A page turner of the highest order!

Earlier this week I’ve finally started reading Fool’s Errand. This is the first book in The Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb and I couldn’t wait to get started on it. It’s the third trilogy that’s set in the realm of the Elderlings. I have read a lot of good books in all my years, but this one has me blown away! I’m literally ripping through the pages in my quest to devour this book as quickly as possible. Hobb is such an amazing storyteller that I have a lot of trouble putting this book down to continue daily life. When I wrote an entry about The Liveship Traders, I quoted George R.R. Martin, saying: “Even better than the Assassin books. I didn’t think that was possible.” You can already feel it coming, but Fool’s Errand is even better than the Liveship books. I didn’t think that was possible!

Once I had finished Ship of Destiny, the last book in The Liveship Traders, I started to realise something. This is a major spoiler if you’ve not read any of the books yet, so be warned. I was starting to consider that Amber was showing a lot of similarities to the Fool from the Farseer Trilogy. With the power of hindsight I berated myself that I should have picked up on that earlier, especially when she found the wooden crown in Igrot’s hidden treasure and said it was precious to her. For those of you who don’t remember, the crown played an important part in the vision that Fitz and the Fool shared on the Elderling road when they were searching for King Verity.

In Fool’s Errand there are subtle, and some blatantly obvious, clues that the Fool and Amber are indeed the same person. Aside from various little references to Bingtown and being on a ship, one of the most glaring facts is that the Fool indeed has the crown with him. Another one is that the Fool’s horse is called Malta. This certainly is a reference to Malta Vestrit, who became an Elderling Queen at the end of Ship of Destiny.

While reading through this book, and mulling things over a little, do these facts mean that Amber re-carved the face of the liveship Paragon to reflect FitzChivalry’s image? As far as I’m aware it’s never been specifically mentioned anywhere, except that Amber carved Paragon’s face in the liking of someone she once loved. In the last book of the Farseer Trilogy it becomes a fact that the Fool is actually a woman and has always been in love with Fitz. A fact that is largely realized and then ignored by Fitz. The Fool is constantly referred to as a male by Fitz, so I’m a little unclear whether Fitz knows this fact and ignores it or if he denies the truth to himself.

I simply love how these books make me puzzle over little facts and refer to earlier events in the time line of the different series. Robin Hobb truly is a remarkable storyteller and I wish I had the same talent for writing! I’m also oddly grateful to my brother who randomly showed up with a battered book in his hands telling me he had picked it up for a couple of cents and thought I might like it. The battered book, Assassin’s Apprentice, turned out to be the first part in a very large and interesting series.

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