An excellent read! I love Robin Hobb's books. I didn't want to put this one down. If you're reading the Tawny Man series, make sure to read the Farseer Trilogy first. The Tawny Man series takes place 15 years later. You will understand much more if you read the Farseer Trilogy first. All excellent books. They will keep you rivited!
Beginning immediately after the events of 'Fool's Errand,' 'Golden Fool' sees Fitz finally return to Buckkeep - but still under the identity of Tom Badgerlock, servant to Lord Golden. He's supposed to be secretly teaching Prince Dutiful the Skill - but his own command of that magic is unreliable. Meanwhile, personal issues beset him at every turn - Fitz must manage his own personal grief and loss while simultaneously trying to balance his responsibilities to the Prince with those he has to his adopted son, Hap (who is doing none too well at his apprenticeship since he fell for a girl whose parents hate him). He's also having trouble with his own relationships with both the minstrel Starling and the hedge-witch Jinna. He's still trying to protect the daughter he's never met from her Farseer heritage - but is this really the wisest move? The Witted Piebalds are still threatening all those who bear the beast magic with exposure - and Fitz suspects that even the Prince's friend, Civil, may be false... Not only that, but Fitz' spying reveals that there is more of a mystery concerning the OutIsland clans and their reasons for betrothing their Narcheska to the Prince than was guessed... what are their real motivations?
Meanwhile, even as Queen Kettricken seeks to attain peace and stability for the Six Duchies, the Bingtown Traders seek to lure her into their war against Chalced with rich gifts and bizarre tales of dragons.
Hobb, in this book, does an excellent job of portraying a sympathetic character who yet has flaws, through that character's own perspective.
(I would highly recommend reading the Liveship Traders trilogy before this book - it's not 100% necessary - but there are some bits that gain much more significance if you've read those first....)
The second book in a second trilogy -- we return here to the life of FitzChivalry Farseer as he makes a new secret life for himself in the background of his old one. If you've read this far in the series, you're going to finish no matter what, but this installment is a dissapointment. Self-indulgent and rambling, Hobb is crippled here by her choice of first person narrative -- a choice that works well in the first three books here become hobbling as most of the interesting action takes place outside of her narrators awareness. Moments in this book that should have been dramatic and climatic are relegated to banal narrations as her characters distrust of others gets in the way of our understanding and appreciating their character arcs. In general, as with the other two books of the Fool trilogy, I always felt as though I missing the real action, unlike in the first books, where Hobb more deftly wove the point of view of her first person narrator, who was essentially a backstage character, throughout the exciting events that were taking place. Still, you have to read it to get any closure on the whole series.
