Fool's Fate
Book 3 of The Tawny Man trilogy Robin Hobb
Voyager, a division of HarperCollins
Trade paperback, R149.95
Reviewed by Carla Martins, 18 October 2004
Before I commence with the actual review, I must point out that this is the
third book of a trilogy entitled The Tawny Man,
which forms part of two other trilogies beginning with The
Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders. To
enjoy this book it is absolutely not necessary to read the other two books in
this trilogy because it can be read as a "stand alone" book in its
own right.
Our main characters are: FitzChivalry (also known as Tom Badgerlock);
Prince Dutiful; Elliania (the Narcheska); the Fool; Thick; Chade; Nettle; and
the dragons, Tintaglia and Icefyre.
What we have here is a quest to be undertaken by Prince Dutiful to win
Elliania's hand in marriage, which will result in an alliance and an
end to many years of war between Dutiful and the Narcheska's peoples. The
prince will be taking with him his skilled coterie, a group of people who
practice a form of magic or telepathy known as the Skill, of which
FritzChivalry and Dutiful are members.
We become aware early on that a mystery cloaks this quest: Exactly why does
Elliania's challenge insist on the death of the dragon Icefyre? She
demands that the Prince present her the head of the dragon otherwise the
marriage and alliance will not take place but does not elaborate why.
The Prince and his coterie sense that all it not what it seems: There is
more to this quest than is explained. The Narcheska and her people seem to be
hiding the true nature of the quest from them.
Even though I read about incidents which took place in the other trilogies
of this series, this did not deter me from getting hooked on the story from
beginning to end.
The writer draws you into the story and you become deeply absorbed in this
fantasy landscape. I came to care about the characters and looked forward to
them solving problems that landed them in precarious situations.
I would definitely recommend this book to other members of our club.
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