I just finished Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb which is the third book in the Tawny Man Trilogy. It tells the story of what happened when Fitz, Prince Dutiful, Chade, and Thick finally make the journey to the outislands so Dutiful can win the hand of the Narcheska Elliania. In order to do so they have to travel to Aslevjal, an ice-bound island, and bring back the head of Icefyre, a dragon encased in the ice there. While making the journey they discover that Thick gets extremely seasick, Nettle desperately needs to be trained in the skill, and most important, the real reason that Dutiful was asked to kill the dragon. Underlying all of this we see Fitz being torn about the choice that the Fool told him he would be faced with and how to prevent the death of the Fool, also foretold by the Fool.
I don’t know for sure if you remember but when I first discussed Fool’s Errand, book one of the Tawny Man Trilogy, I mentioned that it was the first book in the series but it didn’t feel like it was. This book definitely felt like it was the last, not only for this trilogy but for the overall story and timeline of these characters. It frequently referenced events and people that seemed to be from previous works but were not from this trilogy. I really think I am going to have to see what else I can find by this author. That being said, it feels like it does a pretty good of wrapping things up for these characters. It pulls in all of these disparate dangling threads from previous works and ties them all up in a nice neat bow. I feel like there is a good resolution here for all of the events and characters and as the Fool likes to say, maybe Fitz really did change things so the course of events is on a better track for the future. There’s just one, relatively major, problem having read the ending of the series and the finale of these characters. I still haven’t read the very beginning so I have no idea how it all started. Now that I’m curious I think I’m going to find the rest of the books and read them, in the correct order this time. This book is getting four out of five stars.
Overall, it was a good book and one I would probably read again. If you happen to be a fantasy fan then I think there is a good chance you would genuinely enjoy this book. I know the book is primarily aimed at adults but I think it would also be older teens and young adults as well. In my opinion, there is no content that would be considered too mature for them. I guess it’s time to wrap it up now. If you happen to know the first book in the overall series, please consider letting me know in the comments. I’m also curious, has anyone else unintentionally read the end of a series before the beginning. Feel free to share you stories in the comments.