- Hardcover: 600 pages
- Publisher: Voyager (1 Jan 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002247275
- ISBN-13: 978-0002247276
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.2 x 5.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 210,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Tawny Man Trilogy
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Golden Fool, the second volume of Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy, is explicitly a sequel to both the Farseer and Liveship trilogies. The palace intrigues, which Fitz has found himself dragged back into, have as much to do with the politics of trade and conquest--the war between the Bingtown traders and their living ships and the theocratic bullies of Chalced--as with the oppression of the beast-speaking Witted by the majority and the terrorism of the Piebald faction among the Witted. Fitz has always been a deeply flawed hero--growing up as a royal bastard trained in assassination has not been good for his character--and his inability to understand how deeply he is loved upsets all the people around him.
One of Robin Hobb's strengths is her capacity to set up an interesting dialogue between metaphor and the literal; at both levels, The Golden Fool is a novel about moving through estrangement to reconciliation, about finding out the truth and then finding a way of living with it. This thoughtfulness means that, as always with Hobb, Fitz's role as tutor of a magically gifted prince, is as exciting as the book's occasional explosions of violence. --Roz Kaveney
Review
Praise for Robin Hobb: Ship of Magic: 'Promises to be a truly extraordinary saga... the characterizations are consistently superb, and [Hobb] animates everything with love for and knowledge of the sea. If Patrick O'Brian were to turn to writing high fantasy, he might produce something like this.' BOOKLIST 'A wonderful book, written by a writer at the height of her abilities' J V JONES Assassin's Quest: 'Assassin's Quest achieves a bittersweet, powerful complexity rare in fantasy' LOCUS 'An enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy, displaying an exceptional combination of originality, magic, adventure, character, and drama' KIRKUS REVIEWS Assassin's Apprentice: 'A gleaming debut' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Royal Assassin: 'Hobb continues to revitalize a genre that often seems all too generic, making it new in ways that range from the subtle to the deeply shocking...' LOCUS
The second part of Hobb's new trilogy (Fool's Errand, 2001) continues the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, royal bastard and trained killer, as Hobb maneuvers her characters through a complex maze of intrigue and shaky relationships. Returning to Buckkeep Castle, where he spent his youth, Fitz now poses as bodyguard to the extravagant Lord Golden, formerly the King's Fool. At the same time, he gathers intelligence for Chade, the royal assassin. Fitz faces the continued threat of the Piebalds, a rebel group who commune with animals. Plus, Prince Dutiful, heir to the throne, needs training in the Skill, the magical discipline by which the kings of the Farseer line protected their kingdom. The prince is supposed to marry a young princess from the Outislands, but both royals appear reluctant, and Fitz's own son Hap, apprenticed to a local tradesman, is staying out late at night with a girl whose parents disapprove. Finally, Fitz's relationship with the Golden/Fool is shaken by the revelation of his friend's activities while he was traveling in a foreign country. The narrative can bog down in the mundane at times, but, still, Hobbs generates a number of surprises and a cliff-hanging close: another solid fantasy with strong characters. (Kirkus Reviews)
The second part of Hobb's new trilogy (Fool's Errand, 2001) continues the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, royal bastard and trained killer, as Hobb maneuvers her characters through a complex maze of intrigue and shaky relationships. Returning to Buckkeep Castle, where he spent his youth, Fitz now poses as bodyguard to the extravagant Lord Golden, formerly the King's Fool. At the same time, he gathers intelligence for Chade, the royal assassin. Fitz faces the continued threat of the Piebalds, a rebel group who commune with animals. Plus, Prince Dutiful, heir to the throne, needs training in the Skill, the magical discipline by which the kings of the Farseer line protected their kingdom. The prince is supposed to marry a young princess from the Outislands, but both royals appear reluctant, and Fitz's own son Hap, apprenticed to a local tradesman, is staying out late at night with a girl whose parents disapprove. Finally, Fitz's relationship with the Golden/Fool is shaken by the revelation of his friend's activities while he was traveling in a foreign country. The narrative can bog down in the mundane at times, but, still, Hobbs generates a number of surprises and a cliff-hanging close: another solid fantasy with strong characters. (Kirkus Reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
First and foremost this book is a fabulous read. I was gripped from the very beginning and hugely enjoyed it. The other reviewers are correct in that this book does not move the story forward enormously but I think that it is a necessary scene setter. A large amount of characterisation is built up in this book including Chade's flagging influence on the queen and Fitz's rediscovery of his loyalty to the Farseer's. It also adds in some tantalising plot lines that needed this book in which to develop - the outislanders, the Bingtown traders and the Piebalds - all of which will doubtless be major factors in the final book.
Don't let other reviewers put you off reading this. Hobb's writing is wonderful and though not much happens in terms of battles and action, an amazing amount of plot is being set up and we see deeper than ever in to the characters that have made the Assassin series so riveting from the very first.
I for one am fascinated to see how the threads of these eight books (yes, the liveship traders are part of this too) are brought together in Fool's Fate.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having read Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan I was looking for another fantasy writer to explore.Several reviewers suggested Robin Hobb and my thanks goes out to all of them .The Golden Fool is writing of the highest quality.It explores the strengths and weaknesses of the human condition with warmth and accuracy.I found myself laughing not because something was funny but due to the insight the writer lends to her characters.Unlike most fantasy writers her books are actually getting better.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Middle books of planned trilogies are difficult, as they must necessarily not be complete in themselves, but can only build the setting for the last book. The middle book of the last of three related trilogies must be even more difficult. Haven gotten through the Assassin and Liveship Trader sets (and if you haven’t, you need to before tackling this set – you won’t regret it), and Fool’s Errand as a the first book of this set, this becomes an obvious bridge work between all that has gone before and (presumably) the tie-up of all the various plot threads in the last volume.
FitzChivalry Farseer is once more the star, opening this volume as a very much-wounded man, having lost his bond mate, and forced to once more try to fit in to the court intrigues by playing the servant to Lord Golden as Tom Badgerlock. New problems almost at once descend upon him, from his adopted son Hap’s wayward ways to complications in his own love life, while the pressures of the Piebald group mount upon both Fitz and the kingdom, and Prince Dutiful’s training in the Skill becomes an imperative, regardless of Fitz’s own feelings of inadequacy in matters of the Skill. Add in problems with the Outisland delegation and Dutiful’s promised bride, and the Bingtown traders requesting help in their war against Chalced, and there are more than enough plot threads for several novels. But the focus of this book is not so much in unraveling all these threads, but rather in Fitz’s development as a person, along with all the people around him. Throughout this book, we see Fitz make errors in judgement, fail as a parent, as a spy, a lover, a teacher, as a friend. Each error leads to further growth of the man as he tries desperately to fix all his self-imposed problems while also working to aid the kingdom in what he sees as the best way possible. Lord Golden is exposed as having even more personas than previously known, each equally as enigmatic. Lord Chade comes into his own as a real human, with understandable desires and forgivable failings, and even Hap becomes a very recognizable young man with a very normal set of young man’s problems.
This is therefore a quiet book, without a great deal of surface action, but with a great deal of character development, and the setting in place of all the things and characters needed for a final denouement. As the characters make up so much of the charm of this entire set of interrelated stories, it is a fully satisfying book, even though it has no real ending, and with possibly even more questions raised than answered within its various disclosures of tie-ins between the various plot threads. The only real problem with this book, like almost every other middle book of a series, is the agonizing wait for the final volume.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A story that really draws the reader in despite lacking a strong...
In the second book of the third trilogy of Robin Hobb's continuing epic set in 'The Realm of the Elderlings', she explores what happens to Fitz, posing as servant Tom Badgerlock,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
Robin Hobb - The Golden Fool
Second in the trilogy but still Robin keeps you enthralled. She can certainly tell a story. Can't wait for Fool's Fate!
Published 17 months ago by MacStuart
Hobb's Tawny Man Trilogy gathers pace
Superb series - I love the way Robin Hobb writes and fleshes out her characters, there are times in the course of her stories that I have laughed and cried with equal measure that... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Icemaiden
Ian's review
I think Robin Hobb is a good author and I enjoy her books tremendously. However, as in other of her books, she always denigrates her male heroes! Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2009 by Ian R. Mclean
Great but not as a stand-alone novel.
I have read all of Hobb's "Fitz" books and have loved them all. The only problem with this one is that it seems to solely link the first and third books together (hence the loss... Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by V. Mundell
gripping reading
Excellent read. Well up to Robin Hobb's high standard. Make sure you read book one firstFool's Errand: Book One of the Tawny Man (Tawny Man 1)and then you wont be able to resist... Read more
Published on 31 July 2009 by L. Joesbury
Once again Fitz gets thrust back into Farseer court intrigue in this...
After saving Prince Dutiful and helping to crush the Piebald uprising, any hopes Fitz has of returning to some kind of normality are quickly extinguished. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2008 by N. Burgess
brilliant series but
This a brilliant series and I have enjoyed them all tremendously...but I have found the Golden Fool to be weaker than the preceding books. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2008 by Herbert George Wells
Couldn't put it down
Really great read. This was one of the books I took on holiday with me, along with the 1st in the series and I just could not put it down. Read more
Published on 30 April 2007 by Judith Chasseguet
Excellent
The second in The Tawny Man trilogy, it has a bit more action than the first one. It rather frustrated me because of all the spying and not getting things out in the open and... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2006 by Anyasco
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