Fool’s Errand is the first book in the Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. It tells the story of how Fitzchivalry Farseer, living under the name of Tom Badgerlock, is drawn back into the political intrigues of the Farseer court. It starts with him being visited by a variety of old friends who he was close to when he was younger before he left the court. Several of them are trying to entice him back to court, one of them wants him to train the prince in a type of magic known as skill magic. He is extremely reluctant to do so as he is uncomfortable with using skill magic himself and prefers to use his wit magic instead. Eventually he is drawn back anyway though when the young prince disappears mere days before his betrothal ceremony and he is asked to help find the prince. Working with the man referred to as the Fool he travels around the country trying desperately to find the prince and then convince the prince to come back. In doing so he must confront his own use of the skill magic and reconcile his two types of magic, skill and wit, in a time when possessing the wit magic and the associated ability to bond and communicate with animals is often viewed as dangerous or evil.
I saw this book at the library amongst a variety of other books by the same author so I thought I would try it since this book was the first in a series. It wasn’t until I was partway through the story that I realized that it is actually part of a larger storyline that is centered around Fitzchivalry Farseer and his friend the Fool. This is just the latest part of the saga. My bad. I think I really need to try and go back and read the earlier parts as well to get a clearer picture of some of the subtle references that were made throughout the story to earlier events in the character’s lives. That being said the story can be read as is without having done so, obviously since I have just did exactly that by accident. Even without having read the earlier parts of the story I greatly enjoyed what I had read and was thoroughly enthralled with the world and setting that was present. The idea of there being a place where there were two competing types of magic, technically there were three types but the main character only possessed two of them. I didn’t really enjoy the idea of people being put to death for possessing the wit magic but I did enjoy how the characters were torn between standing up and doing what was right and trying to protect themselves and their families whenever possible. Finding out that this was the driving force behind the prince disappearing and behind his original refusal to return to court was interesting. This story is about a person being torn between two different types of magic, one respected and one not but him preferring the not-respected one. At the same time this almost parallels the same fracture in the greater kingdom and court. The queen wants the prince trained in the skill magic as it is a respected type of magic but the court as a whole wants to hide the fact that the prince has the wit magic due to the increasing violence and disdain towards those who do. I was extremely glad that by the end of the story the characters and the kingdom were starting to take the first steps to reconcile the differences between the two types. Despite not really knowing what to expect, having never heard of Robin Hobb before, I was definitely impressed by the book. Robin Hobb is certainly an author whose books I look forward to reading more of. In fact, I will probably read my way through the collection of their works at my local library and then go looking for more. As such I am giving this book four out of five stars.
As you’ve probably guessed by now I would indeed recommend this book to other readers, especially readers who are already fans of the fantasy genre. This is also the kind of book that I think would probably appeal to a wider audience than just strict fantasy fans due to it dealing with extreme inner conflict within the protagonist. It was this inner conflict that actually drew me in more than the fantasy elements and I am an extreme fantasy fan most of the time. Honestly, this particular book may not be going on my “I want my own copy” list but it is definitely going on my “I will probably reread in the future” list. From what I have seen so far I would probably recommend the author in general to most fantasy fans as like I said I plan to read more of their works if I can find them. If you happen to already be familiar with their works and wish to share your thoughts, I look forward to reading them in the comments.