Fool’s Errand

Robin Hobb 2002 Buy from Amazon.com

This is the first novel in the Tawny Man series by Robin Hobb, and it is set some fifteen years after the events of the Farseer Trilogy ended. Fitz is again the protagonist, but he now goes by the name of Tom Badgerlock. He has spent over a decade living in an isolated cottage with his Wit-wolf companion Nighteyes and a foundling boy called Hap. He had always dreamed of living a simple life, free to make his own decisions away from the responsibilities of court, and now he has his wish.

Nothing lasts forever and his foster son Hap is old enough to want an apprenticeship and needs the funds to pay for it. His old mentor Chade visits, asking for Tom’s help to train Kettricken’s son Prince Dutiful in the Skill and then the Fool arrives out of the blue. The Fool has changed, he is now a tawny gold colour instead of white and he is known as a rich foreigner, Lord Golden.

Despite what Tom wants, he is drawn back into the life of Buckkeep when the Prince vanishes. Some of the Old Blood are trying to seize power, and the young Prince is Witted, making him vulnerable to them.

I was looking forward to reading this book, because not only is Robin Hobb an excellent author, but I was very interested to find out what happened to Fitz next. He is the kind of character you care about, and he holds a rather unique position in the society of these novels. His talents, bloodlines, friends and loyalties all combine to force him repeatedly into dangerous but believable circumstances and he grows and changes significantly as a person as he lives.

There are times when a character has been written about too much, when they are obviously being dragged along because the author likes them too much to just let them go and write about something else. This is not the case with Fitz/Tom. This is quite clearly the beginning of a distinctly different series to the last one, and the characters have matured enough to fit with this quite different set of problems.

I am very happy to find that this book is every bit as captivating as the Farseer trilogy.

Buy from Amazon.com