Fool's Fate - The Tawny Man Trilogy 3-Book Bundle

I have been reading fantasy/adventure/sagas for 40 or 50 years and I think Robin Hobb captures the genre as well, or better than, the best (J. R. Tolkien et al)! Would recommend to everyone! Looking forward to his other works!

After reading Robin Hobbs' FARSEER TRILOGY, I was excited to find the story continued in these books. Though I would be very happy to read any further continuation of tale, I am fully satisfied with the current conclusion. Loved it!

Almost finished with this trilogy and really like it. I read the first trilogy of the Farseer books featuring Assassin's Apprentice, Assassin's Quest etc. of which this trilogy continues the saga. I love the idea of having the "Wit" which sometimes I feel is real with my own animals just not to the extent of this story. The characters are believable and you become invested in them and their fates. This series is a good addition for anyone's fantasy library.

While I like Robin Hobb's books in general, this trilogy uses a lot of words and repeated ideas to fill the pages. I usually read in the evening before going to bed, but frequently go to sleep while reading. That is unusual; and sometimes surprising to wake up sitting in my reading chair.

Why authors try to make 3 novels out of what
obviously needs to be only one book is beyond.
writing quality remains as high as Rainwild books,
there just isnt enough surprises to keep up thew interest.

I love horror and paranormal when I'm just reading for mindless relaxation and pleasure. But I decided to give fantasy a try when I saw Robin Hobb's Assasin's Apprentice, Book 1 in the
"Farseer Trilogy."

Never was I so immediately and so completely drawn into another place and time. Hobb created a world and characters that I felt I'd known my entire life and never wanted to leave. And not just the human ones!

The "Tawny Man Trilogy" carried on where the "Farseer Trilogy" left off, just seen through the eyes of a different, but still beloved, character. I devoured all six books in these series as fast as I could read and impatiently searched the store for more.

I was ecstatic to find that the world of Robin Hobb continued, maybe not with exactly the same characters, but the same world and time period. And the new characters sometimes knew of the old and familiar ones. "The Live Ship Traders Trilogy" are neighbors to "The Rain Wilds" world and I suspect it is the Tawny Man who puts in a cross-dressing appearance several times.

The four books in "The Rain Wilds Chronicles" were merely a different part of the same place and people I had come to love and never want to leave. I loved The Rain Wilds and Live Ship characters just as much.

"The Soldier Son Trilogy" was a completely different set of characters and but the world was a completion to the original one Hobb created throughout each series, though on the other side of the world. It was just as magical and captivating.

I've tried hard not to spoil anyone's reading experience with details. Only stating here how excellent the quality of writing is, as well as plotting, characterization and world-making. I am a writer and lifetime reader and none have captured me like Robin Hobb's writing.

And now I can't wait to delve into Hobb's coming home again at last in the 2-book series "Fitz and the Fool." Anyone who has read Hobb's novels have never forgotten Fitz who wandered their worlds in the first six books with his beloved Fool. Now that I know I can return to them I will leave off reviewing and pick up those books!

I picked up the first book in the Farseer Trilogy a month ago for free and decided to try a new author. I have, in that month, bought and read the entire Farseer Trilogy, Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy. I literally could not stop! Robin Hobb has captured my imagination and attention like no other author. So why not 5-Stars? Well...

Far be it for me to tell an amazingly talented author how to write her own books. However, there were some things that jarred me out of the story and kept me from giving it the full due for my own personal reasons. I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

****SPOILERS*****

How dense can some of these characters be? For supposedly sophisticated and intelligent spies and assassins, they can be completely clueless at putting together facts. It isn't that they aren't given the clues. The clues are sometimes so glaringly obvious you might as well have hit them in the face with a baseball bat. And they Never Seem to Put One and One Together until the very, very end when everything blows up .... and then say, Oh yeah! Now it all makes sense! *face palm* What is the point of Chade gathering all that information if no one is going to use it to any purpose? Even if they can't use the information at that time in the story, at least make an attempt to know what's going on.

the Dragons .... Their last scene read more like Hobb was trying to write a colorful Movie ending rather than continuing the story and characters. Why were the Dragons even there? The whole, Please Help Bingtown fight the Chalced was completely dropped as if it never happened....and one would think the Dragons would have mentioned that little war that was destroying their home and endangering the newly hatched dragons. But nothing even to the end of the story. There was never a mention of Bingtown at all. No one even had a conversation with them, that we were privy to. Dragons ate cows. Dragons left. And speaking of Dragon's proximity to Humans....Why is that just a small amount of exposure to the Dragon in Bingtown causes marked physical changes to anyone with the Skill...but people are exposed to a dragon for DAYS on end and...Nothing. So those of Buck and the Outislands are completely immune?

And lastly, my biggest peeve with the ending, which was very upsetting to me. I will, again, try to keep the Spoilers minimized. A main secondary character dies. He didn't have to die. Thick or Nettle could have asked Tintaglia to heal him as payment for his great deed...and yet...no one even thought of it. Why? So the author could do with another character what she wanted to do and send him off merrily to live in bucolic harmony with another secondary character (whom I NEVER liked at all and wished had died of Blood Plague or Red Ship Raiders a long time ago). The books would have been far more compelling and human if the Secondary Character had lived, the other Character Learned, Grew from their own personal loss and went on to more adventures. Instead we get a Far Too neatly contrived ending. I know there will be more adventures, because there are more books I haven't read. But still....it sits wrong and I wish I had a word to describe it.

Still, well worth a read or three.

The pricing on this is jacked up. Charging $19.99 for the whole trilogy. Yet if you buy them separately, Book 1 is $2.99, Book 2 is $5.99, and Book 3 is $8.99.

Buying this bundle will cost you over 10% extra compared to buying the books separately. Bundles should be less, not more.

The only problem with the tales of Fitz and the Fool is that they end. I have hardly read any books as moving and deeply engaging. Her writing is just beautiful, her characters are vividly real. Definitely buy this edition so you get the entire trilogy, you will want all of it.

I really enjoyed the adventures of Fitzchivalry Farseer 15 years after we met him for the first time as a very young man. I sure wish he was a bit more gracious towards his daughter and let her join the court earlier and it would have been nice to explain the histroy of the fool a bit more. Its fun to meet other characters from other series including the dragon Tintaglia. I'm looking forward to other adventures and maybe get to know Nettle a bit better.

I really enjoyed the whole series. It is very easy to relate to the main character. It is like having a friend tell you about his adventures. I rode an emotional roller-coaster with Fitz. Sometimes you felt sorry for him, while other times he frustrated me. I like a good read where I can get wrapped up into the character.

This is by far the best Trilogy with Fitz and the Fool. I can't wait for Robin Hobb to finish the Trilogy she's working on now! I soooo appreciate that she doesn't keep us waiting for 20 years for the rest of the series.

The Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy were, perhaps the best fantasy novels I have ever read to date. The Tawny Man follows the Farseer Saga and continues the incredible story that was started. I am currently reading the Liveship Traders Trilogy and it is excellent. Although based in the same world and time-frame as the previous two, it is altogether different and unique. Robin Hobb is an amazing writer, truly! She is one of the most talented story-tellers I have ever experienced. Her writing is sheer pleasure. I really cannot compare her to any other author I know: she is simply too unique, a true wordsmith.