I'd been pretty well jaded by adulthood. I could hardly put those down; I could hardly put Fool's Fate down, but read most of it off in one compulsive and completely irresponsible afternoon. Hobb makes you read. I think it's because she drives the story with major secrets, but keeps feeding you partial resolutions throughout, so that you can hope the end of the next chapter is a good stopping place (you tell yourself you hope this, but of course, you don't), yet when you reach that resolution, another tension has begun. She interlocks her plot-tensions brilliantly--a wonderful writer. Fool's Fate reads less like a novel than like an autobiography. Fitz, Dutiful, Chade travel oversea to slay the dragon Icefyre (or to prevent the slaying, as the case may be) and win for Dutiful the lovely, cool, and politically-advantageous hand of Narcheska Elliania. The dragon element of the plot--indeed, the novel's ostensible driving force--is resolved with 200 pages to go, however (as opposed to Assassin's Quest, the final book of that trilogy, when Verity flies off with 20 pages to go); the remainder of the book finds Hobb clipping off, one by one, all the taut ropes of Fitz's life, so that we see Fitz, at the end, slack and content in a situation of his own deep liking. When I was reading the book, I liked this, because I've been with Fitz from the beginning, and am frankly more interested in him than I am in the quest for the dragon. I want him to find answers for his life, for my sake and for his. But in the end, I have two complaints about the extended denouement: Hobb answers too many of his life's questions, and she does not answer them in sufficient depth. I give you, for example, the Old Blood/Piebald scenario, which we had been led to care about in the first two books of this series, but which resolves itself in this book thoroughly and with scarcely a mention. Fitz wasn't there to see it. As an autobiographical ploy, this makes sense (a lot of things which affect our lives we aren't around to see to completion), yet as a device in a novel, it leaves the reader unsatisfied. The ending is far too cursory; months, seasons, years go by in pages. What this amounts to is a lack of integration between Fitz's personal life and the novel's plot, a notable difference from the Assassin trilogy, where Fitz's life and identity were the plot. Perhaps because of this, Hobb's justly-lauded emotional machinery begins to clank (especially apart from the excellent character Thick). Sometimes I just didn't buy the character motivations, felt instead like "of course this had to happen for plot purposes," as if plot led character, not vice versa. Despair and the joy of discovery--the source of much tumult and plot-generation in the first four books--are gone. Perhaps Fitz is too old for either of those things. One hopes not. Do these complaints mean that you shouldn't read the book? No, no. Hobb is still Hobb; there are lovely--even perfect--plot twists (e.g., the relationship the Fool wants with Fitz), delicate emotional moments (e.g., a reconciliation between Thick and Fitz), a richly-detailed fantasy world (welcome to the Outislands), and a lot of people you can't help but come to like.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing series yet .....
Review: I have several sleepless nights the last 10 days as I read the Tawny man series. Hobb is a brilliant writer and this series is simply mesmerizing. The plot is there and of course the magic but it is the characters who hold me spellbound. Hobb's characters are vividly alive and I will always remember the Fool, Fitz and of course Nighteyes. Yet why do I feel sort of betrayed by the end of "Fool's Fate". Yes, Fitz has suffered alot since the beginning of the Farseer Trilogy and he deserves better. But why a conventional one big happy-ever-after family ending. Maybe because I never like Molly. Fitz's reason for loving her even after 16 years just elude me. All through the Tawny Man series I was led to believe and do believe of the love between Fitz and the Fool. Fitz was even willing to take Fool's place in death to save his friend (this part of the story simply heart wrenching, driving me to tears as did Nighteye's exit). So why does the Fool have to leave Fitz after all the struggles the two friends have been through. Fitz's ultimate reunion with his family just seems contrived. Hobb does try to justify their separation but her excuse seems lame and I expect much better from Hobb's imagination. Unless she is thinking of a sequel, which I hope so. Still this is a beautiful series (including of course the Farseer trilogy) and any reader who like his fantasy to have a soul should embrace the story of Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes.
Rating:
Summary: DISAPOINTMENT
Review: I read the first two books of the Tawny Man and was thrilled, but then I read the third.
It seemed to me that Hobb was leading us down a certain path with these books, but then at the end of Fool's Fate swurved and tumbled of a cliff.
The story is not in keeping with the previous books rhythm! We learn that the majority of his emotions thus far are because he "dulled" the edges of his world and he miraculously get them back and the world is once again crystal clear as is his love for Molly, whom was already described as just a youthful love. No, now it is true love and oh! since she's available now (strange coincidence)he can go get her back!
Angered? Yes I was, but I could have been fine with this upset that is until she dismissed the Fool. All that happens, all that they were put through and the sacrifices that they made for one another and yet in the end he is completely dismissed form Fitz's life as just another sad memory, another regret? No, that I couldn't stand. The Fool loved him, that was made clear long ago and yet now that they are closer than they have ever been he can simply leave? I understand that he was put under a trumendous ordeal, but even that pales to the sudden attitude the Fool has at the end and really the only word I can think of to describe it is exactly that "a dismissal".
Starting at the scene before Girl-on-a-Dragon and leading up to the cabin and Fitz's diparture the book begins to fall apart. It feels as if we are being led in a direction and then swiflty turned about the other rode forgotten as well as all the possiblities it held.
I dearly loved the Farseer Trilogy, in fact I still do, but this new trilogy has now spoiled it for me. I caution anyone who loved that trilogy as much as me and who loved the Fool, don't read these books. Simply stop at the last trilogy because you'll be dissapointed.
Angela.
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: Is the tale all told?
Review: Robin Hobb creates truly wonderful, engrossing characters whose lives and relationships are created with superb writing. Several readers have expressed dissatisfaction with the ending of the tale. But do you really feel like its an ending when you get there? Some do, others feel there are many things left just a little too tidy (and very bitter about it, they seem). However, people of the Fool's kind live a long time. Would it be fair that he should see his Beloved's death? Likewise, if you recall, Skillmasters tend to be long-lived. So what a twist of Fate, that Fitz would be in that role instead. And where do you think Fitz would go to live out the rest of his long, unambitious life? Lots of things left to think about. And write about. Maybe from the Fool's perspective? Now that would be worth reading.
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