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Fool's Errand
(The Tawny Man #1)
by
‘Fantasy as it ought to be written’ George R.R. Martin
Return to the world of Fitz, the Fool and Nighteyes in the first book of The Tawny Man Trilogy by international bestselling author, Robin Hobb.
Years have passed since Fitz was tortured by Prince Regal. Now he lives in self-imposed exile far from the court. Even his beloved Molly believes him dead. It is safer that way.
B
...moreGet A Copy
Kindle Edition, 593 pages
Published
September 1st 2011
by HarperVoyager
(first published October 15th 2001)
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Start your review of Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1)

A tale of a bond between humans and animals at its finest level.
Fool’s Errand is the first book in the Tawny Man trilogy—the third out of five subseries within Hobb’s The Realm of the Elderlings gigantic series—and it is my favorite installment within the entire RotE so far. This is seriously a lovely, memorable, and poignant return to the world of Fitz, Nighteyes, and the Fool’s journey. Honestly, after the disappointment I had with the last installment of the Farseer trilogy, and after the gre ...more
Fool’s Errand is the first book in the Tawny Man trilogy—the third out of five subseries within Hobb’s The Realm of the Elderlings gigantic series—and it is my favorite installment within the entire RotE so far. This is seriously a lovely, memorable, and poignant return to the world of Fitz, Nighteyes, and the Fool’s journey. Honestly, after the disappointment I had with the last installment of the Farseer trilogy, and after the gre ...more

Fool's Errand (Realm of Elderlings #7,The Tawny Man #1)

Fool's Errand is an incredibly well-written book that demonstrates just how much of a genius Hobb is. It is a slow book, at least to start with. But I enjoyed it. The mature topic covered-death and parenting-provide a lot to think about.
Brilliant ...more

Fool's Errand is an incredibly well-written book that demonstrates just how much of a genius Hobb is. It is a slow book, at least to start with. But I enjoyed it. The mature topic covered-death and parenting-provide a lot to think about.
Stop longing. You poison today’s ease, reaching always for tomorrow.
Brilliant ...more

Nov 09, 2014
Sean Barrs
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
5-star-reads,
fantasy
The characterisation of Fitschivalry through the series is brilliant. The books are told from the first person entirely; thus the reader witnesses the change in his thoughts as he grows into a man. In this book, he has developed a new persona: Tom Badgerlock. This is set fifteen years after the Red Ship wars and King Verity’s reawakening of the Dragons.
Tom Badgerlock is the person Fitschivalry has evolved into: the one he always wanted to be; he is the man with a simple life, a small farm, a f ...more

Tom Badgerlock is the person Fitschivalry has evolved into: the one he always wanted to be; he is the man with a simple life, a small farm, a f ...more

I went into this story with zero expectation. My poor heart was still very tender after the beating it got in Assassin’s Quest. But then I saw everyone reading one or the other Fitz book and going ga ga over. I kept thinking, “did we read the same Fitz stories?” to find the answer I thought why not give another chance to Fitz, perhaps he did better in this. And oh boy, this book simply blew me away. All my complaints of Fitz being whinny and doing nothing went out of the wind. Ms. Hobb what did
...more


I loved the beginning but then bullshit and don’t talk to me about it. Things and people could have died in peace in their shack.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾 ...more

Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Errand is an engaging and immersive read in an expansive world that Hobbs has already created. The novel is the first book in the Tawny Man Series which picks up 15 years after the Liveship Traders and Farseer Trilogy. Some readers didn’t need the background information about Fitz or the political intrigue that was woven into his story. Since this is my first book with Fitz in it (and my first Robin Hobb book), I appreciated the background. It was a slow immersion but by the
...more

Fool's Errand is the first book in The Tawny Man Trilogy. Though it's book one it's actually a spin-off of Farseer Trilogy. The Tawny Man is the third book series in The Book of the Elderlings series. So no you cannot start from here, you have to start from Farseer Trilogy.
Addictive and captivating. Grown-up Fitz is awesome. After reading the disappointment called Assassin's Quest I couldn't bring myself to continue this series, but the awesomeness of Liveship Traders changed that.
‘When you ...more
Addictive and captivating. Grown-up Fitz is awesome. After reading the disappointment called Assassin's Quest I couldn't bring myself to continue this series, but the awesomeness of Liveship Traders changed that.
‘When you ...more

"History is no more fixed and dead than the future. The past is no further away than the last breath you took." - Spoilers from the first series will follow.
Fool's Errand is set 15-years after the finale of Assassin's Quest. Once again we follow FitzChivalry Farseer - the assumed dead royal bastard. In song, he is acknowledged by many as being the Witted Bastard ghost that rose from the dead to aid his uncle Verity who was the rightful heir to the throne and he helped him raise the Elderlings a ...more
Fool's Errand is set 15-years after the finale of Assassin's Quest. Once again we follow FitzChivalry Farseer - the assumed dead royal bastard. In song, he is acknowledged by many as being the Witted Bastard ghost that rose from the dead to aid his uncle Verity who was the rightful heir to the throne and he helped him raise the Elderlings a ...more

Do not you sense it? A crossroads, a vertex, a vortex. All paths change from here.
This book made my cry. Multiple times.
I don't often cry while reading books. I takes a lot. And I might blame it on pregnancy hormones except Hobb made me cry in her last two series Liveship Traders and Farseer Trilogy and when I read those I wasn't pregnant.
But this book again has ruined me. In a good way.
Robin Hobb is the type of author that slowly builds her story. She introduces her character and you live their ...more
This book made my cry. Multiple times.
I don't often cry while reading books. I takes a lot. And I might blame it on pregnancy hormones except Hobb made me cry in her last two series Liveship Traders and Farseer Trilogy and when I read those I wasn't pregnant.
But this book again has ruined me. In a good way.
Robin Hobb is the type of author that slowly builds her story. She introduces her character and you live their ...more

Jan 01, 2019
❄️BooksofRadiance❄️
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adult-fantasy-sci-fi
No.
DAMMIT. 😰
Starting the year with a heartbreak. Stellar start.
DAMMIT. 😰
Starting the year with a heartbreak. Stellar start.

Jul 21, 2013
David Sven
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourites,
fantasy
Again, Robin Hobb demonstrates that you don’t need to write grimdark to generate realism, high drama, or sinister undertones. Now I love my grimdark as much as Hannibal loves liver *phphpht*, but Hobb’s realism is expressed in believable characters, complex relationships, detailed worldbuilding...wait wait wait a minute now...what about blood and guts? Yes, there will be blood too, but the joojoo is not in the gore - the joojoo is in the sustained threat of violence - the joojoo is in the way th
...more

„Fool?“
„What?“
„You are not Fool anymore. What do they call you these days?“
„What does who call me when?“
„I should not call you Fool anymore. What do you want me to call you?“
„Ah, what do I want you to call me now? I see. An entirely different question. And if I tell you, you would call me by that name?“
„In private only. And only if you wished me to.“
„Ah... Oh, but I would.“
„Then?“
„The name my mother gave me, I give now to you, to call me by in private. Beloved.“
„Fool! I’m serious!“
„And you think ...more
„What?“
„You are not Fool anymore. What do they call you these days?“
„What does who call me when?“
„I should not call you Fool anymore. What do you want me to call you?“
„Ah, what do I want you to call me now? I see. An entirely different question. And if I tell you, you would call me by that name?“
„In private only. And only if you wished me to.“
„Ah... Oh, but I would.“
„Then?“
„The name my mother gave me, I give now to you, to call me by in private. Beloved.“
„Fool! I’m serious!“
„And you think ...more

This is more or less what I look like whenever FitzChivalry Farseer is involved:

So many books later, and I’m still feeling überprotective of Fitz. I got furious with his neighbour when he attacked Fitz in the market place, I wanted to kick Starling out of the door (and none too gently), and I was even too angry to cry when the inevitable happened (view spoiler) .
What Robin Hobb manages to do is quite amazi ...more

So many books later, and I’m still feeling überprotective of Fitz. I got furious with his neighbour when he attacked Fitz in the market place, I wanted to kick Starling out of the door (and none too gently), and I was even too angry to cry when the inevitable happened (view spoiler) .
What Robin Hobb manages to do is quite amazi ...more

Much preferred to the first Fitz trilogy but maybe because the Fitz books are so well integrated into this. It also worked really well for me because I read the first trilogy nearly 20 years ago and so I have been away from the world of Buck keep as long as Fitz himself had!
My only minor niggle is that the first third of the book was very slow and by the end of that section I was on the verge of getting restless for some action.
Loved this book :)
My only minor niggle is that the first third of the book was very slow and by the end of that section I was on the verge of getting restless for some action.
Loved this book :)

3.75
GAAH! These books frustrate the hell out of me! Absolutely and wholly.
But I love them. The plot. The characters.
I think I hate them like I do because they are so damn realistic. Never the happy ending to anything. Only the harsh and brutal reality.
The main character is brave. And good. Lovable. He is also a fool. A wimp. That makes mistakes. That you yell "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" at.
Same for other characters. One moment you scream your head of at them. The next you sit there grinn ...more
GAAH! These books frustrate the hell out of me! Absolutely and wholly.
But I love them. The plot. The characters.
I think I hate them like I do because they are so damn realistic. Never the happy ending to anything. Only the harsh and brutal reality.
The main character is brave. And good. Lovable. He is also a fool. A wimp. That makes mistakes. That you yell "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" at.
Same for other characters. One moment you scream your head of at them. The next you sit there grinn ...more

I am broken.
My love for Fitz and the Fool is strong as ever, but my heart is broken from the events of this book.
I didn't cry, but I screamed.
Also, Fitz and the Fool... I ship it. So damn hard! ...more
My love for Fitz and the Fool is strong as ever, but my heart is broken from the events of this book.
I didn't cry, but I screamed.
Also, Fitz and the Fool... I ship it. So damn hard! ...more

This is book #1 in the Tawny Man series, which follows on from the events of the Farseer books and the Liveship books. This series relates a lot more to the characters from the initial Farseer books such as Fitz, the Fool and various other characters, both old and new, who are local to Bukkeep. We are told that the main character (first-person again) of Fitz is now 35, so it's about 15 years after the Farsser series.
As we follow Fitz we don't actually know an awful lot about the life he's been l ...more
As we follow Fitz we don't actually know an awful lot about the life he's been l ...more

When I say I couldn't put it down, I mean I couldn't put it down. This 661 page book took me about 24 hours to finish. I listened to it on audio and I couldn't disconnect myself. I listened during my commute, during work, during cooking, during putting my kids to bed. It was so great to reconnect with old characters and watch how they have matured. This book is set almost 15 years after Assassin's Quest. Fitz is no longer whiny and misguided. The Fool is no longer mean spirited. Additionally, I
...more

It was a strange transition from the pace of the Liveship Traders to the pace of this trilogy, told (like the Farseer trilogy) entirely in first person from Fitz’s perspective. Fitz is a thorough scribe, to say the least, and this is definitely a set-up book (the main plot doesn’t begin until 200 pages in). But I appreciated this for its quiet steadiness, and found myself getting surprisingly emotional over passing moments of dialogue and introspection. I absolutely can’t wait to read the next t
...more

I really want to give this five stars, but I feel like it’s not, despite how much I loved the second half and the characters, which, my god, were phenomenal. I first read the Farseer Trilogy about two years ago with probably more than 300 books in between then and now. I did really love the Farseer Trilogy, but I never managed to get a copy of this as it wasn’t at my local library. However, now that I have read it, I found myself to be so fully immersed in this world once again and was pleasantl
...more

Jun 25, 2014
Em
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
angst,
favorites,
paranormal,
slave-kidnapped-hostage,
fantasy,
magic,
dtr,
abuse-torture-rape,
mating-bonding,
seriel
This is my third time of reading this series and it still remains my absolute favourite! Fitz, Fool and of course Nighteyes are absolute heroes and can do no wrong in my eyes.
Wishful thinking below, but who cares and I may get my wish come true in the new series, you never know!

...more
Wishful thinking below, but who cares and I may get my wish come true in the new series, you never know!

...more

Oct 26, 2014
Bradley
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
worldbuilding-sf
I really enjoyed getting back into the bastard's world, although honestly, most of the novel was pastoral and catching up with the main character after almost two decades of living without adventure. When the story picked up, the intrigue was decent and the developments hinted at greater things for the future. It was almost like enjoying his comfortable life was a well earned and just reward for what happened to him as a child. Being drawn back into the world of royalty seemed inevitable because
...more

Another great book about our hero Fitz. I especially love reading about him for some reason, and this book was no exception. I can't go too much into the story since it's a continuation of the long series Robin Hobb has created, but I can say that I liked how we get to follow Fitz at an older age - and I LOVED that this novel contains cats :D I'm definitely going to continue on with this series once Autumn really sets in.
...more

May 29, 2014
Kat
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
animals-talk,
assassins,
favorite-author,
orphans,
buddy-read,
friend-recs,
part-of-a-series,
2014,
animalia
I woke up this morning and thought to myself... "hey, I really feel like having my heart ripped out and dashed upon the stones."
Yes, it is definitely time to reconnect with Fitz. ...more
Yes, it is definitely time to reconnect with Fitz. ...more

Jan 23, 2010
Mili
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
own-the-book,
personal-favs
So good to be back in the world of the Six Duchies. Fitz is a grown man now and was living a rather relaxed life for a change. That couldn't last forever. Robin Hobb sucks me right in and makes me feel one with Fitz. I love his character, what a softy sometimes haha. Rather sad twist at the end, but she was building towards it. Meh.
...more

Okay, I guess I end my attempt to fit in with everybody else here. I'm just no fan of the writing style.
...more

Fool's Errand picks up 15 years after the events of Assassin's Quest. Fitz is living a quite life in a cottage with a boy he adopted and his loyal wolf Nighteyes. Naturally, things can't stay quiet for poor Fitzy Fitz. Adventure comes to his door in the shape of Chade, followed by the Fool.
The first 5 chapters or so deal primarily with catching up with Fitz and finding out what's been going on in his life. In any other writer's hands this would be tedious but Hobb slowly reveals his past in a ta ...more
The first 5 chapters or so deal primarily with catching up with Fitz and finding out what's been going on in his life. In any other writer's hands this would be tedious but Hobb slowly reveals his past in a ta ...more

This was one of the sadder books in the series but I have to admit, I could not put it down. There's nothing quite like reading a book that really grabs you.
I really enjoyed re-reading the first trilogy, seeing Fitz and his friends so young, but I particularly enjoy older Fitz. Lots of great new characters, grand adventure, loss, love, and all things that make a great book. Another beautiful book in a long series of beautiful books. On to the next one! ...more
I really enjoyed re-reading the first trilogy, seeing Fitz and his friends so young, but I particularly enjoy older Fitz. Lots of great new characters, grand adventure, loss, love, and all things that make a great book. Another beautiful book in a long series of beautiful books. On to the next one! ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Play Book Tag: Fool's Errand 5 Stars | 2 | 11 | Jan 24, 2021 12:16PM | |
Fantasy Buddy Reads: Fool's Errand [Sept 25, 2019] | 54 | 31 | Oct 23, 2019 10:47AM | |
Beyond Reality: Realm of the Elderlings--Fool's Errand: finished reading (spoilers!) | 4 | 24 | Feb 26, 2019 01:35PM | |
Beyond Reality: Realm of the Elderlings--Fool's Errand: roll call and first impressions (no spoilers) | 3 | 10 | Feb 15, 2019 09:53AM | |
Fantasy Buddy Reads: Fool's Errand [June 3, 2018] | 46 | 32 | Jun 15, 2018 08:01AM | |
The Robin Hobb Co...: fool's errand part 2 > chapters 6 to 10 | 17 | 58 | Jan 09, 2018 10:30PM | |
The Robin Hobb Co...: fool's errand part 1 > chapter 1 to 5 | 27 | 79 | Jan 06, 2018 08:46PM |
** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 st
...more
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