My corner of the internet for sailing the high seas of fantasy fiction. Currently chronicling my journey through Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, with all the awe, anguish, and occasional unhinged delight that entails. Grab your emotional life jacket and come aboard!
📍 Currently reading: Fool’s Quest (Fitz and the Fool #2)
✔️ Just finished: Fool’s Assassin, Fitz and the Fool #1
🧭 Start from the beginning: wizardwordship’s Maiden Voyage
***Spoilers for The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy through Fool’s Quest. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
Whew! Trying my best not to think about the fact that there’s only one book left and instead enjoy what we still have before it’s gone. On the bright side, with a story this rich, I know there is so much more discovery and joy waiting for me down the line.
Look for me back here in ten years with “Re-reactions to the Realm.” (Hopefully you don’t find me washed up on a beach with children throwing rocks at me.)
But let’s not get weepy and nostalgic just yet. (I have a feeling Assassin’s Fate is going to be a bumpy emotional ride for me both in the pages and on this blog.) We have a job to do, and that’s to break down the end of Fool’s Quest.
I found it very appropriate that last post I went deep on Fitz’s identities and what lies at the core of his character. Because when we open here with the failed attempt to follow Bee through the Skill-pillar – resulting in no trace of her or her kidnappers – it’s presumed by all that she has been lost to the Skill-stream for good.
And with that, Fitz completely lets go.
With Bee’s kidnapping, he was barely holding himself together. With her presumed death, something in him finally breaks.
On top of that, if assassin Fitz made an unofficial return previously, now Dutiful formally strips him of the role. Acting as king, he makes it clear in no uncertain terms that Fitz is no longer an assassin.
“Over and over, I had said that I was no longer an assassin. But now my king snatched the title and those duties away from me, and it felt like a rebuke. I blinked. Not a husband. Scarcely a father. And not an assassin. What was left of me?”
So last time we asked: who is Fitz among the many roles he inhabits? And now the question becomes: who is he without them?
As you can imagine, it’s pretty bleak.
He struggles mightily with the feeling of purposelessness:
“What was Burrich’s old saying? As useless as teats on a bull. That was me. I was becoming very weary of being useless and incompetent.”
Fitz comes to the conclusion that all he has left is vengeance for Bee and the Fool. And to pursue it, he essentially begins putting his affairs in order to fade out of his current life, before setting off on one final quest.
His detachment is somehow even harder to watch than his grief. It’s a slow fading away from life. We’ve seen Fitz contemplate ending his life many times (always awful), but now we’re watching him put a plan into action, albeit a very slow one.
He wants to die. But rather than a quick exit, he intends to destroy the people responsible for Bee’s death and the Fool’s torture on his way out.
Heavy. And deeply painful to watch as he slowly closes the door on relationships we know mean so much to him. Fitz may feel he has nothing left, but we know there are still many people who love and care for him. I was particularly gutted by him making peace with leaving Nettle and never meeting his unborn grandchild.
I hate it.
But still, he says his goodbyes and fully settles into his ultimate mopey-boy form essentially reasoning: “I’m the most useless, biggest loser, everyone is better off without me, so I must go off on my own.”
This despite the many, many people practically begging to go along with him.
“It was a solitude that I cultivated. I let nothing touch me too deeply. Alone, I made my plans. … I watched for the weather to grow kinder for travel and I waited for myself to grow deadlier.”
So stripped down, singularly focused on vengeance, off he sets. But lo and behold, who grabs onto him at the last possible second before he disappears through the Skill-pillar? Lant and Per!
I fucking loved this. And we get two incredible lines from Fitz, upon getting spit out with them in tow:
“Perseverance abruptly pushed one corner of the Elderling cloak aside and stared up at me. ‘What happened? Where am I?’ An instant later there was an explosion of black feathers slapping me, and an indignant Motley fled skyward.
‘Stupidity happened!’ I shouted.”
And then:
“I glanced at the sky. Night would soon be falling, it was very cold, and I was unexpectedly saddled with two idiots.”
You know what? I did pretty decent on my quest crew predictions last post.
Of my “locks,” Lant and Per are here. The Fool is coming, though just like last quest, he has to find his own transportation.
My biggest whiff was Shine, but honestly I’m happy to not have that dynamic tagging along. And I appreciate the choice to leave her behind to heal with Kettricken while she spends time with her ailing father.
(I’d also like to note that sending one of the Dutiful’s sons with Fitz was discussed, so I’m counting that as another checkmark for me.)
So our lone wolf has a reluctant pack. (This keeps happening to him!)
And thank goodness for that. While I could absolutely read Fitz on his own personal Into the Wild journey, at the end of the day he’s a pack animal. And he’s at his best when he’s caring for others, even if those others happen to be two young idiots and a blind prophet.
So: Fitz and friends are officially Clerres-bound.
Except the journey is almost immediately derailed when the Fool and Spark (formerly Ash) show up, dip through the stones to Kelsingra, go on an unhinged caper involving the Skill-well, get chased by a dragon, return through the pillars, and then dip back through them again to avoid a bear attack.
Entirely normal course of events.
More importantly, it gets Fitz, Per, and Lant to follow them to Kelsingra. And now we are cooking.
Because Fitz is in Kelsingra. And you know who else is in Kelsingra? All our Elderling friends, plus a few dragons.
I have had one dream ever since Ship of Destiny: For Fitz to sail on ShipFitz.
But I’ve had a secondary dream, too: For my two RotE husbands, Fitz and Reyn, to meet. And meet they now have.
But before we get there, upon arrival in Kelsingra, they are greeted by a super aggro General Rapskal. (Never have I missed my sweet, silly goose Rapskal more). But then Reyn swoops in and practically rolls out the red carpet for the Six Duchies prince.
(Lowkey, Reyn kind of has Lumière energy.)
As they link up with Malta (hi, queen!) for dinner, she brings out her old pal Amber, who happens to have arrived in Kelsingra the very same day. What a coincidence.
Everything is pleasant enough until Reyn and Malta’s son Phron arrives to say goodnight and it’s immediately clear the boy is very unwell.
Phron is incredibly sickly due to neglect sporadic care from Tintaglia. And we soon learn many of the dragons are shirking their responsibilities to the Elderlings undergoing transformation. As a result, many of the Kelsingra children are struggling.
But let’s not get ahead of things. Because when Fitz grasps Phron’s hand in greeting, he is suddenly and uncontrollably pulled into an intense Skill-link that results in him healing the boy.
And with that, ladies and gentleman: a new Fitz persona has emerged: Jesus Fitz!
Reyn and Malta are overwhelmed with gratitude and astonished at his abilities, and immediately ask if he can help the other afflicted children.
He rests overnight, but the next day attends a gathering where he begins healing more people. (We also learn Tats and Thymara have a child – cute!)
But things spiral fast. The crowd becomes increasingly desperate and overwhelming, all clamoring for Fitz’s healing abilities.
And honestly? I was a little disappointed in Reyn and Malta here. It’s mentioned several times that they aren’t traditional rulers, but I’ve gotta say, this wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for their gentle leadership style.
Meanwhile, Fitz is completely losing himself to the Skill during the frenzy. The Fool realizes what’s happening and tries to regain control, urging Fitz to put up his walls while Lant orders him dosed with elfbark. Then, in the midst of the chaos, the Fool removes his glove and presses his newly restored Skill-fingertips to Fitz’s wrist, renewing their bond. Quite the scene!
Unfortunately, this gives Rapskal the proof he needs that the Fool stole from the Skill-well. So naturally, he orders them all seized. The crowd advances on them, and then: fade to black…
Hhhhwhat? Wtf?
Rapskal, I’m going to need you to mind your own fucking business. I appreciate your contributions to dragonkind and the Kelsingra expedition, but you’re in over your head here.
Fitz just healed your prince and multiple children, and you’re ready to imprison him because his weird friend stuck his hand in a bucket?
What is going on with this council?
Why is there a mob?
Who is the “unknown” dragon whose blood the Fool ingested?
Why are Reyn and Malta not handling business?
Where’s Captain Leftrin when we need him?!
I HAVE QUESTIONS.
And I suppose there’s only one way to get answers. We must journey onward through musings and into the final book 😭.
Oh, man.
As discussed in the opening, things get really heavy with Fitz as we close out Fool’s Quest.
But I’d like to drill down a bit on the scene of Fitz returning to Buckkeep after losing Bee’s trail.
He’s summoned to an audience with Dutiful and is convinced he’s heading toward a rebuke for his disobedience. Instead, what awaits him is a gathering of all his and Nettle’s remaining family (even Hap 🥹), assembled not as a royal court, but simply as a family grieving together.
It’s an incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking scene.
And it takes Fitz far too long to realize he has not been called there for admonishment, but for support. A real encapsulation of how utterly incapable Fitz is of giving himself grace.
But who is always there for Fitz in his lowest moments- seeing him clearly and offering a much needed dose of unconditional love? Ketticken, of course.
She has this remarkable ability to cut through all of Fitz’s self-loathing and see directly to the heart of him. They seem to mirror each other in a way that allows for a unique honesty between them. This exchange:
“’It’s all my fault,’ I confessed to her.
‘Oh, Fitz, always you are…’ She bit back whatever it was she had started to say. More gently she added, ‘No one blames you.’
‘I blame me.’
‘Of course you do,’ she said, as if I were a child insisting the moon was a cheese.”
Which feels like the perfect place to transition directly into my next musing…
You know I have to go there… We get quite the charged sequence between Kettricken and Fitz. 🥵
Once it’s only the two of them, Kettricken ratchets up the comfort, beginning with a shoulder massage:
“Instead she walked behind me, set her hands to my shoulders, and kneaded them. I stiffened at her touch. She leaned down to speak by my ear. ‘There comes a time to stop thinking. For you that time is now. Drop your head forward.’
And I did. She rubbed my shoulders and my neck and spoke of other times.”
The platonic love in this series is more intense than any smut I’ve ever read.
That night they share a bed, full-on holding one another, with Kettricken at one point whispering, “Verity.”
These two have me fucked up.
And we aren’t done with them yet.
Before Fitz departs, Kettricken summons him to gift him a painstakingly crafted map for the journey ahead. She openly acknowledges that he does not intend to return, making this very much feel like a goodbye.
And we get a moment I’m incredibly grateful for: Kettricken acknowledging the truth of Dutiful’s conception with the simple line: “thank you for my son.”
“’Your body. Verity’s will.’
‘I wasn’t there, Kettricken. I spent that night inhabiting Verity’s body.’
‘He’s Verity’s son. I know.’
And we left it there, and I was not certain if I felt better for her knowing and letting me know she knew or if I felt even odder about it. I only asked her, ‘Are you telling me this because you don’t think I’ll come back?’
She met my gaze. ‘I think you left when you lost Bee, and you haven’t truly been here since. Go find out, Fitz. Come back to us if you can. But go do what you must.’”
Eda and El.
I truly hope that’s not their final scene together. But if it was, I’m satisfied.
We are going to touch down on Chade, as we must. And shockingly, I’m going to go a little easy on him here and even offer the tiniest bit of appreciation. (Just a smidge.)
Though “appreciation” might not be the right framing. He doesn’t suddenly get in my good graces simply because he is now old, frail, and largely powerless.
What fascinates me throughout RotE – and especially in Fitz and the Fool – is the juxtaposition between how I feel about Chade versus how Fitz views him.
As a reader, I can clearly see how often Chade manipulates and mistreats Fitz for his own ends. The fact that he also genuinely loves Fitz doesn’t magically erase a long history of abhorrent choices, words and actions.
Fitz sees those failings too. But it doesn’t stop him from craving Chade’s approval and loving him deeply. It’s complicated.
So while I get to stand at a distance and be harsh about Chade, it doesn’t diminish the enormous significance he holds in Fitz’s life.
Just as Fitz gets the deeply meaningful farewell moment with Kettricken before departing, he also shares several incredibly important scenes with Chade.
First:
“Sharpening your knife is never a waste of time. You’ve finally learned that. Not an apprentice any longer, nor even a journeyman. This makes you a master.”
And then:
“He hooked his bony hand around the back of my head and for a moment held me close. ‘Oh, my boy. The best mistake Chivalry ever made was you. Go on now.’”
Two absolutely incredible moments. From Assassin’s Apprentice to apprentice no more. What a payoff.
Chade may piss me off to no end, but there’s no denying his monumental role in this story. I touched on Robin Hobb’s gift for writing deeply complicated characters last post, and Chade sits right near the top of that list.
He’s a character I often love to hate, but I deeply value his presence in the story.
The Fool gives Fitz some more intel on what exactly they’re up against with the Servants. (Side note: I’m not exactly how to refer to the antagonists here, so I’m just going to use “Servants” for the collective and roll with it.)
And this is one creepy, evil cult.
It’s revealed they live in a fortress made of bone. Which, gross. And we learn they use prophecy to manipulate markets and political outcomes in their favor.
I appreciate the blend of mythologically evil with deeply, depressingly relatable evil.
(Also, this seems to be as good as place any to mention I realized right along with Fitz that the glove Dwalia materializes to enter the Skill-pillar has the Fool’s cutoff Skill-fingertips – horrifying!!)
New Mysterious Figures Alert 🚨
First, we have the dragon commenting that the scent clinging to the Fool comes from an unknown dragon. This is interesting. I was pretty sure the currently living dragons would all know of one another, so the idea of an unrecognizable dragon feels significant.
Then we get multiple mentions in dreams and prophecies of a “Wolf of the West” who will come from the mountains and save everyone.
Am I supposed to know who, or what, this is referring to?
Very intrigued.
A+ Fitzism:
“The Fool and I seldom lied to each other. Except when we did.”
When a Fitz line hits, it really hits.
I’m moving quick as I am chomping at the bit to start Assassin’s Fate, but I’ve got to spare a moment for the bear.
This bear absolutely fucks shit up.
He annihilates their camp spectacularly. Again, amidst all the Elderlings, dragons, prophetic cults, and magical horrors running around, it was kind of nice to just have an angry old bear with a toothache wreaking havoc for a bit.
Let’s back up for a moment, because before the bear attack, Fitz makes a pilgrimage to visit Dragon Verity.
It’s an incredible scene. Another one of those “ghosts of Fitzmas past” moments.
Fitz is finally breaking down, pouring out the anguish of everything he’s endured, when he stirs Verity:
Oh, Fitz. You feel so much.
Did I imagine it? I huddled perfectly still. Then I stripped my glove from my hand and set my bare palm to the scaled cheek of my king.
Nothing is really lost. Shapes change. But it’s never completely gone.
Verity?
Thank you. For my son. For my grandsons.
My king. Your thoughts warm me.
Perhaps I can do a bit more than that.
Verity remains such an interesting figure in Fitz’s life, and in the series as a whole.
Obviously Bee comes to mind when he speaks about nothing ever truly being lost. But more broadly, he offers Fitz a rare moment of hope and comfort in the middle of his darkest hour.
No matter your age, sometimes you just need to curl up beside your long-ago father figure who is now a sleeping stone dragon.
We’ve all been there.
As the book itself does, I shall also close out with Bee.
She spends almost this entire section swept away in the Skill-current. We get little glimpses of her consciousness through the chapter preambles, where she reveals she’s encased herself like a tiny nut to keep herself intact during her trip through the universe, as one does.
It’s not until the final chapter that she’s finally spit back out of the pillar and onto terra realma.
I have to say, I do think this was a really clever structural choice by Robin Hobb. As much as I love Bee – and have enjoyed her POV chapters – it created a natural break from bouncing back and forth between perspectives. Because while Bee’s addition brought something fresh and gave us occasional relief from morose Fitz, he’s still the main attraction.
But once Bee finally emerges from the Skill-pillar, Wolf-father urges her to flee her captors and run away into the forest (watch out for bears!). He tells her there is someone there who can help her: “if I can wake him.”
I had no idea who he could mean until just now while writing this. Could he mean Dragon Verity??
Because presumably Bee was spat out at the market campsite, which means the sleeping stone dragons aren’t too far away.
And if Verity-as-dragon becomes an active character in this final book, I’m going to lose my mind.
See you in Assassin’s Fate.
🫡
***Spoilers for the Fitz and the Fool trilogy through Fool’s Quest chapter 26. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
It’s been a while since we checked in on the many personas of Fitz.
We’ve got our stalwarts: lonely boy Fitz, his close cousin emo Fitz, and daddy Fitz. Then there are the rarer varietals: content Fitz, loverboy Fitz, and properly-valued Fitz.
But here, we get the return of a very specific brand: badass assassin Fitz.
Now, if you were judging purely by the titles that comprise this sixteen-book series, you would probably think assassination was a big part of the story. But despite the titular title bestowed upon our boy, we actually get relatively little assassinating. Even when Fitz recounts past “assignments,” they feel more like footnotes than important moments.
But now? He’s back. (And maybe more assassin-y than ever?).
Assassin Fitz has been unleashed. And we know what our boy is like when he is on a mission.
***Spoilers for the Fitz and the Fool trilogy through Fool’s Quest chapter 12. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
Fool’s Quest gives us quite the layered opening.
We get this sense of time folding back on itself for Fitz’s character. He’s back in Buckkeep, reunited with the Fool, Chade, Kettricken, Dutiful, et al., once again navigating complicated political maneuverings. He’s been intentionally pulled away from his life as Holder Badgerlock of Withywoods, the dominant persona he’s inhabited so far in this trilogy.
But all the while, there’s this Hitchcockian horror building beneath the surface. We know what happened at Withywoods. It’s a pressure cooker just waiting to explode and shatter the illusion Fitz is operating under.
And as we march closer to that inevitable reveal, Robin steadily rebuilds Fitz’s identity as FitzChivalry, making the rug pull all the more dramatic when it comes.
And I mean the return of FitzChivalry quite literally. What begins as a subtle shift – Fitz feeling closer to his former self – culminates in the dramatic public recognition of the witted bastard’s existence and heroism, laid bare before the Six Duchies nobles gathered for Winterfest at Buckkeep.
No matter where things go from here, I’m grateful for this beautiful moment. It’s emotional and long overdue.
I remember noting back in a Tawny Man recap that the push to destigmatize the Wit felt like it was laying the groundwork for Dutiful to eventually bring Fitz out of the shadows and back to court life. Turns out I was right, that was where we were headed, it just took a lot longer than I anticipated to get there.
And even though we know disaster is looming, it’s hard not to get swept up in Fitz’s moment of triumph. For our boy, who has been through hell and back more times than anyone should, to finally be recognized for who he is and all he’s done, crowned Prince FitzChivalry Farseer…
Hear, hear for the King in the Shadows!
***Spoilers for Fool’s Assassin. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
Never in my life have I been more unsettled than reading the final line of the Fool’s Assassin epilogue:
“Nothing warned me on that bright day that the darkest time of my life had begun.”
Here we fucking go. The tracks have been laid. The players established. The Fool is here. And Fitz is about to be going through it like we have never seen before. And we have seen him through some lows.
So yes, we are in the thick of this trilogy now, and I am absolutely shitting myself for what book two has in store.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of Fool’s Assassin to discuss before we leap ahead into certain disaster.
And you may have noticed it’s been many chapters since my last check-in. Your girl is riding on vibes right now. Before, I was compelled to hop in at both Bee’s birth and then Molly’s death – but the last sixty percent of the book called me to forge ahead. I’m not stalling out in this series like Tarman beached in the Rain Wild River shallows. I’ve been swept up in the Skill current and am fully motivated to see this journey through.
I’m starting to verge into the Fool’s messenger territory – talking about the important message she needs to deliver over and over instead of actually delivering it 😵💫. So let’s stop talking about talking about it and get into it.
Continue reading***Spoilers for Fool’s Assassin through chapter 10. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
If Bee’s birth was a fulcrum in the story – a turning point that demanded a reaction – then certainly Molly’s death qualifies too.
Eda and El.
One may occasionally toss out hyperbole like, “this story is going to kill me.” I’m certain I glibly remarked somewhere along the way that Nighteyes’ death made me want to die.
But Molly’s death scene came close to actually accomplishing the job.
I have a knack for encountering the most emotionally devastating moments right before I plan to shut my eyes at night. But in this case, I was on the treadmill, chugging along at a hefty twelve-degree incline, as Molly abruptly collapsed and was gone.
When I tell you my throat was literally closing with grief as I read her death unfold…
How does Robin do it? Just like with Nighteyes, she’s been building to this the entire book. I said in my last post that I didn’t think Molly was long for this tale. And yet her death still managed to catch me completely off guard.
Maybe that’s partially because I was still reeling from having my entire world rocked by the shift into Bee’s POV. (I believe this is the first time we’ve left Fitz’s perspective in a Fitz-centered book.)
And if I thought experiencing Fitz’s reaction to Molly’s death would be difficult from his own perspective, I was not at all prepared for how heartbreaking it would be to witness it from someone else’s.
And Mistress Hobb – clever, clever woman that she is – makes sure we aren’t entirely bereft of Fitz’s thoughts through the ordeal. No, we still glimpse his mind through Bee’s Skill-link with him.
“All their lives she had remained that girl to him, that wondrous girl just a few years older than he was, but so worldly wise, so female to all that was so male in his life.”
***Spoilers for Fool’s Assassin through chapter 5. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
Oh, hello there, friends. Not expecting to see me so soon? Well, we are back! And I can barely contain myself.
Quick peek behind the curtain: I had intended to read longer chunks of the story before pausing to react – maybe breaking the book into thirds. But here I am, a mere five chapters in, and I had to heed the call to write.
Sometimes I just know I’ve hit a turning point, a fulcrum in the story, and I strongly feel that now. We’ve had five chapters of catching up, visiting old characters, getting the lay of the land – both physically and politically. And after two years of Molly claiming pregnancy – and, by all rational interpretations, losing her mind rather than bearing a babe – she has given birth to her and Fitz’s tiny baby.
Holy shit. What did I just read?
So this felt like the moment to pause – process everything that’s happened as we step back into this world and Fitz’s mind – and gear up for wherever we are going from here.
Returning to a Fitz-focused trilogy feels a bit like reading in a different language. Or perhaps more accurately, returning to one’s mother tongue. A flood of familiarity- terms and characters I didn’t even realize I missed: “Forged”, Lady Patience being eccentric, Thick, Fitz being so fucking Fitzy…
The tone is so distinct. Both Hobb modes are good, but nothing quite hitz like Fitz.
I’m actually a little sad that this is the last time I will make this transition and have the experience of sinking back into the intimacy of Fitz’s POV. It’s a direct contrast to starting our southern sojourns, which feel novel and take time to settle into. This is a coming home.
So as we once joined Fitz in a façade of peace in his cabin with Hap, so too we find our boy (and yes, no matter how much he reminds us of his age, he will always be our boy) comfortable at Withywoods, living the seemingly content life he’s always sought.
And though that contentment isn’t false – his love of life with Molly is very real – the cracks in the façade start to show almost immediately.
Continue reading
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
Well, I am gobsmacked. What a conclusion. The way all of the pieces fit together at the end to complete the puzzle Robin has been building throughout this series.
I know The Rain Wilds Chronicles often get labeled as the weakest of RotE. And it’s tough when you’re interrupting the Fitz-centered series and your competition is Tawny Man, Liveship Traders, et. al. But damn. It really cannot be overstated how excellent this series is. I mean, if the criteria is “slightly less good than the greatest stories ever written,” then sure.
And it’s such an essential part of the larger saga. I’ve spent a decent amount of time discussing how RWC expands the worldbuilding and lore, but it is absolutely mind-boggling to think where we started – with Fitz fucking around in Kelsingra back in the Farseer trilogy, memory stones activating while we had no clue what was going on – to where we are now.
Have I mentioned Robin Hobb is the GOAT? I’m truly in awe of the world she’s created.
So where to even start?
I’m going to the scene that took my breath away: Thymara and Rapskal (🥺) heading down the well.
To me, this was the culmination of our whole tale. The moment our dragons’ and Elderlings’ place in the world was finally secured – the age of dragons and Elderlings restored.
And there were so many threads throughout this story that led to the opening of the well. From the time spent establishing Rapskal’s immersion into the memory stones and surrender to the tale of Tellator and Amarinda, to the numerous moments Thymara insists she will never go down the well (talk about famous last words), all the way back to our very first scene with her in Trehaug- where we learn of her climbing prowress. This was her destiny all along.
And as she unlocks the seams, filling the well with Silver once again, she saves baby Phron, Tintaglia, and unlocks the key to Kelsingra’s future.
But this triumph is not without sacrifice.
And I have to say, in an ending full of joy and satisfaction, losing Rapskal to the memory of Tellator devastated me. He’s long been a favorite here at WWS. His endless optimism and goofy demeanor were such a welcome, necessary presence in an often heavy, slogging journey. He was a light in some of the darkest moments. A beacon of faith and hope.
And he gave himself entirely in the pursuit of knowledge and skills needed to restore the Elderling race.
Tellator mostly sucks, and it’s hard not to share Thymara’s detestation of him – we mourn Rapskal too! – but it’s difficult to deny his utility in rallying the Elderlings to their potential and unlocking the Silver.
And though it’s sad, it also feels narratively necessary in freeing Thymara’s heart fully to Tats. In the end, she doesn’t have to deny her love for Rapskal or choose between them. Her love for him remains, and ultimately becomes something shared with Tats, even as she moves forward knowing he’s gone to her as she knew him.
I don’t think his contributions can be overstated.
He was brave and good. And I hope a glorious statue is raised in his honor.
Damn. I’m sad as hell.
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles through chapter 11 of Blood of Dragons. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
Friends, we are making the turn. I’ve reached roughly the halfway point of Blood of Dragons, so I’m pausing to reflect before the final push.
Quick blogger’s note: I’ve found recapping this series to be a bit more challenging than previous entries. I’m not sure if it’s me losing steam on this mission I’ve set for myself, or just the nature of this story. I keep feeling like a broken record when I sit down to reflect on plot progression, whereas with Fitz, I can wax indefinitely.
That doesn’t diminish my enjoyment, but I’m feeling ready to wrap this up and head back north.
I see two core threads to this series:
Let’s get into them.
If nothing else, a Hobb enthusiast should appreciate just how much lore the Rain Wild Chronicles adds to our understanding of magic, dragons, and Elderlings. And this opening half of Blood of Dragons delivers some of the most significant reveals yet.
The biggie: Silver.
We’ve been dancing around this mysterious silver substance – familiar from Verity, Fitz, the Fool – throughout the series. But here, the discussion shifts from coded and ambiguous to explicit, as the dragons charge the keepers with finding the Silver well.
Carson and Sedric step out of their episode of House Hunters: Kelsingra, and find the well – yippee! – setting us up with front-row seats to see how it will be used in the back half of this story.
We learn that Silver is the key to Elderling magic.
Dragons naturally have trace amounts of Silver in their blood, but they are strengthened by supplementing it from external sources.
We’ve long known Silver’s tie to Skill magic – Verity’s arms, Fitz’s link to the Fool – but these reveals sent me back to earlier hints about Fitz’s connection to dragons and Elderlings. (I mean, c’mon – beauty and allure that potent don’t come from nowhere.)
There’s also a nice callback to the touch of Silver on Malta’s neck. Which is totallllly something I recalled and was extremely aware of. 🤥
So yes: Silver really is the key to it all.
“This is the Silver well, the whole reason Kelsingra was first built. Remember, a long time ago, you wondered why they’d built such a grand city here. What was the reason for it, what trade, what industry, what port anchored it? Why build a city for dragons in a place so chill and damp in the winters? Why did the Elderlings stay here? And here’s our answer. The Silver well. The secret heart of Kelsingra.”
“It’s dragon Silver. The source of all magic.”
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles through City of Dragons. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
City of Dragons – ✅ One more book to go in our Rain Wilds Chronicles adventure, and then it’s time to buckle the fuck up and dive into the final trilogy of this RotE experience.
So with that, I’m going to jump right in with a character who proves likability has nothing to do with being compelling.
If Hest is a monster (and he is), here we finally meet his maker. And of course, it’s the final boss of boy moms: Hest’s mother. She enters the story as coddling and enabling as you might expect.
Robin Hobb isn’t called the queen of character (not sure anyone calls her that specifically, but still) for nothing. Hest is already one of the richest characters in the story, even without much direct page time. But the chapter we get to spend with him and his parents, especially his dynamic with his mother, adds even more depth to an already vivid portrait.
And he makes such a great villain. For me, he’s right up there with Kyle (and maybe Chade?) in the RotE loathsome-men rankings.
What makes him so terrifying is how real he is. He’s not a pale, ethereal magical woman in an ice palace. He doesn’t steal souls or chop up his foes. He’s just an asshole. A charismatic, entitled, deeply spoiled man taken to the extreme.
We see him encouraged to reclaim Alise and Sedric as if they’re property – and to secure any claim they might have to Kelsingra (good luck with that). But we also get to watch him taken down a massive peg when the Chalcedean mercenary he tried to have killed shows back up.
And listen, I don’t think of myself as sadistic, but I can’t lie, watching Hest get literally walked like a dog while writhing in poisoned-induced agony? Worked for me.
“He had licked the man’s boot. Not once or twice, but like a dog, lapping at it over and over until the Chalcedean had stepped away.”
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles through chapter 8 of City of Dragons. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
I never rarely nail a prediction (see: Chade, still kickin’). But the predictions and wish list I left off with at the end of Dragon Haven, in relation to where we pick things up in City of Dragons, were pretty spot on.
Let’s check in:
He hasn’t discovered the full story yet, but we do get a visit with the rage monster.
No Wintrow or Amber/the Fool yet, but we do get significant time with Malta and Reyn 😍 , Selden 😬, and Tintaglia as we open the story.
We got our first POV from Chalced proper. And boy, that Duke is a real dickhead!
Yuppers! Just as I was seriously starting to doubt that this was even the same place, Alise finds Verity’s city model and evidence that “Fitz wuz here.”
All in all, a very satisfying start to the back half of our penultimate RotE series.
wizardwordship 