The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince by Robin Hobb Deluxe Hardcover Edition (2/28/2013)

Another brush stroke in the creation of the Farseer universe. Seeing the backstory to the series that duplicates the good mechanics seen in the original series is awesome. This book isn't very deep in and of itself I think partly because it adds to the depth that already exists in the Farseer story. That said, it could have been much longer and involved, especially regarding the narrator's character.

Originally posted at FanLit.

Robin Hobb’s FARSEER series is one of my all-time favorite fantasy epics. It’s about FitzChivalry Farseer, the bastard son of a dead prince. Fitz is a sad case, not only because his father’s dead and he’s illegitimate, but perhaps mostly because he has the Wit — an ancient magic that lets him communicate with and bond to animals. The citizens of the Six Duchies fear the Wit and kill those who practice it. But that wasn’t always the case…

Now, in Robin Hobb’s most recent novella, The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince, we learn why the people hate what they call “beastmagic.” This is the story of a young (“willful”) Farseer princess who fell in love with a Witted stablemaster. The story is told by Felicity, whose mother had been Princess Caution’s nursemaid and who had strategically maneuvered Felicity into the position of companion to the princess. When Caution gives birth to the stablemaster’s Witted illegitimate child — a boy who becomes known as the Piebald Prince — Felicity raises him and tells us his story, too.

So why did the Wit become a crime in the Six Duchies? In The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince, you’ll learn that it has to do with a scandal involving the ugly illegitimate prince, a thwarted would-be-king, a fickle woman, a love triangle, and a couple of murders.

The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince has everything I expect from Robin Hobb — clear and succinct (yet lovely) prose, interesting well-developed characters (some to love and some to hate), realistic dialogue, beautiful romance, glorious tragedy, and a touch of ironic humor.

If you’re a fan of Robin Hobb’s fantasy, you don’t want to miss The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince because it fills in some important backstory on the Farseer family and provides a lot of context to FitzChivalry’s bittersweet tale. And if you haven’t read Robin Hobb’s work before, you’ve really been missing out. The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince is the perfect way to correct that problem — it’s a great introduction to the FARSEER saga. After you read it, you’ll be itching to read Assassin’s Apprentice.

I don't want to get too spoilery, but yes, this book is likely to be best enjoyed by those who have already read the author's other books set in this world. Without a knowledge of the Six Duchies and the concept of the 'Witted', I think a new reader would be at a disadvantage.

Even though it's possible to enjoy this book without that knowledge, the story itself is very brief, so there's not much time to get a sense of this world before the tale is done. Unlike her more recent Dragon series, this story moves along briskly, there aren't a lot of tangents, and the writer remains in control of the story. (My one major complaint with the Dragon series so far is that I think it would be better if it were more condensed. Sometimes less is more, even if I like the story.)

This book does explain some of the backstory/history that sets the stage for the later books, so as a fan of Robin Hobb's work, I do think it's a meaningful piece of the puzzle.

For what it's worth, I picked this book up from the library just this afternoon and have already finished it, even though I stopped midway through to deal with dinner, and it's just now eight o'clock.

The book is told through the perspective of one character, and I think that helps the story hold together. As it is so short, there's not much time for things to develop, so having the single narrator does help keep the story focused.

I enjoyed it, not sure I'll re-read it, but then again, it's not yet out in paperback.

It was a good story, and while some people have said it was too short I thought it was a good length. I thought Words Like Coins was much too short, and is what I expected here but I think this book is longer than that.
The story is good. There are some phrases that are really repetitive, especially in the second half of the book, but I think it's supposed to be that way because the narrator is continually re-iterating what another character directed her to write. So I give that a pass.
Overall, I think it's fantastic to find out exactly where the rejection of being Witted came from!

I really enjoyed this short story by one of my favorite authors Robin Hobb. It is short enough to read on an airplane ride. It is a very engaging book about two young women. There is an aspect of romance to this book, and adventure as well. It is definitely about women, the lives of women in this world, and how they interact, more than it is about men. Perhaps it would appeal more to women readers for this reason.

I expect better from Robin Hobb.
It's a novelette or a novella, which I don't mind. I do mind that the story is only fantasy in the sense that it is about a princess and a prince with only the tiniest bit of common magic. It was boring. I was not impressed. I returned it for a refund.