***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through the end of Fool’s Fate.***
Well, friends – I have concluded my read-through of the Tawny Man trilogy. What a beautiful culmination to an incredible series. I was struck by how complete this story felt when combined with the Farseer Trilogy. They may stand as separate series, but they truly feel like necessary companions. While both are remarkable on their own, it’s the arc of all six books that I find almost unbelievably stunning. This ending leaves me with a strong sense of closure, and a deep curiosity about how the Fitz and the Fool trilogy will complement, expand upon, and ultimately conclude Fitz’s story.
Before diving into the emotional conclusion of our tale, I have to address my personal state as I write this post. I debated whether to include this, but what’s the point of blogging if not to show up authentically and share a piece of oneself? This endeavor has always been about connecting across the human experience, and what I’m going through now is something almost everyone can relate to. It also ties closely to the themes of the text, so I’d feel remiss not to include it.
***Spoilers for the Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 33 of Fool’s Fate.***
If the revelation of how Fitz was previously able to return to his deceased body thrilled me last post, then that was just the appetizer for this section’s full buffet of answers. There’s a lot to cover, so allow me to get right to the goods.
Fitz and the Fool are lingering in their market-square campsite, recovering and wrestling with where things go from here. Once again, we get that wonderful parallel between the Fool’s sense of lostness and desire to retreat from life, and Fitz’s past experience:
“…you cannot hide forever from your life and friends. Eventually, you must face it again.” He almost smiled. “This, from the man who spent over a decade being dead.
They almost feel outside of time in this suspended healing sojourn, but eventually the Fool declares himself recovered enough, and it’s time to rejoin the story. Not before a detour to the stone dragon garden for a visit to Girl-on-a Dragon.
Turns out the Fool has promised the rooster crown to the sort-of-lead minstrel of Girl-on-a-Dragon’s entombed coterie, Realder- a former wearer of the crown. (The crown/Skill-dragon/coterie lore goes pretty dense here, so let’s just stick with that and keep it moving).
***Spoilers for the Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 13 of Fool’s Fate.***
It’s time to slay some dragons. For Fitz, both the literal and metaphorical varieties. We have arrived on Aslevjal, and our quest has begun in earnest. At the same time, the day of reckoning for Fitz’s past seems to be upon us.
Let’s begin with Nettle, shall we? All my dreams are coming true. After Skilling into a Nettle-Fitz dream interaction uninvited, Dutiful has had enough of the secrecy and demands answers. When he learns of his secret cousin (sister? 😬), he is pissed! I loved the dressing down he gives Fitz and Chade (more so the Chade part, but still). He’s wondering why he’s been left in the dark about an alternate Farseer heir, left to shoulder the entire responsibility of the line on his own. And when Fitz, in his classic myopia, tries to brush it off with a “yeah, I didn’t think it would really affect you,” Dutiful clocks him perfectly:
“You go around making these monumental decisions about what other people should know or not know about their own lives. But you don’t really have any more idea how it will turn out than I do!”
Such a great scene. I see the argument on both sides (both being Dutiful and Fitz, and very much excluding groveling, self-serving Chade), and they do too. Fitz wants to protect Nettle from being sucked into the Farseer machine the way he was. But witnessing Dutiful’s reaction shows how protecting one child has, in a way, cost the other. (Do we consider Dutiful Fitz’s child? Eh, tomato, tomahto.) So while Dutiful’s point about Fitz not knowing outcomes is true, it cuts both ways. Sure, Fitz shouldn’t shoulder these decisions alone, but what else can you expect from an abandoned boy who has never been able to truly trust anyone?
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 10 of Golden Fool.***
I went pretty hard into Fitz’s sexcapades in my last post. But honestly, the real foreplay is everything happening in Golden Fool right now, leading up to whatever shoe is about to drop at Buckkeep.
In this section of chapters, Fitz is settling into this new version of life in Buckkeep. I wouldn’t say things are going particularly smoothly – the teenagers are being very teenager-y – but nothing major is happening yet. Teenage dramatics aside, it feels like we are on the brink of something.
For me, there are two (presumably) looming events I’ve been eagerly anticipating:
A Nettle/Molly/Burrich confrontation I noted in my previous post that Nettle nears- she’s making contact in Fitz’s dreams, and Chade (via Thick’s raw skilling) is aware of her and her Skill ability. How long can Fitz remain hidden from those in his past life?
We also had a near miss with Lady Patience earlier in this book. I feel we are due for some kind of collision soon. (Hell, I’d take Hands recognizing him at this point. Throw me a bone here!)
The Bingtown Brigade appearing I am ready for the crossover event. To be up front, I did see the next chapter title: ‘Tidings from Bingtown.‘ So predicting a series collision doesn’t exactly make me Nostradamus. But I have been anticipating the stories to overlap in Tawny Man, and so far, it’s been a very Fitzian tale (no complaints!). We are around the trilogy’s midpoint, so surely the merge can’t be too far off.
Robin certainly has me on tenterhooks waiting for either event.
We’ve reached the exciting conclusion to The Will of the Many! Some questions were answered, and many more were raised. Theories died, and new theories sprang to life. Loyalties have shifted yet again, and we lost a real one. Whew! What a ride!
Let’s not waste any time and get right into Synchronous.
This is it, people. Shit has officially gone off the rails heading into The Strength of the Few (releasing in November, see you back here then!). I love how James Islington handled this twist. After completing the labyrinth, Vis enters a chamber and steps into the bronze blade ring. He experiences something – it’s super painful and sucks – but when he emerges, everything seems the same. So we spend the rest of the book wondering what exactly he unleashed. I kept expecting something to show up or there to be some major shift in the world- wizardwordship was on alert! But everything continues along mostly normal (rotting arms and new powers aside), and Vis wins the Iudicium and we seem to be on our merry way. Then comes Synchronous.
Synchronous, Part 1
We are taken back to the moment Vis emerges from the bronze blade ring. It starts the exact same way… right down to the instructions getting carved into his arm. He exits the chamber and things begin to diverge. When he approaches the gate to the labyrinth, he comes to a stone that has some mumbo jumbo about needing to pay a toll for passage to Luceum, places his hands on it, and whoosh! He is transported, sans left arm(!), to a vast rotunda. There are people there who tell him to “Stay with us… the other from your world will be coming.” Fade to black on Luceum…
Synchronous, Part 2
Oh, but we’re not done here, folks! We get thrust back to the bronze blade ring emergence again. This time, there’s someone in the chamber- who introduces himself as… CAEROR!!!!
Caeror has arrived and he starts spilling the tea. This Vis is in Obiteum. They have a cute, “Oh, you know Veridious?” / “And you know Ulciscor?” small-world sort of exchange before Caeror is like, enough small talk, we’ve got to save you back in Res (apparently the name of the world we’ve been bopping in). He busts out a knife and we solve the mystery of the carved arm words!
So now we’ve got three Vis’s in three worlds. And we know that what happens to his body in one world affects his bodies in the others. (Very concerned that Caeror is just going to start writing letters to his friends back in Res on Vis’s torso.)
Synchronous rocked my world, but we have to get into the Iudicium. Shit went pretty hard.
Let’s begin by paying due respect to our big loss: Callidus. I’m going to be honest, coming into this story straight out of the emotional warzone that is Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, this was light work for me.
I liked Callidus. He was a great pal to Vis, loyal to the end. And I am sad for Vis. First, his lady love stabs him and shoves him off a tower, then his best friend dies in his arms. It’s a rough stretch, for sure.
So how did we get here? Well, after his jaunty little Synchronism-launching side quest mid-Iudicium, Vis returns to the fray to discover that things are going a bit awry. After linking back up with Callidus and Aequa, they make a plan that involves splitting up. Callidus loses the coin flip that seals his fate, and Aequa and Vis head out on the initial mission to go for the heart of Jovan (the goal of the games).
Well, nothing fucks up your plans like stumbling upon a mass grave of all the safety teams plus a few students – YOIKS! It is gross, and I am grateful we got to gloss over Vis and Aequa retrieving Sianus’s tattooed arms as proof of what they’ve found.
Change of plans! They decide to warn the remaining competitors and GTFOH. Vis gets to Ionus, who very quickly accepts the story and peaces out. Things with Emissa don’t go as smoothly.
Before we get to the Emissa confrontation, Vis stumbles upon the bodies of three Class 4 students and has a run in with the creepy, teleporting Anguis leader we saw conversing with Relucia back at the Festival of Pletunia. He emerges as the HBIC and basically calls Relucia small potatoes. He cuts a deal: if Vis wins the Iudicium and becomes Domitor, he will let Emissa live.
Off Vis goes on a mission to save his lady by defeating his lady. (That’s going to be a fun convo, “No, honey, I swear. I only want to win over you for you. Not for me.“)
He first has to fight a Sextus guard and almost gets tossed off the tower before Emissa wields awill and saves the day. They have a sweet moment, but Vis is like, “Yeah… what was the wielding Will all about.” She brushes him off: “Shh sweetie, not now.”
And then we learn why it is always best to address things in the moment, because her eyes black over again, she stabs him in the stomach, and throws him off the tower. School romances always end poorly! (Says the woman married to her freshman dorm neighbor.)
It’s not looking great, but if we know anything about Vis- it’s that he finds a way. He pulls a magical ability (more on that in a bit) out of his ass and summons the heart to him as he falls. He’s saved (again!) by DiagoDog, makes his way back to the mortally wounded Callidus, and stumbles his way back to the Academy – dead best friend in arms – to stuff the heart back in the statue of Jovan, thus winning the Iudicium in the final moments of the test.
OH! And it’s his eighteenth birthday!
Time for my final musings on The Will of the Many:
Let’s revisit some of my predictions heading into Part III, so we can all have a good chuckle at my expense (and maybe find something to be impressed with!).
First, the bad:
My bold prediction at the end of my previous post was that Vis was going to come into contact with a family member – possibly a sister – LOL. In our catch-up with Fadrique in Suus, he makes it abundantly clear that all of Vis’s family members are dead. He saw all of their bodies. There is zero chance any of them are alive. If you even thought someone could’ve gotten away, you’re stupid and shouldn’t share your thoughts for public consumption. (I’m paraphrasing just a bit).
I was pretty gung-ho in my suspicions of Aequa. To be fair to myself, pretty early on in Part III, I started shifting those suspicions onto Emissa, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. Aequa was too obvious. And while the budding Vis-Emissa romance was sweet, we were kept at arm’s length from their dynamic in a way that screamed this was ripe for heartbreak. Emissa is very much giving “first love, not true love” energy. (Though I don’t think her betrayal is straightforward, more on that later).
Onyx did not come back to be significant (yet!). Was it even onyx that the swords were made of? The Remnants are described as obsidian. Did I just flub that whole thing?
Now, the good:
The injured Alupi returning to aid Vis! A bit of a layup, but DiagoDog (much more on double names later) did return and, though not exactly a cuddle bug, does have some sort of bond with Vis and served as his protector for much of the Iudicium.
The Vis-Emissa romance heating up on their island getaway to Suus. I mean, let’s be real, it was about as hot as a bowl of yogurt, but still.
Vis’s magical ability watch: I pointed out Vis’s ability to sense other’s presence seemed like it might hint at a magical ability, and it looks like my powers of perception were on point! He seems to get a bit of a post-portal upgrade, with his natural skills taking on a supernatural quality – fun! So far: internal people radar, some sort of semi-invincibility, and the power to summon objects.
My “Could Veridious actually be good?” theory from my Part I recap has legs, baby!! Never a doubt. (Unless you count my very explicitly stated doubt from my Part II recap, which, fortunately, I do not.)
In the main timeline (pray for me, folks), Veridious is with Vis when he wakes post-Iudicium. He tries to get Vis to declare himself to Religion, and I don’t know… I was catching a vibe of genuineness here.
Another point in Veridious’s favor: Vis’s brief interaction with Caeror in Obiteum. Caeror asks Vis if he knows Veridious and when Vis calls him Principalis Veridious, Caeror kinda gives an “Oh Veridious, you rascal” smirk. Not the reaction you’d expect to hearing about your murderer.
I’m gonna keep the Veridious train rolling here. Veridious’s possible ascent is set against Ulciscor’s hard fall in the “who-seems-cool” rankings. You know what? This seems like a perfect time to segue over to Ulciscor.
Papa Ulc: fuck you! (That felt good).
I forgot to mention this is my Part II reaction, but I started to sour hard on Ulciscor back at the Festival of Ancestors. After Vis details his harrowing, near-death escapade to the first ruins, Ulc is immediately like, “Yeah, not enough. Do better.”
And boy does he not get any better from that point on. In Suus, Vis reports that not only has he ascended to Class 4, but also his successful even more insane recon of the second ruins site. But Papa Ulc wants more. If greed is the hallmark of the Hierarchy, Ulciscor is a true company man. He insists Vis run the certain-death labyrinth or he’ll invoke his fatherly rights (you adopted an adult less than a year ago, chill out) to toss him in a sapper. Winning the Iudicium, becoming Domitor, and defying all the odds to scout two sets of should-be-unreachable ruins… still not enough for Papa Ulc.
Vek have mercy on me. I was complaining last post about the double-identity of Sedotia/Relucia. And now I have to keep track of characters copied across multiple universes 😵💫. This should be interesting for your girl.
I was already fuming that Vis named his wolf Diago (his own former name in Suus), and now I am going to be wrestling with Res-Vis, Obiteum-Vis, and Luceum-Vis.
Synchronous is death you say? Yeah… death to this blogger.
Superhero Vis! He continues to be the athlete of a generation. He is running around Solivagus, forging freezing rivers, fighting alien guards, fighting non-alien guards, carrying his dying friend, and defying the laws of sleep to an astonishing degree. Even without his new upgraded powers, he’s a beast.
Listen. The hierarchy does some pretty bad stuff, but their crimes against taste and design are right up there for me. I was horrified right along Vis at the defacing of his family’s ancestral palace. He describes:
“Gone is the character-filled hewn look of the sandstone. In its place is a monstrosity. Walls smoothed, polished, and painted garishly in the colours of Caten: orange and white and purple.”
And that’s not even the worst of it! At our first dinner, Vis observes:
“Gone is the long table in the centre, replaced by several smaller ones, each surrounded by three broad couches in the Catenan style.”
Do not serve me a formal dinner while I’m seated on an m-fing couch. This definitively proves that no amount of Will-wielding can buy taste.
Big questions heading into Book 2:
Who, pray tell, is the “person from Vis’s world” the people from Luceum say is coming? Are they referring to Caeror over in Obiteum? (I don’t think so.) Is this possibly someone who is dead?
Vis has that dream-convo with his dad, who tells him, “Death is a doorway, Son. You will see him again. No one is ever truly lost.” One of these new worlds being some sort of afterlife seems very in play.
What the hell went down during Veridious’s/Caeror’s/Lanistia’s Iudicium? Obviously, a lot more than we were led to believe. Very curious how Lanistia factors into it all.
Will Vis have to wield Will? He makes a split-second decision to request a placement with the Censor (Callidus’s father!!) post-graduation, as is his right as Domitor. This will keep him firmly in the mix of the Hierarchy governance. One of his strongest motivations through most of the story has been to avoid both ceding and wielding Will, but he ends on a note of “circumstances change.”
What role will Eidhin play going forward? He gets a default promotion to best friend via Callidus’s untimely death. And we still have the mystery of why he had to decline supporting Vis in the Iudicium. I’m excited to see how he factors in.
Will Emissa and Vis make up? I think they may work out their differences after a long period of distrust from Vis, but ultimately, I think the romance ship may have sailed for these two.
Who left the missing-from-Suus carved wooden “Diago” ship on Vis’s side table post-Iudicium? Could this be the faintest sign of life for my “family member still alive” theory?
Final remarks on my journey through The Will of the Many:
This was fun! I wasn’t sure what to expect jumping into a new story while taking a little break from the deeply parasocial relationship I find myself in with the Realm of the Elderlings. Imagine my surprise when this new story also followed a lonely boy of secret royal lineage who bonds with a wolf. Quite the niche I’ve carved out for myself!
The complexity of the world and plot pushed me at times, but I enjoyed breaking it all down and I hope you had fun following along.
Next stop: back to Six Duchies, where I pick up my main quest with book two of the Tawny Man Trilogy: Golden Fool.
***Spoilers for Part I: Chapters I-XXIV of The Will of the Many***
Starting a new fantasy series is like visiting a new city. I’m familiar with the foundational elements (that’s a building, here’s our protagonist, yay! there’s a map, and so on), but everything feels a bit foreign (wait, where is the biblioteque?). There are a lot of new names, settings, technologies, and governmental structures flying around, and as a reader, it’s a delicate dance between trying to absorb what’s going on while also moving forward with faith that it will all click into place in time.
(Likewise, I am trying to get my bearings as a blogger here, striving to discuss what’s happening while not recapping every little detail or explaining who each character is. Please bear with me as I get my sea legs on this new adventure. It’s all part of the process, baby.)
So that’s where I find myself, having completed Part I of The Will of the Many. There’s a lot of setup and world-building taking place, but I’ve been impressed with James Islington’s ability to feed us information amid a fast-moving plot. He’s great at introducing concepts and then gradually layering in more details to build our understanding without overwhelming us.
We meet Vis, our hidden-in-plain-sight orphan prince from a conquered land, doing his best to blend in among the enemy. He’s scraping by and biding time until he can get his revenge. I’m immediately in on Vis. Perhaps stepping out of Realm of the Elderlings for this side quest has me preconditioned to root for a young male narrator with the odds stacked against him, but I’ve found him quite likable so far. He’s clearly exceptional without being overpowered.
I was pretty much sold when, upon finding out he is about to fight a higher-station (and thus stronger Will-powered) opponent in the nighttime fight club he participates in to raise funds (revenge ain’t cheap, folks!), his strategy is to strip butt naked. This is the sort of unhinged action I am looking for in my main character: determination and drive; strength and speed; quick thinking and cunning; and a willingness to go to any lengths to get the job done. This is someone I can get behind!
An exciting update on my journey through realms: I will be taking a quick detour from my mission in the Realm of the Elderlings to embark on a side quest through…
James Islington’s The Will of the Many!
Fear not! This will be the briefest of detours from my main mission. Yes, my whole heart still belongs to Fitz, and I cannot wait to jump into Golden Fool soon.
But I have found that blogging through a story takes a lot more time than my previous blistering pace through a series. I don’t want to burn out or get stuck in a rut. And where we left things at the end of Fool’s Errand feels like an easy place to take a quick pause, recover a bit after you know what, and return to the Six Duchies very soon, refreshed and ready to rip.
I’m also curious to see how it feels to blog a different series and get in from the very beginning. The sequel to The Will of the Many is due out later this year, so it seemed like the perfect time to jump in.
I’m aiming to complete this side quest quickly; I have a solo adventure coming up in a few weeks, and I plan to be blissfully reunited with Fitz for that trip- so your girl is on a deadline!
Hope you enjoy this little departure, and if not, I will see you soon in Buckkeep!
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through the end of Fool’s Errand . References to the events of Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders***
I am going to need someone to explain to me how Robin Hobb spent an entire book preparing us for what was coming, only for me to be completely blindsided by Nighteyes’ death. A mere two posts ago, I was over here preaching “Constant Vigilance,” reminding myself that we were back in the Six Duchies, which means certain disaster and heartbreak. And yet, I still managed to let my guard down. After the intensity of the Piebald battle, I let myself be lulled into a moment of comfort, only to have the emotional rug viciously pulled out from under me.
Honestly, I am not ok.
Reading Nighteyes’ death felt like watching a slow-motion horror film. It began so beautifully- wolf and man reunited, curled together, slipping into the shared dreamspace. As the hunting dream progressed, there was a slow, dawning realization of what was occurring. At first, it was just an inkling that something was off. By the time we get to Fitz waking up and confirming that these final dream moments were, in fact, Nighteyes saying goodbye, I felt like I wanted to start moving backward and undo what I had just read. No, no, no… But it was too late.
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 5 of Fool’s Errand . Heavy references to the events of Farseer Trilogy and mentions of Liveship Traders***
We are so back, baby! Reuniting with Fitz and Nighteyes in the Six Duchies feels like slipping on a well-worn shoe. This is pack! I was downright giddy when I opened Fool’s Errand and was thrust back into the headspace of my main ManBoyWolf. Don’t get me wrong – I loved my diversion to the Cursed Shores – but Fitz remains my #1 boy. (We’ve been through a lot together!) If Liveship Traders was like going on vacation – new places, fresh faces, exciting excursions – then Fool’s Errand feels like coming home. Right away, we get the full Fitz experience: he’s lonely, he’s stubborn, everyone wants to fuck him, and he’s even sitting by the hearth at Chade’s feet. Ahhhh… we are in familiar territory, friends.
It shouldn’t have surprised me just how easy it was to sink back into Fitz’s world. By now, his inner monologue feels almost as recognizable as my own. We seemingly haven’t missed too much during our time apart: Fitz is now 35 going on 85, retired from the catalyst game, and living his best cottagecore life with Nighteyes and Hap. But alas, someone clued Sa in to Fitz enjoying a moment’s peace, which means it’s time to shake things up.
In these opening chapters, Fitz gets the Ebenezer Scrooge treatment with his very own “Ghosts of Fitzmas Past” showing up on his doorstep. Let’s break down the highlights:
Chade
Chade drops in unannounced to catch up and resurrect all of Fitz’s past traumas. We get a helpful update on the old Buckkeep gang, along with a totally reasonable ask: come train the children you were forced to abandon in the magic that all but destroyed you. At least he brought brandy!
He also nonchalantly drops emotional bombs. Hey Fitz- your bio daughter Nettle? She’s just like Burrich (cool!), more so even than the five (!) sons he shares with Molly, the woman you loved and were also (practically) forced to abandon. Chade was clearly sick the day they provided sensitivity training during bastard assassin school.
***Spoliers for all of The Liveship Traders. Mentions of The Farseer Trilogy***
Sa damn. My journey through The Liveship Traders trilogy has come to an end. And what a conclusion it was. I feel the need to stare off into the lack for a bit and process the experience (and by process, I mean immediately jump to the Kindle store and purchase TheTawny Man trilogy, of course). I’m genuinely in awe of what Robin Hobb accomplished: the characters she created, the storylines she wove together, the seeds she planted for what’s to come, and the expansion of her brilliant world and lore. I truly loved every second I spent in this series… yes, even the ones spent on the Serpent Tangle Struggle Bus.
We pick back up in the post-battle night that refuses to end. Tintaglia is ready to take charge on the beach, but she meets her match in stubbornness: Wintrow- who’s gotten a taste of power and isn’t about to give it up, no matter if his challenger could eat him. She decides to let the humans return to the ship and pretend they have a say in anything, as long as it doesn’t cramp her agenda. As everyone congregates in the Motley’s best conference room, I was wondering exactly when the last time any of our characters had gotten any shuteye was when – right on cue – Althea proceeds to nod off while the future order of the world is being hashed out.
wizardwordship 