You spin my head right round, right round

***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 10 of Fool’s Errand . Heavy references to the events of Farseer Trilogy and mentions of Liveship Traders***

Friends. We are ten chapters in. Not a damned thing has happened. And I am riveted. I could hang out at The Fitz and Wolf BnB, shooting the shit with whoever wanders up the lane, indefinitely. I don’t know what sorcery Robin Hobb is working, but I am enjoying every minute of it so far. I am especially impressed by her ability to recap past events with the lightest of touches. We never feel like we are getting a clunky info-dump. The reminders of earlier events are delivered so naturally, it just feels like reminiscing.

For a moment, I was extremely concerned that the aforementioned (see previous post) Double Fooling was coming to fruition. When The Fool started talking about another self-proclaimed White Prophet – a “she” who preceded his path – I was quaking. Fortunately (I think?), it became clear that this false prophet lady was not, in fact, Amber, but rather the pale ghost-ship lady from way back in Farseer. I love the setup of a rival evil prophet and catalyst (add Kebal Rawbread to our insane names list), and I am excited to revisit this unsolved mystery. The whole forging business was super gnarly, so I am looking forward to reopening this case.

One of the things I’m loving about the start of Tawny Man is how clearly the connections between the Farseer Trilogy and Liveship Traders are emerging. At first, Liveship Traders feels like a completely separate story, divorced from the events up in the Six Duchies. Of course, there were little hints and mentions of our friends in the north that became more apparent and pronounced as the story unfolded. But now, the ties feel strong and deliberate. (Fitz even took a little “nothing-to-see-here-just-a-man-and-wolf” vacation to Bingtown while we were away!) The parallels between the Wit and the liveship/dragon-human bonds have been jumping out to me. And with a potential big bad on a ship emerging, so many great possibilities to incorporate our favorite southern seafarers into the mix. (Let it be known: if there is a future with Fitz sailing into a naval battle aboard ShipFitz, I will spontaneously combust.)