Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Starting May 7 2017

I read it last month but I would love to join the discussion!

We'd love to have you :)

so many good books this month! Still I'm eagerly waiting for this trilogy!

starting today.

Chapter 2

Nighteyes had rissen and stretched stiffly. Now he came to lie down beside me. He set his head on my knee.
"I don't understand. You are ill?"
"No. Just stupid."
"Ah. Nothing new there. We'll, you haven't died from that so far."
I have really missed Nighteyes!!!

Yeah, me too! Nighteyes scenes are awesome, both witty and smart, sometimes realy profound.

reached chapter 12 and things are starting to pick up. I loved the way everything was explained as the epilogue from Assassin's Quest left some things unexplained. How and why Fitz ended where he was? All the threads are neatly tied in this book.
Nighteyes has changed so much - he is absolutely delightful! And his bond with Fitz is so wonderfully described and their dialogues so witty that at times I wish I could bond myself.
I love Hap too. From Assassin's Quest I got the idea that he was a simpleton, but I couldn't have been more wrong!
It's good to see the Fool also again but I don't quite like the way he behaves now with Fitz at the court. I miss the Fool who banged the door in Sterling's face! But then this Fool is a little more grown up I suppose. :) And I still love him.
And Chade is starting to show more of his feelings, unlike in the previous books. I like him so much more this way.

I didn't realize how much I missed Fitz and the Fool and Nighteyes 😭

same here Hacen.
What chapter are you at?

Just finished chapter 12. It's 2:30 AM here so I'm headed to bed 😴

oh my! you stood that late!!!
good night then and I'll start now from chapter 12 onwards. 😚

As I said: insane! Both of you! :D

I had the same thoughts on Hap, but you are right he turned out to be great! But I don't had the feeling, that Chade changed much. He always seems to care about Fitz a lot, especially the part in the forest when he and Burrich look after him. This part was realy emotional and bittersweet.

Something offtopic: Did you know there' s a song related to Assassin's Apprentice? A friend told me, she startet the series only because of this song :) It's Hand of Sorrow by Within Temptation.

And by the way, where is Rob? Doesn't he join this buddy read?

I didn't know about the song Anni but I'll look it up. Today! Thank you for letting me know about it.
Regarding Chade, I knew he cared about Fitz, especially after that scene over the grave when they brought him back, but his emotions are so much more transparent in this book than before. He lets his guard down now, in old age and I can see so much more of the man. I like him a lot better now.
Nighteyes is such a gem sometimes. His conversations with Fitz make me laugh out loud most of the time. As a wolf, he seems more human than a human.
And I love the way the Fool is trying to cope with the entire Lord-Servant situation. He himself cane up with the plan and now he is shocked and horrified sometimes at the way Fitz is behaving.
Did you find this as well?

Don't know about Rob. Hacen and I decided to do the buddy read instead of Soldier Son to wait for Karen to finish Tad Williams so we can all do the other one together.
Are you on the second book right now?

Chapter 18

I wonder
(view spoiler)[could the prince's cat be one of those that have both human and animal inside, like that dear they saw in the forest? Both Nighteyes and Fitz smelled wrongness around her. And she did things without the prince knowing. Could she as human/cat have bonded the prince while he was small and is now trying to reduce him to his animal state? She keeps telling him: become the cat! - and once a witted becomes his animal he cannot return to his body without help. (hide spoiler)]

I work evenings so that's not that late for me

I don't remember rob saying he was going to join us

I don't remember that either Hacen.

Maybe it's just me but I think the fool loves Fitz and it's sad to me that Fitz doesn't seem to share his feelings. I definitely think Fitz loves him and is close to him but I don't think he is as open to the idea of loving another man like that. Like I said maybe it's just me and I'm looking into it too much.

Anni do you think the Fool is a man or a woman? I always thought he was a man. Laura and I were talking about it and I wanted to get someone else's opinion 😁

Aaaah so many questions to answer :D

I think I get what you mean Laura and maybe you are right about Chade. But to me, his change starts earlier and not only because of his Age but because Fitz isn't his student anymore. He wins me over in Assassin's Quest, so there's no point at which he could get more likeable to me in this book. You know what I mean?

And I agree on Nighteyes and the fool, I love them both and I think the series wouldn't be nearly as awesome as it is, without these two :) And you are right Nighteyes sometimes seems more human than the others, like a wise, old man. I miss the "old" fool sometimes, too. The scene with Sterling was one of my favourites, I even have to chuckle now remembering it. But after everything he has been through it's reasonable he also gets older and a bit wiser ;) And this old fool is still a part of him, that sometimes shines trough. The way he is guilty of Fitz being his servant is very sweet, you said he came up with this idea, but I am not sure, I could imagine that this was a part of Chades plan...

I am on the second book right, but I think you two will soon overtake me. By the way, you could do me a favour, I haven't finished the Ship of destiny right know, so if there is something that is important and you mention it here, would you set a warning for me before this sentence? Thank you!

Laura wrote: "Chapter 18
I wonder
[spoilers removed]"
I also wondering about this part while reading :) And I think maybe the author wants us to do so.

I don`t think it is just you Hacen thinking about that. Especially in the first trilogy, it is hard to decide because we can't be sure he is just doing all this "flirting" because of a prank due to his nature as a fool. But in the Liveshiptrader series, he referred to Fitz as his only true love (of cause not by name), but why should he do this when no one knows how's he taking about. So yeah I also think he is in love with Fitz. I also saw this picture a few weeks ago and have to giggle it`s so cute!


Interesting question about the fools gender. I always refer to him with male pronouns because it is the way it is done in the books. But I have no idea :D I think this is something Robin Hobb also want us to think about. There were always hints that he might not be a man. (In the first book it is mentioned a few times that no one knows the gender of the fool; Sterlings jealousy because she thinks the fool is a woman; how he fits in masked as a woman...). I love this little riddle and I am not sure If I like to know at all. Another possibility is that the fool is none of both, no woman or man. Even when he seems so human most of the time, he said he belongs to another race, what if genders are different for them? I hope you understand what I mean, I sometimes struggle to get my thoughts to "paper" and hope my english isn't too terrible ':D

did I blunder again Anni? I mean I really forgot. Did i spoil something for you? I had actually messaged Hacen personally about the Fool because I couldn't get to the desktop and was thinking it may be a spoiler. But I am not sure if I gave anything else away. I truly am sorry if I did and i promise I'll be carefull in the future and add spoiler tags. Scout's honour.

I love the picture Anni. And regarding the Fool you may be right. Possibly he is both man and woman or none of them. I understood what you meant. I wonder if it will finally come to something between Fitz and the Fool. In a way, I wish it did.
Fitz has also changed a lot in this book. And not all for the better I think. I have just finished Chapter 20 and was shocked at what he was about to do to that Old Blood boy in the cave. If it hadn't been for Nighteyes.

Laura wrote: "did I blunder again Anni? I mean I really forgot. Did i spoil something for you? I had actually messaged Hacen personally about the Fool because I couldn't get to the desktop and was thinking it ma..."

No, no, no! Everything is fine! I just want to mention before something happen. Because when you read the books like normal people do (not like me :D ), you should have read Ship of Destiny first, so it would be just normal to talk here about the further books!

Ohh. good. i thought i had put my foot in my mouth again. It wouldn't have been for the first time. And I did discuss a lot of stuff from Ship of Destiny with Hacen and I didn't really remember if i had posted it on the thread also.
Regarding normality in reading I wouldn't particularly stress on it, particularly as Hacen and I are trying to finish this trilogy in just a few days and I suppose that doesn't really count as normal either. 😁

Laura wrote: "I love the picture Anni. And regarding the Fool you may be right. Possibly he is both man and woman or none of them. I understood what you meant. I wonder if it will finally come to something betwe..."

Part of me would also like to see these two together, but I don't think this will happen. I think he rather gets back together with Molly... But this is also something I am not sure I want to happen!
You are right, Fitz is sometimes unbearable. In general, I like that he is not a typical hero and reacts unpredictable, but some scenes like the one in the cave scratching the border... But I still like him as a character. :)

I'm with you Anni Fitz/Fool is my otp 😁

Chapter 24
(view spoiler)[Others Island! 😱 (hide spoiler)]

Hacen wrote: "Chapter 24
[spoilers removed]"

exactly Hacen
(view spoiler)[Did he find the feathers from the Fool's crown? (hide spoiler)]

I am starting chapter 25 now and will finish it tonight. I can't sleep anyway without knowing how it ends.

Laura wrote: "Hacen wrote: "Chapter 24
[spoilers removed]"

exactly Hacen
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[They have to be. Are we supposed to recognize the necklace they found? (hide spoiler)]

Oh I forgot to tell you Laura I got the other two books in the trilogy in the mail yesterday so thankfully I don't have to read them online 😁

Chapter 26
(view spoiler)[Not Nighteyes 😭 (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 26
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

can't check the spoilers Hacen. It is very late here and I can't on my desktop now so I'll only be able to check them tomorrow. :(

it's great you got the books!! And just in time. 😁
It's 1 am over here and I am at the end of chapter 27. I'll finish the rest tonight and want to start with book 2 in the morning.

Laura wrote: "can't check the spoilers Hacen. It is very late here and I can't on my desktop now so I'll only be able to check them tomorrow. :("

You could open the goodreads page via browser on you phone, that's what I'm doing to check spoilers without my laptop.

Chapter 24:
I had the same thought on the feathers but I don't recognise the necklace. I think we would hear about it again!

And chapter 26 was so sad! My heart was broken :( But it was also beautifully written!

I agree. It was beautifully written 😢

It was beautifully written. Just as the rest of the book. 5 full stars from me though I would give it even more if possible.

Anni wrote: "Laura wrote: "can't check the spoilers Hacen. It is

You could open the goodreads page via browser on y..."

Thank you Anni. I hadn't really thought about that. :)

Regarding the necklace
(view spoiler)[doesn't the figurine look like the young princess from the Outlands? Hair and eyes seemed to be described the same way. (hide spoiler)]

Five stars!!!

You might be right about the necklace Laura.

Oh this is a good idea Laura, I didn't thought about that!

And I am curious, what do you think of Dutiful?

I like Dutiful. I actually like him a lot. He is naive and innocent but also brave and strong. He is 14 right and has to behave like a grown up and think at the welfare of his people and be the sacrifice and he does it. And yet he is so very lonely and starved for affection and friendship that he is willing to abandon everything even for the illusion of being truly loved by someone. The similarities between him and Fitz are so many! And I love it that Fitz decided to stand by his side.
Dutiful's character becomes more defined though only in Golden Fool so he kept growing on me while reading.
I wonder about Nettle though. I don't know why but I have a feeling she may not be so nice.
I'll post a few coments on the Golden Fool thread little later after I read some more. :)