robinhobb

Reactions from the Realm: Golden Fool, Chapters 16-21

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Death Becomes Him

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 21 of Golden Fool. References to the events of Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders.***

Another day, another Fitz death scene. My man can neither live in peace nor die in peace. I was incredibly moved by this version of Fitz straddling life and death. He follows after his beloved Nighteyes, ready to join the pack of wolves awaiting him in the great beyond. But alas, his work in the realm of the living isn’t finished. Apparently, there is more catalysting to be catalysted.

We are approaching the home stretch of Golden Fool, and I continue to majorly fuck with the Tawny Man Trilogy. I’m not sure if it’s because, as a semi-contemporary of Fitz at his current age, I can relate to him better, or if it’s just the ever-deepening connections to the characters and world. Either way, I am completely immersed. I’ve mentioned before that Fitz is in sandwich-generation hell (me too, just with less stabbing!), and that really seems to be the primary focus of this installment: Fitz trying to establish his authority amidst the varying generations around him.

And if simply being kindly Skillmaster/Lord Golden’s servant Tom Badgerlock doesn’t naturally inspire respect, then killing three grown men and a Wit-feral horse should do the trick!

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Reactions from the Realm: Golden Fool, Chapters 11-15

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Ask and Ye Shall Receive

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 15 of Golden Fool. References to the events of Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders.***

After a book and a half of anticipation, the moment is finally here: the Bingtowners have arrived at Buckkeep. Admittedly, the envoy we received was a bit of the Liveship B-team. When I saw a veiled figure among the crew, I was positively frothing for a Reyn appearance. But hey, Selden is cool too. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about what we got. Selden was being weird, we got major dragon talk, and Serilla was also there. I was absolutely thrilled with the whole event.

This section of chapters was loaded, and there is a lot to cover. One of my favorite subtle plotlines as we get deeper into Tawny Man is Fitz developing a sense of himself as a man at the Buckkeep court. We spent two-thirds of the Farseer Trilogy watching Fitz navigate his boyhood on the fringes of court life. His transition to manhood mostly happens away from the royal seat, but now he’s back- redefining his role and relationship to the Farseer crown through the lens of adulthood. It’s been fascinating to watch him reconcile the courtly life he knew as a boy while trying to carve out his place as a man.

Unfortunately for Fitz, adult life at Buckkeep means fighting with practically everyone…

Buckkeep Fight Night

The keep currently has strong “guests who have overstayed their welcome” energy. Add to that the newly arrived Bingtown contingent, and the castle is a veritable pressure cooker.

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Reactions from the Realm: Golden Fool, Chapters 6-10

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Slow Burn

***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:

  1. 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!)

  2. 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. 

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Reactions from the Realm: Golden Fool, Chapters 1-6

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Hurt So Good

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 6 of Golden Fool. References to the events of The Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders. Also, warning: this post contains adult content.***

Ahoy Hobb Heads! I’m home. My time away to heal from the pain of Fool’s Errand and stretch my baby blogger wings was fun, but sinking back into the comfort of Golden Fool feels so right. And by “so right,” I of course mean Robin immediately rips open my barely-healed heart and plunges me straight back into despair and suffering. Oh, you thought we were going to leave the pain of losing Nighteyes back in Fool’s Errand? Think again.

When I started the Tawny Man Trilogy after our Robin Hobb-imposed sojourn to the Cursed Shores, I remarked that in picking Fitz’s storyline back up, we get the full Fitz experience. Likewise, in returning from my brief, self-imposed exile in Caten, here at the start of Golden Fool we surely get Fitz at his Fitziest. Which also happens to be what I love the most in the world.

He’s pouting, being the saddest of bois, getting used and abused by his loved ones, finding himself outnumbered in precarious situations, absolutely bumbling his way through romantic interactions, and – perhaps my favorite of all – leaving cryptic passive-aggressive notes in the dust on tables. Seriously, “I was here; you were not,” belongs in the Petulance Hall of Fame. I will love Fitz until the day I die. All we need is for Dutiful to leave Fitz a post-it reply:

Men stay the same, no matter the realm.

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wizardwordship Programming Update!

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A Side Quest Commences…

Hello everyone!

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!

Reactions from the Realm: Fool’s Errand, Chapters 26-Epilogue

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Screaming. Crying. Throwing up.

***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.

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The Navigation Station

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Welcome to wizardwordship!

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: Dragon Keeper (The Rain Wild Chronicles #1)
✔️ Just finished: Fool’s Fate (Tawny Man #3)
🧭 Start from the beginning: wizardwordship’s Maiden Voyage

Realm of the Elderlings, by series:

Farseer Trilogy

The Farseer
Trilogy

Liveship Traders

The Liveship
Traders Trilogy

The Tawny
Man Trilogy

The Rain Wild Chronicles

Side Quests:

The Will of the Many

Reactions from the Realm: Fool’s Errand, Chapters 20-25

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World’s Colliding!

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 25 of Fool’s Errand . References to the events of Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders***

Whew! The plot is thickening and the action is actioning. The titular errand seems to be approaching its conclusion, and with a bit more excitement than my typical errands. (Although a trip to the grocery store with both of my children has its share of battles.)


I have to give it up- Robin Hobb’s masterful storytelling is on full display in these chapters. I found myself particularly appreciative of the minor scene with the Wit-bonded deer from earlier in the book. When Fitz is filling in the Fool (and us) on the details of his time with the Witted folk and his learning of the ways of the Old Blood, we get an interlude where he senses a wrongness in a deer. Rolf explains that the human bond-partner of the deer merged her consciousness into the animal rather than die. This is meant to illustrate for Fitz how Wit magic can be perverted, which lays important groundwork for us to quickly catch on to what’s going on with the Prince’s lady-cat seductress.

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Reactions from the Realm: Fool’s Errand, Chapters 16-20

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Badass Fitz Returns!

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 20 of Fool’s Errand . Heavy references to the events of Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders***

Fire up the Mystery Machine, things are getting pretty spooky in Galekeep! I am really loving the mystery vibes of Fool’s Errand. When it was revealed that we were in cat country, I should have expected things to get weird, and the atmosphere at Galekeep did not disappoint. Everyone is hiding something, Fitz is looking foine in his fancy clothes, and utter disaster lurks around every corner.

In my last post, I noted that it was great to have Fitz and Nighteyes reunite. What I failed to realize is that their time apart was actually a blessed mercy on us: giving us a break from the unrelenting slow march toward Nighteyes’ death. This is fucking brutal. I feel like I am in an emotional guillotine. The blade is going to drop and I am going to be destroyed. I know Nighteyes is prideful, but can we please fashion him a little saddle or something? Watching him push himself to the limit – all while recovering from a cat attack (did I say I liked cats before? Fuck cats!) – is a lot to handle. Fitz, who is very generous with his own life force, does a little more skill healing/life infusion, which Nighteyes flat-out forbids him from doing again.

I’m beginning to fear that the relative lack of emotional destruction in Liveship Traders compared to Farseer Trilogy lulled me into complacency. Time to get my head back in the game. We are in the Six Duchies now. Constant vigilance!!!!

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Reactions from the Realm: Fool’s Errand, Chapters 11-15

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Release the cats!

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 15 of Fool’s Errand. Heavy references to the events of The Farseer Trilogy and mentions of Liveship Traders***

After taking our time settling back in with Fitz and Friends – catching up on things we missed and reorienting ourselves to the slower pace of the Six Duchies – things seem to be taking shape in our story.

We’re back in Buckkeep, and everyone is back on their bullshit. The Fool and Chade concoct a ruse to bring Fitz back into the fold unnoticed, which naturally involves treating him like dogshit around the clock. Oh well- it’s the only way! They can’t risk him having even a single item of comfort in his hidden, windowless sleeping chamber, yet they’re somehow fine relying on an even-Clark-Kent-would-be-unimpressed level of physical disguise. Which is to say, there is no disguise. Just the trust that a servant’s outfit and a few half-hearted mannerisms (which Fitz consistently botches) will suffice. I suppose by now they assume that as long as Fitz is getting the raw end of the deal, things will work out.

The Plot Thickens

We’ve got a missing prince, and Detective Fitz is on the case! I thoroughly enjoyed watching him go full Sherlock Holmes. We get scenes straight out of Law and Order: Six Duchies:

Fitz: “Begin the night before he disappeared…”
“… and tell me all that you know.”

I didn’t quite realize the Venn diagram between assassin training and detective work was practically a circle, but I’m not going to question it.

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