Robin Hobb - The Farseer Trilogy (Book Review)

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"Farseer Trilogy" by Robin Hobb
Book One: "Assassin's Apprentice" (Amazon: US, UK); paperback, 464 pages; Spectra/Voyager (1996)
Book Two: "Royal Assassin" (Amazon: US, UK); paperback, 675 pages; Spectra/Voyager (1997)
Book Three: "Assassin's Quest" (Amazon: US, UK); paperback, 757 pages; Spectra/Voyager (1998)

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''The Farseer Trilogy'' is not the newest thing on the fantasy fiction scene anymore. I was aware of Robin Hobb's reputation long before I've actually picked something of hers up to read, and when I finally did, it was the 2nd trilogy (''The Liveship Traders Trilogy'') I decided to start with. I was advised that it is the best of her three thematically connected trilogies, and also that it has less in common with the preceding and the following trilogy. I've now finally read ''The Farseer Trilogy'' and while the latter statement is true, I found out that I cannot really agree with the former.

First thing I've noticed (and liked) is that Hobb focused on a single POV. That is the main reason why I could say I prefer ''The Farseer Trilogy'' to ''The Liveship Traders Trilogy'' – Fitz is a delightful character who, despite his often whining, never really annoyed me as much as, for example, Malta Vestrit in Liveship Traders did. A lone POV also means a smoothly flowing storyline – there are no annoying cliff-hangers that tempt you to skip the next few pages (I know some people enjoy cliff-hangers, but I don’t like them at all!), neither you prefer one POV to another (which can easily happen when there's plenty of them). On the other hand, a lone POV can easily get you bored and offers much less variety of opinions and, well, points of view.

Fitz's problems are that he's rather prone to wild underestimations of himself, whining and acting recklessly (killing your enemy's aides in the middle of the hall, which is, at the same time, packed with people, is a no-go, even if you are not an assassin, bred for discretion and so on). He also conjures up some profoundly illogical ideas, and I've never seen an assassin so trustful and so disdainful of taking at least a basic degree of security measures. However, he's only human after all, and a very troubled one on top of that, so these mistakes of his can be forgiven.

'Wit' and 'Skill' are two concepts that both play an essential role in this trilogy, being two crucial elements of Hobb's world-building and the closest thing to magic that can be found in the books. 'Skill' is a way of mind-reading or better, information-sharing, which runs in the royal family of Farseers and is used mostly to aid the ruling monarch, as a way of communication between him and his spies, generals, messengers and other Skilled individuals. 'Wit', on the other hand, is rumoured to be a remnant of the people who originally inhabited Six Duchies territory – it’s an ability to bond with animals, sharing thoughts, feelings and senses with the beast you bond to, and is in Six Duchies widely regarded as barbaric and abominable. Both Wit and Skill are well explained in the books, making a fairly fresh and innovative take on the matter of magic in comparison to other books where exceptional and unusual abilities are rarely explained and often seem to originate from nowhere.

"The Farseer Trilogy" books otherwise follow the usual pattern of trilogies. "Assassin’s Apprentice", the first book, introduces Fitz, his childhood and his first experiences with Wit and Skill, not to mention that it opens more than a few questions which are, of course, mostly left unanswered right up to the end of the trilogy. It also sets the scene for things to come and introduces some important elements such as Fitz’s first love and his relations with other people inside Buckkeep. The second book, "Royal Assassin", answers no questions but complicates things some more; it is also more action-packed than the first one. We witness battles against Red Ship Raiders (and, later on, the threat from Fitz’s other enemies) as well as Fitz’s internal struggles; the style flows smoothly between inner emotions and exterior action. The plot is intriguing, but at the same time woven through with some very predictable elements, for example, Rosemary’s role in the course of events. Hobb makes up for that with some quite unexpected twists and turns, but there are also some pieces of information that seem to be left forgotten – for example, Fitz’s weapon of choice is supposed to be an axe, but he only uses it once or twice (Hobb remembers that axe in "The Tawny Man Trilogy", though).

The majority of questions (including an explanation for the Forging) that are introduced in the opening volume are answered in the third book, "Assassin’s Quest". There are two exceptions, though: how come that Starling never wrote a song about Fitz? And why we had to wait so long for the chipmunk to complete his task? (The first of these is actually answered in "The Tawny Man Trilogy", as I later found out, but there is still no answer to the latter one.) Fitz also has a very uncanny (and unlikely) ability to survive in just about every situation, not to mention his sudden mastery of Skill, but this is not really as bothersome as the boring walk through the woods and snow we encounter in the second half of "Assassin’s Quest". I think that was the only part of the three lengthy books that felt a lot long-winded, but luckily, that little misstep lead to a very fulfilling ending that met my expectations and concluded the trilogy nicely.

All in all, "The Farseer Trilogy" is a beautifully written and intriguing read. I’d recommend it as one of the must-reads for epic fantasy fans and fantasy readers in general. Don’t expect an all-time classic, though - it’s a great book and mostly a joy to read, but because of the flaws mentioned above, falls a bit short of masterpiece.
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- Trin -

Matthew Woodring Stover - Heroes Die (Book Review)

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The notorious Caine, also known as the Blade of Tyshalle, is one of the best assassins in the whole land of Ankhana. He comes and goes, but wherever he is, people live in fear of him and the tales of his killings spread like fire. But no one is aware of Caine's whereabouts in between his missions. That's because he returns to another world - home to Earth, where he is not Caine, but Hari Michaelson, a virtual Actor that is well-known and adored for his adventures in Ankhana. His forays into the alternate world provide visceral entertainment for billions of his admirers. And even though, he is the most famous of Actors, the strict caste system still bounds him to the whims of his betters and has to wait for their indulgence before entering the world of Ankhana. The circle of events is rigid and unbreakable, but then his wife Shanna gets stuck there, lost for everybody on Earth - Caine is allowed to go there and try to save her ... but only if he is prepared to pay a certain price....
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I've only heard one thing about Heroes Die (Acts of Caine series) before I read it - that it's one of the most overlooked fantasy novels of the last decade – and now I believe this to be true. This terrific novel by Matthew Woodring Stover was recommended to me on a passing whim by my trusted friend before I decided to buy it; and when I scribbled the keywords 'heroes' and 'die' in Google search I found (1)two or three reviews written back in 1999; (2)a thread on SFFWorld forum discussing 'front cover art' (the cover of the print I own looks kind of cheesy to be perfectly honest, but it's still way better than the Russian or the French covers *giggles*); (3)an entry on the book inside Wikipedia (4)and a bunch of pretty much unrelated stuff - so it's obviously not a very well known book (I actually found several more reviews, though I had to add the word 'stover' to the search bar and/or look further than the first 6 or 7 offered pages). What I'm trying to say is that this shroud of mystery that surrounds the novel makes me frown with disbelief, since it gave me one hell of a ride, in the best possible sense.
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You probably know the feeling when a certain book gets a hold of you and it's impossible to put it down before it's read? Well, ladies and gentlemen, Heroes Die is definitely one of those books and more. When I opened it one wintery evening, hoping for noting more than a mediocre and a mildly enjoyable tale, but what happened was me being totally mesmerized by the experience. I read it until I fell asleep from exhaustion, continued reading it all through my school lessons (don't follow my example kids :), during breaks and my ride home, I even skipped my dinner so that I could keep reading undisturbed and when I turned the last page and awareness of the outside world returned to me the night was already pitch black when I looked out of my bedroom window. It's been a long time since a book griped me in such a wholehearted manner. I wouldn't call reading that what I was doing (not even gobbling up); it was a compulsive obsession with the book. And what is worse, the totality of the immersion only expanded as the story progressed and the tension rose. I admit that I had to take a short break towards the end in order to cool my tempers and relax my tired eyes.
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The "problem" I had with Heroes Die is not unique, but resembles the one I had while reading Daniel Keyes' sf masterwork Flowers for Algernon – vivid characterisation coupled with skillful world-building bewitched me completely and made it nigh impossible for me to objectively and thoroughly judge the style, plot or any other literary elements of the book. All I can stutter out in this elevated state is that it was utterly refreshing to come across a fantasy novel where the main character has absolutely no youthful innocence left or is he the most brilliant and morally upright individual around. If you let me paraphrase his own words - Caine is the most famous of Actors, but even though he is highly skilled, he couldn't do it without a fair amount of luck. But in my eyes, he's a true badass who knows what he's up against, keeps things realistic and uses his wit as often and as much skill as his knives.
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The half fantasy & half sf setting is a splendid idea that gives a whole new perspective to the book. It somehow feels easier to get caught up with the story when the main character shares your world, even though it's years in the future.
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I've read a lot of books that entail wannabe devious and twisted plots in the last couple of months and I'm glad that this holds true for Heroes Die as well...only without the wannabe part. This book makes up for all the others that I've read lately and somehow failed to impress me – but here the reader witnesses plans within plans, plots hidden behind plots, until it makes no more sense and makes your head dizzy from trying to figure everything out. I was being outsmarted on every single page and the humbling experience did wonders for my ego. I gradually realized that it's better to just go with the flow and enjoy the ride as everything slowly unravels in the most pleasing fashion. Finishing the book came as a relief from all the strain I've put into reading it, but it also left me wishing for more. Lucky for me, I've still got two sequels to look forward to - Blade of Tyshalle (though the book is out-of-print and how I'm furious about the fact!) and Caine Black Knife, that is set for release on October 14th. But in truth, Heroes Die can be taken perfectly well as a standalone...In fact, it worked so well for me that I can do nothing else but wholeheartedly recommend it.
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-(no less than a full cohort of Fruitcakes...and they are raving about the book too!)
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~ Trin ~