fool's errand part 6 > chapters 26 til end

[Hanne]

chapters 26 to the very end of this book

[Hanne]

... and done!
sorry david for rushing ahead, but i just couldn't put this book away, and i had time enough, stuck inside the house.
but i do have a paper with some chapter notes :)


ch26 - it's hard! i have been expecting Nighteyes to die for about 500 pages now, but it's still pretty tough. i had a feeling Mrs Hobb would break my heart with this series!
so i wasn't surprised to see it happen, but still pretty sad. if he had to go though, i prefered it this way, with the hunting dream.

and so laurel came through in the end. and it turns out she's a "squib". that explains her pretty tough reaction to fitz when they just left galekeep

[Hanne]

ch27 - poor dutiful, so on the right track there and yet so wrong. the son of Chade and Lady Thyme. woohaaa, i think i actually snorted when i read that :)

i secretly hoped that Starling would sing that song about Fitzchivalry the other ministrel made. i know fitz would have killed her, but it could have been a nice way to show his identity to his companions. but i guess Robin Hobb will find a way to do that in the next two books.

[Hanne]

ch28 - what the heck are those feathers Fitz brought from Others Island. it was already odd enough for him to collect them and treat them like a secret, but to bring them all the way to buckkeep?

also weird: him thinking he knew the bride from somewhere. and him not asking about Hap at all to Chade. tsss!

[Hanne]

ch29 - "ah Fitz, you should know by now that every moment of my life is spent dancing".
i really like the fool! i hope he will get some happiness coming up. laurel seems a good fit for that, but i keep wondering: is the fool a guy or a girl??
(i guess in the 21st century that shouldn't bother me, but i kind of like to know :))

and of course there is the fabulous cat. i kind of like that she closed this book with that. "petting the cat makes you feel better".

[Rob]

I had a longer post, but GR ate it. Nighteyes dying killed me. I had to stop reading. I knew it was coming, but it still sucked.

[Rob]

Hanne wrote: "ch28 - what the heck are those feathers Fitz brought from Others Island. it was already odd enough for him to collect them and treat them like a secret, but to bring them all the way to buckkeep?
..."

Reread the part you posted about the crown again.

. Upon a dais stood a figure dressed in a flowing garment that shimmered with the glint of gold thread. She wore a gilded wooden crown decorated with cunningly carved and painted rooster heads and tail feathers. Her scepter was no more than a feather duster but she gestured with it royally as she issued some decree. In the circle about me, folk roared with laughter. I could only stare at her ice white skin and colorless eyes. She looked right at me.

[Hanne]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa, that makes sense i guess!

[Lindsey]

Rob wrote: "Hanne wrote: "ch28 - what the heck are those feathers Fitz brought from Others Island. it was already odd enough for him to collect them and treat them like a secret, but to bring them all the way to buckkeep?
..."

Reread the part you posted about the crown again.

"Upon a dais stood a figure dressed in a flowing garment that shimmered with the glint of gold thread. She wore a gilded wooden crown decorated with cunningly carved and painted rooster heads and tail feathers."

Yes, exactly. Plus, Lord Golden has made offhand comments about having a feather collection... it was part of his reason/cover story for visiting the Bresingas. A great example of how much truth the Fool speaks, it's just a question of "listening".

I wonder if anyone has compiled a list of the Fool's prophecies or predictions somewhere? And then kept track of which ones came true and how?

The Others Island is always bizarre. I hope we get more explanation about it in the future. Tintaglia seems to recognize it in Liveship #3 when she is talking about how different the world looks.

Nighteyes' passing was sad but I do love how Hobb wrote it. It was a beautiful scene, followed by Fitz's shock of understanding. Hobb really deals with his loss credibly in book #2 (just finished today and can't wait for some more discussion!). When I finished this book a few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to learning more about Dutiful, who we really barely see in this book.

[Hanne]

Regarding Others Island, if i remember well from Liveship traders, it's where the dragons put their eggs and then they hatch into serpents. So that's why it makes sense that there is an Eldering portal to it.
What the Others have to do with it, and the treasures, I do not know. Although i guess the treasure thing is just what happens to a beach no-one ever cleans up?

On Dutiful, I guess they only thing we know right now is that he is a very lonely lad having a bit of trouble with puberty. It's funny that it's so similar to Fitz at the time, but there we all thought it was because he was a bastard and never belonged with the other children. Seems that if you are the only prince, you suffer the same consequences.
With Fitz becoming his mentor in Skill and Wit now, I'm sure we'll see more of him. And perhaps he'll find a friend in Hap.

On the fool prophecies, i don't have a list but i remember all the ones in Farseer coming true. From the weird one Candance had to translate for me (something with the dog choking and grease needed), to the fact that Fitz will have kids who will be raised by others, but he'll raise one that isn't his.

[David Sven]

Hanne wrote: "ch26 - it's hard! i have been expecting Nighteyes to die for about 500 pages now, but it's still pretty tough. i had a feeling Mrs Hobb would break my heart with this series!"

Nooooo! I wasn't expecting that at all. I'm rage quitting! Except I have to find out what happens next.
I can now see him bonding with MyBlack. The horse has been holding back - If that's the case maybe out of respect for the bond with Nighteyes?

I can understand you reading ahead. It's very hard to put down

[Hanne]

ai, that's tough! at least i was "happy" i saw it coming (and still it was pretty tough!), all the remarks on his old age, his aching joints, fitz wanted to protect him like never before...

the horse, yes, that idea passed my mind as well. she seems like a character-horse so that could be nice. not entirely sure fitz would be the horse-type. if you think about it, it's always been dogs and wolf (which i would put more or less in the same category).
but we don't know how it works, do people all their life bond with similar animals, or can it go from dolphins to elephants?

[Rob]

Lindsey wrote: "Nighteyes' passing was sad but I do love how Hobb wrote it. It was a beautiful scene, followed by Fitz's shock of understanding.

I agree with this. It was well done. Still mad. Nighteyes needs a spin-off series! There is plenty of backstory to be told from the 15 year gap between Farseer and Tawny man.

Probably better off left alone though..

[David Sven]

Finished. Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I really loved this book. When are we starting the next one?

[Hudson]

Phew! After forsaking work, friends and family for the last few weeks I am finally caught up with you guys! Hobb is incredible, she really has these keen insightful and even poignant moments in the books, perhaps I am ill informed, but I don't know if you usually see that in the fantasy genre. (I do have a lot to read, so could be wrong there....)The Nighteyes thing blindsided me: I knew it was coming, but then when it happened it seemed to happen so fast! Very sad.....and yet like you guys have referenced...will he bond again and to who/what? Here's a crazy thought: what if it was the Fool? The Fool has said before he/it is not human, right?

[Hanne]

I had currently one a month, but i can go faster!
the earliest i can start with book 2 is september 8th. i'm fine starting faster (it wouldn't be bad in fact, i'm too curious how this will go on!)

any preference in date to start?

[Hanne]

Hudson wrote: "Phew! After forsaking work, friends and family for the last few weeks I am finally caught up with you guys! Hobb is incredible, she really has these keen insightful and even poignant moments in the..."

I think the fantasy genre has a few authors like this, and yet no-one immediately comes close to how Robin Hobb does it!

Witting to the fool... it is an interesting suggestion. My instinct is to say that it isn't possible, because we know Fitz can wit-wise communicate with animals he isn't bonded with, and he can't do that with the Fool as far as I'm aware.

However, this is Robin Hobb, twists are to be expected! so who knows?

[Rob]

Not trying to sway your opinion one way or the other, but assuming you like The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as I did, we're supposed to start Red Seas Under Red Skies on 9/15 if you plan to continue on with "the group".

Really it's mostly been just me as you started late, Lee hasn't had much time and MPauli still has another book to finish before he starts book 1.

[David Sven]

Hanne wrote: "any preference in date to start? "

I might be pushing it for the 8th - I can see my current book taking me till the weekend after the way my schedule is going - 15th?

[Hanne]

David, 15th is fine for me.
Rob, I'll try to find my way around it :)

Hudson? Are you going to read book 2 along with us? is starting the 15th ok for you?

[David Sven]

Actually, I'll probably have finished my current audiobook by the 8th so I can start then by making this my next Audiobook

edit: but 15th is good as well. I have options.

[Rob]

Only 2 more books until I join in! I got all 4 of the Rainwild books on ebook (which is not my format of choice, but they were on sale. I think I paid like $14 USD total for the 4 of them).

[David Sven]

Hudson wrote: " Here's a crazy thought: what if it was the Fool? The Fool has said before he/it is not human, right? "

That is an interesting thought. Though they already have a weak sort of skill link - and I think the Fool is the only person he can't sense with the Wit.

[Hanne]

ok hang on, 8th is even better for me. because then i can start the 2nd Scott Lynch around 15th and not have them in parallel.

so Sep 8th is better for me.

[Hudson]

earlier is better for me, but I am flexible. I might start reading sooner though, tough to hold off!

[Hanne]

ok, i'll change to the 8th!

[David Sven]

I'm good for the 8th :)

[Hanne]

ah, i had already understood that from your earlier post, but thanks for the confirmation. :)
all officially changed and set for the 8t

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Hanne wrote: "... and done!
sorry david for rushing ahead, but i just couldn't put this book away, and i had time enough, stuck inside the house.
but i do have a paper with some chapter notes :)


ch26 - it's ha...



ch26 - it's hard! i have been expecting Nighteyes ....."


Oh.... what a cry I had!
But how beautiful.......Nighteyes happy of heart, mind and soul.

Still...I miss him.

[Hanne]

i was too angry to cry actually.
but it was enormously sad though, I kind hoped he would last another few years. or three books at least.

i'm not sure any other witted partner might ever be able to come close to what nighteyes was, but i guess we'll see

[Hudson]

I wonder if he might be witted to another wolf!! That would remind me of the Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. Long story short: one wolf died and his offspring had a thread of his father inside him. Nighteyes did run with that pack for awhile.

[Vicky]

I also cried about Nighteyes, it happened so fast and was so beautifully written ...too much :(

[Wastrel]

On Dutiful being similar to Fitz: yes, and so is Hap. I think that part of the point of these books is to reconsider Fitz's childhood account in Farseer, and Hap and Dutiful effectively stand in as surrogate teenage-Fitz for adult-Fitz to observe. Adult Fitz's opinions of Dutiful and Hap are not always exactly what teenage Fitz thought at the time when he was doing similar things...

[Lindsey]

Wastrel wrote: "On Dutiful being similar to Fitz: yes, and so is Hap. I think that part of the point of these books is to reconsider Fitz's childhood account in Farseer, and Hap and Dutiful effectively stand in as..."

Totally agree. Hobb's characters are so great on many levels. Fitz seeing Dutiful and Hap and Nettle through the lens of his own experience is terribly human; it's flawed but it's also the best he can do. And his perspective shift as he ages is one of the reasons I love Hobb's writing so much.

Fitz's writings (the chapter openings) in Farseer and Tawny Man say over and over and over that his account isn't whole, complete, or even true because it's only from his perspective. I think Hobb does a great job showing us exactly that in this trilogy through Fitz's own experience.