#i mean in the end i LOVED both the farseer and liveship trader trilogies but both took me a minute to get into for sure

[fairweathermyth]

hello! I'm reading the assassin's apprentice (bc of you!) and I gotta be honest i'm about 70% of the way through and it's been a real drag for me for the most part (RIP smithy). would you say i should keep going with the series or if I find the first book a bit meh i should give up?

Hi! Yeah, I do remember that I played it really close trying to finish that first book within the two week library check out period. It took me kind of a long time to get into it, but the last few chapters are pretty wild and I was definitely compelled to continue when I finished. So hopefully you'll feel that way too! That said, if you overall had a bad time reading it, then maybe it's just not for you, who knows.

Assassin's Apprentice is doing A Lot of groundwork with world building and character foundations that set you up for the literal 16 book saga where SO MUCH happens, so you're really investing in the long-term payoffs if you stick with it! Personally I think it's very worth it. I also think that first book might be hard for people because the protagonist is such a young child. I think maybe you'll feel more connected to the story and to him as he gets older and you go on that journey with him. And the more time you spend in that world the more fascinating the lore and various cultures of the universe become. I just think Robin Hobb does an incredible job making it so expansive and detailed - it all feels so real. ALSO, crucially the best character in the series (and tbh possibly my favorite character in literature??) The Fool is barely even in the first book, so I think it's worth sticking around to get to see more of him for sure!!!!

[elderling-magic]

Fitz, Nighteyes, Fool and Time

“...To free humanity of time. For time is the great enslaver of us all. Time that ages us, time that limits us. Think how often you have wished to have more time for something, or wished you could go back a day and do something differently. When humanity is freed of time, old wrongs can be corrected before they are done.” - Kettle about the role of the White Prophet, “Assassin’s Quest”

For at least a year now I wanted to make a post about time and how it relates and affects my favourite fictional trio so that is what I am doing today. This post will contain SPOILERS for the entire series so if you haven’t read all the Fitz books - you have been warned. Time is overall a very important theme in the series, but I want to foccus on these 3 characters because it is what is more interesting to me.

Fitz - Past

“The knowledge that he had left me with no intent ever to return had come over me in tiny droplets of realization spread over the years. And each droplet of comprehension brought its own small measure of hurt...He had wished me well in finding my own fate to follow, and I never doubted his sincerity. But it had taken me years to accept that his absence in my life was a deliberate finality, an act he had chosen, a thing completed even as some part of my soul still dangled, waiting for his return.” - Fitz, “Fool’s Assassin”

One of Fitz’s characteristics is how he is more often than not stuck in the past. This is partly because of trauma, but is still important. Even before the story starts Fitz already made an attempt to reject the past by claiming he forgot everything about his mother. He didn’t really. The memories just hurt him too much, but Fitz was never able to forget or let go of past events (even after giving part of his memories to a stone dragon in AQ).  Fitz gets stuck in the past and is hard for him to move on. Molly was his first love and he is stuck with that, Kettricken is still Verity’s wife until the (end even though the man died in book 3), Beloved is still a bit under the shadow of the court jester no matter how much he has changed since RA, etc. Fitz’s past affect his entire life.

Fitz can’t help but be reminded of Molly when thinking of red skirts or the Fool when seeing black and white. These are the colors he associates with them and that had initial impact in his past memories (even Molly being known as Nosebleed as a kid has the hint of red in there).

Fitz’s connection to the past is not as easy to observe in the Farseer trilogy since he is still developping and usually either Nighteyes or the Fool are around him. The Fool and Nighteyes influence him and make him not drown in past memories. Fitz holds on to the people he met as a kid and as the trilogies go on he seems to give less and less importance to new characters (so much that the ones introduced in the last trilogy barelly feel like characters at all in Fitz’s POV). 

Fitz going back to Molly at the end of “Fool’s Fate” is partly because of this attachment to the past. When the Fool leaves and Nighteyes isn’t around what does he do (as seen in “Fool’s Assassin”)? He gets a room just for himself where he can write and cry about the past. That is one of the most painful books to read when it comes to Fitz because he is so lost in past memories without Nighteyes or the Fool being around to stop him and bring him new perspectives that he just brings me down with him.

Nighteyes - Present

“Come, hunt with me, the invitation whispers in my heart. Leave the pain behind and let your life be your own again. There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own. Wolves have no kings.” - Nighteyes, “Royal Assassin”

Obviously Nighteyes has a strong connection with the present. As he says, wolves live in the now. So, when he is with Fitz he influences him and makes him live in the present. When Fitz is living in a cabin with just Hap and Nighteyes, he says he foccuses on the present and the routine of it (not for the first time, he mentions it in AQ before too). Fitz, being Fitz, still writes about his past, but since Nighteyes is around there is a balance between how often he thinks about the past and how often he foccuses on the present.

Fitz’s connection to the past also affects Nighteyes. When the wolf starts to gain human like qualities these are associated with past memories - like Fool saying something in AQ in the lines of “I didn’t know he would remember that” about Nighteyes showing his gratitude for Fool giving him cakes in the past, for example. Or that time Nighteyes remembered his family.

Even Fitz’s stupid plan in “Assassin’s Quest” has the foccus on the present all over it. He knows he wants revenge on Regal because of what he has done to him in the past, but instead of having a plan for that future, he says he will think of something when he gets to where Regal is currently living. Completelly living each day as it presents itself. No future planning because guess who isn’t around?

Fool - Future

“If he had not come to see me, I would never have recalled how much I missed him. I would have continued to pine for the past, but I would not have begun to long for a future.” - Fitz about the Fool, “Fool’s Errand”

Of course the White Prophet is strongly connected to the future. The Fool has visions about the future and his constant concern and dedication about what he must do keep him from thinking about the past or the present.  the Fool feels blind when his dreams stop. He has no concept of living beyond his "time", of a future he doesn't see. He is so anxious about it that he would not allow himself happiness and the society he wishes for because he is constantly considering what each of his actions would mean for the future and that paralyzes him.

The times Fool seems to be enjoying himself on the present is when Nighteyes is around and still alive (”Assassin’s Quest” and “Fool’s Fate”) - there is the water fight in AQ and overall the fun he seemed to be having on the adventure in FE. Take Nighteyes away and Fool is constantly worried about the Future or remembering his past because of Fitz. 

Fitz is the only person we know that the Fool opens up about his family or his mission as Amber, for example. Fitz even unlocks the Fool’s tragic backstory slowly. Being around Fitz makes Beloved think of his past memories even if he has been avoiding them like the plague for years. There is this person he tells about it because they influence each other that much.

In Liveship Traders, Amber is 100% thinking of her goal the entire time, which makes it feel a bit different than how Beloved usually acts if Fitz is around. Fitz and Nighteyes surprise him and make him slow down a bit and think of something else no matter how few minutes it lasts.

In the same way, Fool makes Fitz plan for the future. When the Fool is around Fitz has always something to do (usually according to prophecies). Fitz also thinks about a future living with the Fool in AQ, FE and AF. Take away the Fool and Fitz drowns in the memories of his past, unless Nighteyes is there to help him.

So, does that initial quote from Kettle about getting rid of time connects with the ending where Fitz and the Fool end up in the stone wolf and basically die? Given the strong connections these 3 characters have with time I guess I could say that now that they are not around the White Prophet mission is trully complete. I am not sure what this means for the new prophet (Bee)’s future goal though. Unless that there is no future goal. Bee herself was a new entity entirely given that she was called the destroyer. I see her as having the powers of both catalyst and white prophet. So, it can really mean the end of white prophets and, like Kettle said it was their mission, the end of time itself. 

PS: I also don’t see ghost!Nighteyes as being trully Nighteyes. Nighteyes died in FE and to me that ghost is the personification of the memories the Fool and Fitz had of him. But that is another future post entirely.

[sometimesrosy]

I’m putting my summer reading list together and was wondering if you had any good book recommendations. Any genre will do.

I should be better at this than I am, but I generally have a hard time keeping track of my favorites in my head and people able to recall them for when people ask me. Maybe I should keep a list of books to rec. Hey that’s kind of a good thing to put on my website. Why didn’t I ever think of that before? Then I wouldn’t have to remember it all the time and I’d also have a list of influences. I should seriously consider that. hmm

The only thing I can think of now is a book series that I recently picked up again after recommending it to a friend because I thought there was a romance in it that reminded me of Bellarke. So why don’t I do that one.

It’s called the Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb, and the first book is called Ship of Magic.

In my memory, I made the bellarke-like characters into the main characters, but when I went back over it, I realized that their story was one of multiple interwoven stories.  I was in a bellarke mood, so I actually ended up doing a shipping kind of edit while I read and skipped through to all the chapters about the bellarke-like characters, so I ended up reading THEIR story. It got tricky at the end of the series when all the stories came together and I hadn’t caught up on the other characters… but I managed. Quite well. I’d never read these books this way, and because I was in a bellarke mood, I suddenly wondered if the reason why I resonated with Bellarke so strongly was actually because they reminded me of THIS couple.

Anyway, so now that I’ve recd a book based on shipping bellarke. The series is actually a fantasy. This series is about a family of shiptraders who own a living, magic ship. The daughter, Althea, wants to inherit the ship, but when her father dies, it goes to her brother in law instead, a man who is not one of them and doesn’t understand the strange burden of these ships. To save the family from bankruptcy, he turns to slave trading– a very bad mistake for a very sensitive ship. It tells the story not only of Althea, but also of her mother and sister and niece back in the trading town, and her nephew and ship. And pirates! LOTS OF PIRATES. And sea serpents. And a female character dressed as a man. And exotic riches. And a mysterious veiled people. And political plots. And people falling in love. And silly selfish girls growing up to be unstoppable. And the mystery of the dragons, who have gone from the world. Or have they?

This is set in the world of the Farseer books, Fitz and the Fool, (kings and queens, bastard princes, animal magic, high magic, magic zombies, betrayal, more dragons, a strange character who sometimes makes prophecies.) The first book of that is Assassin’s Apprentice.

All these books are interconnected and, in the end, about the fate of the dragons, and the prophecies that are trying to set the world back on the right track. There is a little bit of crossover between the trader books and the fitz books, but it’s subtle, and i don’t want to give it away. I can easily recommend starting with the Assassin books, as it’s one of my favorite series, and Fitz is a great character. So if you’d rather read about northern barbarian royalty in a political battle and the bastard prince who has both the noble high magic and base beast magic in his blood, and also ends up saving everybody, I mean EVERYBODY, at the cost to his own soul and body, then read this one first. If you’d rather read about pirates and a magic ship, then read the liveship. If you want, like, to lose yourself in another world all summer, start with the Assassin books, then read the Liveship books, then go back to the Fitz and Fool books, because those follow a couple of the characters from the Assassin books as they get older and the plots thicken. Also. More dragons. You can actually watch Fitz get older. The first book is him as a boy. He saves the world, yadda yadda, grows up, and in each following series he grows up more and saves the world again. Real, actual maturing. 

Now these books CAN be very dark. But if you like The 100, with it’s strong characters fighting for their lives and souls, and suffering for it, and victories at a cost, then you might like this book. It’s not fluffy. At all. There is torture. Lots of it. Abusive childhoods. Adopted families. Tragedy aplenty. Broken hearts. Death. But it’s also engaging and addictive and sweeping and dramatic and epic. I would put Robin Hobb on a par with GRR Martin, but a woman. Do expect that kind of pain though, but the stories are more feminist. And it’s actually more original and less traditional.

Now I don’t look for this when I read, and this isn’t a “PC” book, meaning expect characters to be problematic and stupid sometimes, but it addresses some social and identity issues. For instance, the country of Farseers, inland, is mostly white. But the coast and the Farseers themselves are definitely not. They were barbarian raiders, and darker skinned with black hair, so the kings and princes, while it doesn’t SAY their ethnicity, seem to be a kind of northern native american/asian-viking kind of hybrid. Maybe like if Mongolians were seafaring like the vikings. The barbarian raiders conquered the land and settled down to rule it. But the barbarian raiders are still out there raiding. And the soft, white inland farmers still want to be in control. But the publishing industry the way it is, I feel like they play that down. The Farseers are not white, but they do intermarry with the white inland duchies. And to the south is a country of slavers, (not racially motivated) who no one likes. And when they do like them? Expect them to be evil. lol. There are also multiple disabled characters. Heroic ones. Gosh I can’t actually spoil on that one, either, but it’s kind of a plot point in many of the series. Geez Robin. I did not even REALIZE how much this matters to you. (ALTHOUGH, she did write a story about an obese character. And I don’t mean chubby. I mean OBESE, it’s part of his magic. It isn’t my favorite of hers, Soldier’s Son Trilogy. Not set in the world of Fitz. It figures that none of the book covers show him as fat.) She writes about those people that society discards. Always. 

And. Well. I don’t really want to give it away, because it’s kind of a big part of the story, but I’d call the Farseer books lgbt. Not because there is a typical wlw or mlm love story… uhm… but… Ugh. I can’t give it away. Let’s just say there’s a non binary major character. Who you will love. Who I love. I’ve never seen anything like them. Main character. V. Important. You have to really read the whole story to unravel it all, though. Like ALL the books. It’s epic. Cannot express enough my love for this character. Cannot tell you more specifically because their life and story is intrinsically plot related. But trust me it’s amazing, particularly if you’d like to read an LGBT story about the letters other than L or G. Yes. I think that’s the best way to describe it. I wouldn’t want you to think that it’s a typical L/G story because you might be disappointed not to see that. There are an awful lot of hetero romances. But…. There is an epic story running through all the books and it ain’t cishet. But it takes so long to develop, you have to invest in it. Dudes. It’s worth it. 

Wow. That’s a lot of gushing. I guess that’s my rec.

[signourneybooks]

Intro

You know sometimes I like to challenge myself.

How to Play

This reading challenge consists of 3 sections. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and General for a total of 52 prompts which comes down to about 1 book a week.

 You can do 1, 2 or all 3 sections.

With each section you are allowed 1 Double-Up. Double-Up means you can use 1 book for 2 prompts. Preferred is not to at all but if for some reason you are struggling with time or a prompt you can.

In the general sections you can use both fantasy and sci-fi books but not other genres.

Graphic novels, comics, audiobooks and novella’s are allowed. It is all reading in my book.

Rereads count.

You can move the books around throughout the year if things fit better elsewhere and all.

You can step into this reading challenge at any point. I’m starting it in January 2019 but in reality this is a reading challenge you can fit for yourself in anyway you like. If you want to start in May and end April the year after, that is totally fine.

Graphic

Sign-Up

I don’t know if people want to join me but I would love to interact with each other if you do. You can participate anyway you like, with goodreads, twitter, instagram or your blog. I don’t require a sign-up post but I would appreciate if you boosted this.

If there are a nice group of people we can see if we can do a twitter dm group or an fb group or something to chat with each other on how to fill the prompts. 🙂

The widget won’t go into the post because wp sucks so here is the direct link.

If You Need Inspiration: Find Some Fitting Books Per Prompt Here

I figured some of you might like to have a list of options for each prompt so here we are. I’ve read a portion of these, others are on my own TBR and others I just know fit with the prompt. These are in no way meant as real recommendations, just those that fit the prompt. No links because do you see how many books I mention haha.

Fantasy

Classic Fantasy The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin / The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Narnia by C.S Lewis /

Magic School Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce / A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. le Guin / The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss / Carry On by Rainbow Rowell / Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones / The Magicians by Lev Grossman / The Novice by Taran Matharu

Necromancers Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong / Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride / Sabriel by Garth Nix / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews / Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landry / Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

PTSD Witchmark C.L. Polk / The First Law by Joe Abercrombie /

Dragons The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli / Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb / The Copper Promise by Jen Williams / Talon by Julie Kagawa / Seraphina by Rachel Hartman / A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin / Eragon by Christopher Paolini / Eon by Alison Goodman / Temeraire by Naomi Novik / A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan / How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell / Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland / Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aron

Fairytale Retelling Uprooted by Naomi Novik / A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas / Ash by Melinda Lo / Forests of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao / The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh / The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden / Thorn by Intisar Khanani / To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Grimdark Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence / Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson / Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall / Skullsworn by Brian Stavely / Red Sister by Mark Lawrence / The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Ghosts Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud / The Graveyard Queen by Amanda Stevens / City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab / The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman / The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater / Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Uncommon Fantasy Creatures So not the usual werewolf, dragons, vampires and the like Bones and Bourbon by Dorian Graves (Huldra) / The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker (Golem) / Steel & Stone by Annette Marie (Incubus) / Troll Fell by Katherine Langrish (Trolls) / The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (Goblins)

Shapeshifters Moon Called by Patricia Briggs / Written in Red by Anne Bishop / Stray by Rachel Vincent / Soulless by Gail Carragher / The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong /

Gods Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan / Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan / Aru Shah at the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin / The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter / The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White / Furyborn by Claire LeGrand / Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman / Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova / The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris

Animal (or in Animal Form) Companion(s) Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb / The Dragon Bone Chair by Tad Williams / Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh / Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell / The Summoner by Taran Matharu

Matriarchy Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima / Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake / Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop / Dragonflight by Anne McAffrey / The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells / The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

Set in Our World The Others by Anne Bishop / Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare / American Gods by Neil Gaiman / Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning / Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh / Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Witches Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt / The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco / A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness / Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett / The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy / Uprooted by Naomi Novik / Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Magical Law Enforcement Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling / Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch / The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher / The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud / Lockwood & Co. by Jonathan Stroud

Thief The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron / The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo / The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima / The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

Pirates Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo / Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke / Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch / The Nature of a Pirate by A.M. Dellamonica

Portal Fantasy Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis / Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Warrior Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin / Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien / Night Angel by Brent Weeks / Half a King by Joe Abercrombie /

Sci-Fi

On a Different Planet A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray / The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin / The Martian by Andy Weir / Dune by Frank Herbert / Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Space Ship The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers / The Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers / An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams

Artificial Intelligence Point of View A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers / I, Robot by Isaac Asimov / 2001: A Space Odessey by Arthur C. Clarke / Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Kick

Proto Sci-Fi As Frankenstein is seen as the first sci-fi novel all books prior to that that seem to be sci-fi are called proto sci-fi but anything before H.G. Wells will count here as it seems to cause some discussions.  New Atlantis by Francis Bacon / Frankenstein by Mary Shelley / The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson / From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne /

Alien The Fifth Wave by Rick Riordan / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Addams / The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells / Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Time Travel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells / Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier / Passenger by Alexandra Bracken / The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig / The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma / Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Utopia The Dispossed by Ursula K. le Guin / Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel / Andromeda by Ivan Efremov / The Giver by Lois Lowry

Games/Gaming/Virtual Reality Warcross by Marie Lu / Armada by Ernest Cline / Otherland by Tad Williams / In Real Life by Cory Doctorow / Unplugged by Donna Freitas

Hive (Mind) The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender

Steampunk Soulless by Gail Carrigher / Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve / Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld / Boneshaker by Cherie Priest / Lady of Devices by Shelley Adina

Super Powers The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson / Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee / Nimona by Noelle Stevenson / The Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan

Science Better known as heavy sci-fi if you go searching for books Foundation by Isaac Asimov / World War Z by Max Brooks / The Color of Distance by Amy Thomson / Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

Replicate/Replica Accelerando by Charles Stross / Replica by Lauren Oliver / Evolution by Stephen Baxter / The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

Space Colonization The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs / Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie / The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradburry

Mecha Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel / Gundam Wing by Haijme Hatate / Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Space Creatures/Beasts Mistworld by Simon Green / Dune by Frank Herbert /  Alien by Alan Dean Foster /

Teleportation Jumper by Stephen Gould / Timeline by Michael Crighton / The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter / The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Space Western The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury / Six-Gun Planet by John Yakes / Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow / Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon / Cowboy Bebop by Yutaka Nanten

The Moon The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer / Moonseed by Stephen Baxter / Artemis by Andy Weir / Red Rising by Pierce Brown / The First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells

Invasion Alien or Human The Andromedia Strain by Michael Crighton / Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout / The Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore / The Alien Years by Robert Silverberg / Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card / First Men in the Moon by H.G. Wells / Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

General

For this you can use sci-fi and fantasy where you can make them fit.

Satire Discworld by Terry Pratchett / Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams / The Portable Door by Tom Holt / Red Shirts by John Scalzi /

Novella Binty by Nnedi Okorafor / Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire / The Ghost Line by Andrew Neil Gray / The Girl Who Rules Fairyland – For a Little While by Catheryne M. Valente

Finish a Series For this you can read the other books for other prompts throughout this challenge and read the last one here or finish a series you previously started. Or you could just read a whole series for this prompt alone. Whatever you want haha.

Mental Health Stormlight Archives by Branden Sanderson (depression) / The Magicians by Lev Grossman (depression) / Witchmark by C.L Polk (PTSD) / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (PTSD)

Disability * On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis (autism) / October Daye by Seanan McGuire (weelchair) *Kristen from Metaphors and Moonlight created a masterlist.

Set in Africa Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor  / Zoo City by Lauren Beukes / The Famished Road by Ben Okri / Changa’s Safari by Milton J. Davis

Library Library is semi-important in the book Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor / Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine / The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman / The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins /

By a Woman of Color Nnedi Okorafor / N.K. Jemisin / Tomi Adeyemi / Julie Kagawa / Malinda Lo / Heidi Helig / to name only a few…

One Word Title / Under 500 Pages / Over 800 Pages / Published Before 1990 I don’t think I need to make a list for these, right?

If you have any recs for any of these categories (especially Disability, Mental Health, Set in Africa and PTSD) than please leave them down below.

Printables

Let me know if these don’t work to save.

Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi – A (2019) Reading Challenge + Bingo Cards Intro You know sometimes I like to challenge myself. How to Play This reading challenge consists of 3 sections.

[els-writes]

Overall Rating: ★★

Ship of Magic. Book One of The Liveship Traders Trilogy. Forth Robin Hobb book I’ve read. And bane of my life for the past six months. 

Let me put this out there now: I adored the Farseer Trilogy. I binged those books in about two weeks at the start of this year, and they broke me in the best way possible. I took a month or so to recover after reading Assassin’s Quest, but I was hyped to get started on the next book. 

I started this book in April. I only finished it Halloween night. It’s been a long, long and difficult road. One that I can’t really sum-up as I usually do in my reviews. So it’s all or nothing, guys! 

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this book - whether you agree with me or not! It’s a strange book for me, because I really didn’t expect not to like it, so I’m curious as to what others think!

So let’s get into it. 

NOT SPOILER FREE! 

Writing Style:  ★★★

I have a love-hate relationship with Robin Hobb’s writing style. When I first started Assassin’s Apprentice, it took me a good few days to try and get into the book. She is another one of those very wordy authors who I felt said a lot more than she needed to, in a much higher level language than she needed to. That’s not to say I don’t like that writing style, I actually quite enjoy it, but I have to be in the right mindset for it. However, I did so, and the style (thankfully) is consistent through this series so far. 

Ship of Magic, like the Farseer books, took me some time to get into. Especially with the fantasy-heavy language used in the first chapter of the book. It took me a handful of tries before I could manage the style again. 

I love the style. It’s rich, it’s vibrant, it’s full of exposition and imagery and just some really wonderful literary techniques and language. But I hate when I first pick up the book and remember I have to get ready for it. It’s not a style I can read when I’m tired or lazy, I have to be fully invested. So, love-hate. 

Characters: ★

Oh boy, here we go. 

I’m a character-driven reader. You can have the most fantastic, original, exciting, intriguing plot in the universe but I will not get on bored with it if I don’t like the characters. And this is where Ship of Magic was ruined for me, to be honest. This is what pulls down all those stars for the overall rating. 

I hated the characters. 

Now, stay with me. 

Kyle was an incredible character. He is the most vile, most disgusting character I have read in my entire life. I hated him to the point where at the end of the book, I was shaking with fury at him. Even just typing about him now is filling me with such stress and anxiety and hatred that I’m tensing up. He is one of the best written villains I have read, perhaps ever. And I thought Regal was bad in the Farseer books.

Every other character though? The ones I’m meant to like? They just... fell flat. They weren’t one-dimensional by any means, I just didn’t find myself liking any of them. There are a multitude of characters in Ship of Fools, that we follow who might be called a main character or a protagonist: Althea, Brashen, Wintrow, Kennit, and the three Vestrit women to a lesser extent. Some were primarily good, some were primarily bad, but none jumped out to me. I didn’t feel connected to any of these characters. Worse than that, they all kind of annoyed me. 

Althea and Brashen, I will say, I can stand. If the book focused entirely on them, maybe they would have grown on me just that little bit more to make all the difference. I like them, but they’re both kinda frustrating at times. For me, I was only reading it to see if they got together in the end, as it seemed pretty obvious from the start that was where it was going. (Spoiler: they did, I’m on board with it, they’re kinda cute). But I just didn’t really care. I will say I was most invested in the story when they were at the forefront, but it wasn’t enough. They’re characters develop seemingly the least out of all the characters, which is a shame, because they’re the only ones I was even slightly interested in. 

Kennit? To be honest, I don’t remember most of his plot. I know the gist of it, but it wasn’t that exciting, I wasn’t that invested. It just all sort of happened. His goal is cliche, but would be a little more interesting if I knew more about him. Maybe I just missed it, but to me he just seemed greedy and a kinda grumpy and... meh. 

The Vestrit’s in Bingtown: Ronica, Keffria, and Malta. All three were so incredibly frustrating, and so much drama could have been set aside if they’d just talked? Seriously. Just talk. And don’t even get me started on Malta. 

Ah, Wintrow. At the start of the book, he was the only character I was intrigued by. I wish I hadn’t been. 

Before I start, just to put this out there: I have a major soft spot for suffering characters. I often just ache and wish for them to get a chance to sit down and cry and get a hug off someone. 

Wintrow sits down and cries a lot. A lot. And yeah, it’s realistic for a young boy, but this kid is so infuriating that I didn’t even know what to do with myself. He is a complete pain throughout the whole book, doesn’t actually do anything that major for the plot, now I think about it, and then at the very end his character does this massive 180 out of nowhere? I get what Hobb was trying to do, but I might have liked Wintrow a little more in the end if he’d grown in a believable way at least? Not as suddenly and violently as he did? 

Quick note on some of the other very important characters. The liveships. 

Vivacia: Whiny and annoying. I get she’s new and young and stuff is happening to her but come on, she was emotional and unbearable even before the slaves were put on, and I refuse to believe it was all Wintrow’s emotions shaking her up. 

Ophelia: The true queen of this book. I want far more focus on her please, I love her. 

Paragon: LITERALLY THE ONLY THING IN THIS ENTIRE BOOK I CARE ABOUT. AND IT’S THE ONE CHARACTER WHO LITERALLY DIDN’T EVEN MOVE FOR THE WHOLE 838 PAGES. 

Okay, I’m calm again... on we go. 

Plot: ★★★

It was fine. I’m not going to spend too long on this, because I think a lot of my opinions on the plot are tainted by my feelings about the characters. It was predictable a lot of the time, which doesn’t make it bad. A few points got me interested. If I take away all the mayhem of character 180s, the ending was good and strong. But the reason this book took me six months to finish? I just didn’t want to pick it up. I didn’t feel inclined to. There was no point where I put the book down and was thinking about where it was going from there. When I put this book down, it just stopped existing to me. And that rarely happens. 

World-Building: ★★★★

So much potential. I love Hobb’s world building. I practically drool thinking about the world I read about in the Farseer trilogy, it was just fantastic and beautiful and so intricate and exciting! This had elements of it, I could see that. Wizardwood? Liveships? Rain Wilds? Those kinds of things sound amazing - I adore the idea of the ships coming to life. But, because of that big old character section, it fell flat. I’m not faulting the world-building for that though, because I have hope that the next two books go into more depth into it all. 

Ability To Make Ellen Hate Reading: ★★★★★★

I’m not even kidding. This book sucked the fun out of reading for me, and I’m so sad about that. In the past six months, I’ve only read two other books. Nevermoor, because I had to read it for work (loved it). And The Book of Dust, because it’s from my all-time favourite series (loved it). I just didn’t want to read, and it was mostly because I felt guilty picking up another book whilst I hadn’t finished this one. 

After I finished this book, I picked up a new one (review on that coming very soon). I finished it in 4 hours. I literally forgot how easy it is to read because of this book. 

What’s Next?

I don’t usually need this on the end of my reviews, but I kind of have to here. 

The Robin Hobb books were recommended to me by a close friend. I say again: I loved the Farseer trilogy so much. I’d also been warned that out of the trilogies in this world, The Liveship Traders were her least favourite, and she guessed that I might not like them much. I really want to keep reading this world, and I love reading a complete series. I have been told it is not necessary to read this trilogy to read the others, but it will merely help me understand and appreciate certain elements of the other books. I am on the fence about picking up the next book. I have it on my shelf, but I hate the fact that I’m dreading facing it. 

I’m stubborn. I don’t like dropping books without finishing them, which is why I forced myself through this one. So I’m asking y’all’s advice. If you’ve read these books, do you think I should keep at it with Liveships, or give in now and move on? I’d love to hear what you think! 

I am so sorry this review is just words on a page at this point, but I had a lot of feelings and I needed to get them out. 

[sophygurl]

RotE feels spewage

Okay, so now that I’ve read everything currently written in the Realm of the Elderlings series (but boy howdy am I excited about the new short story coming out soon!), I’m gonna try and capture some of my overall thoughts and feels. This will be very long and undoubtedly spoilerific. 

For the record, I started the whole series about a year ago and have just raced through it all. The first thing I read was the short story Homecoming and it so fueled me with all of the mystery and magic that I started in on the first Farseer trilogy and then banged out through all of the other short stories and novels in order. 

I am happy to see there are lots of RotE fans on tumblr, but sad to see most of the posts go back months and years ago and there isn’t a lot of current discussion. Woe is the fangirl who finds a fandom later than everyone else. But I won’t let that stop me from sharing my thoughts. 

Okay so I have some new all-time favorite characters from this series. Strangely enough, Fitz is not one of them. NOT that I dislike Fitz, and I sure did enjoy reading 3 sets of trilogies from his perspective, but he’s just not a fave-fave. 

A lot of the people (and animals) around him became faves, but I have to admit to being somewhat in the minority from what I’ve seen, in vastly preferring the Rain Wilds/Bingtown stuff over the Six Duchies stuff. Again - not that I don’t love all of it, but just those were my fave bits and the stuff I personally related to more and want more of.

Most Fave Characters:

Paragon. Oh my dear mad ship, how I love you. How can my favorite character be a sentient ship made out of dragon cocoons who has literally gone insane? IDK, Robin Hobb that’s why. I am so pleased for Paragon that he got to finally be dragons, but oh how I’ll miss my crazy traumatized liveship. I hope we get to see more of his dragons in future works?

All of the Vestrits, but particularly the women. Especially Althea, Ronica, and Malta. Their character arcs were phenomenal and I’d love to read any and all side-stories of their lives and adventures between the Liveship Traders trilogy and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, as well as anything in their futures. 

Bee! Bee Bee Bee Bee Bee. Bee Farseer. Bee the Destroyer. Bee....loved. I love her. Every single thing about her. More Bee! MORE BEE!

Thick. He was probs my favorite part of the Tawny Man trilogy and omg the picture of him as an old man with a cat in his lap teaching Bee how to make skillsongs and being happy and comfortable and cared for is just killing me. ILU Thick!

Thymara. Best part of the Rain Wilds Chronicles imo. And the bits we gleamed of her and Tats and their kid in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy made me so happy. The way her wings grew! I bet she flies all the time! Oh please please tell me more about Thymara’s life once she settled into Kelsingra! 

Nighteyes. I don’t know that I can discuss my feelings for him without sobbing, so I’ll leave it at that. 

Nettle Farseer. What an amazing arc, and getting to see her from being a baby to having her own baby. MOAR Nettle! 

Perseverance. Where is the Per fandom?! I adore this little due with my whole heart and soul. So brave, so kind, so patient, so loyal. I cry just thinking about him and how good he is. 

The Fool/Beloved/Lord Golden/Amber/whatever all else... I think I loved his Fool persona the most, but they’re all fantastic. 

Chade Fallstar. Look, I know he’s a real son of a bitch, but I love him anyway. I’m a sucker for old wizardy teacher types and prankster/trickster types and just always wanted for him to find some happiness and belonging.

Kettricken. Such a strong, sweet, fierce, stable, amazing woman. Who was so in love with Fitz and you can’t tell me otherwise! 

Ophelia - my second favorite liveship and one I think might... even?? want... to stay one??? Maybe??? We’ll see. Hopefully. Please tell us. 

Patience. Quirky mom/grandma figure who couldn’t have her own kids so protects the ones that need protecting forever in my heart! (Also Lacey, who I am certain in my heart of hearts was her lover as well as her friend and bodyguard.)

Spark/Ash. Another wonderful genderbender in the series. I hope they get to keep being both sides of themselves. 

Motley. How can you not love a crow who calls Fitz “stupid” every chance she gets and who bonds with Heeby and loves all the same characters we love? I hope Motely finally finds a good wit-bond. She deserves it. 

Every cat we ever encounter in any of the books. 

Characters I love but with some reservations:

Kennit Ludluck - I mean I hate this man, but I also love him. He was a fascinating character and his relationships with other characters were interesting, and his whole ... thing ... with Paragon was so emotional and intense. And I could have forgiven every other awful thing he ever did up until he raped Althea and then it was just - nope. Sigh. 

Dragons - particularly Tintaglia, Sintara, Mercor, Heeby,and Relpda. Dragons can be terrible, but they’re also a lot of fun.

Rapskal - loved loved loved him before he merged with the Elderling memories. Still kinda like him, but not quite as much. His relationship with Heeby is always sweet. 

Ships (as in shipping not liveships)

First a note about Molly. I always felt like Molly’s character was strangely un-fleshed out. She was just Girl who is a Friend, Young Woman who is Attractive, Woman Fitz Loves, Woman Fitz Longs For, Woman Fitz Finally Gets to be With, Woman Fitz Loses. And then from Bee’s perspective she’s Mom. But she never felt like a fully realized character to me??

So it was hard to love her, to ship her with anyone, to really understand and empathize for Fitz’s feelings for her. She was just kind of this Figure. Which is really such a shame, because Hobb has so many other wonderfully filled out female characters who are so varied and fleshed out and amazing in such different ways from one another. And then there’s just Molly. Woman Fitz Loves. For ... some reason?? 

IDK - is this a thing that other fans feel? Did I miss something that everyone else gets?

I mean, I understand that the fandom mostly ships Fitz with Beloved/Fool, but did anyone ship Fitz with Molly? Or ship her with Burrich for that matter?? 

I personally shipped Fitz the most with Kettricken, but I obvi get the Fitz/Fool thing too. I always thought when Fitz grew up into himself more, he’d realize it was for the best that Molly and Burrich had ended up together and leave it at that, and then eventually the feelings he and Kettricken obviously had for one another would have a chance to blossom. But whatever. She gets to raise Bee now, so that’s something. 

So anyway, my ships for this series:

Fitz/Ketrricken, as stated above. 

Fitz/Fool, cannot be denied.

Fitz/Nighteyes - not in a romantic or sexual way but they were true soulmates. 

Fitz/Burrich and Fitz/Chade and Fitz/Verity as son/father.

Fitz/Dutiful and and Fitz/Hap and Fitz/Per as father/son.

Fitz/Nettle and Fitz/Bee as father/daughter.

Fitz friendships - Fool, Riddle, Thick, Nosy, Smithy, Myblack, Fleeter, Motley.

Fool/Shrewd as friends or even a touch of father/son.

Fool friendships - Fitz, Prilkop, Verity, Kettricken, Nighteyes, as Amber: Althea, Brashen, Paragon, Jek. 

Chade/Shrewd as brothers.

Verity/Chivalry as brothers. 

Patience/Lacey - mirite?

Chivalry/Burrich - right?? right??!?! Come at me about it. 

Althea/Brashen - perfectly coupled. 

Malta/Reyn - especially once they’ve actually had some time to get to know one another better. (their courtship was kinda yikes in a lot of ways tho)

Etta/Kennit’s charm necklace lmao.

Nettle/Riddle - so sweet together. I’m glad she gets her happy ending, so to speak. Getting to be recognized for who she is at Buckkeep, having a job/calling she’s good at and loves, getting to marry the man she loves, having a child she gets to actually raise. All the stuff Fitz never got to have. 

Erek and Detozi! How cute are they and how adorable was the way their relationship was shown in the books? Awwwww. (I did think for the first couple books that they were both dudes so I was slightly disappointed when I figured it out, but still sweet.)

Sedric/Carson

Alise/Leftrin

Alise/Sedric as friends.

Alise/Thymara as friends.

Sintara/Mercor - can you ship dragons? I think I do. 

Fave Places:

Rain Wilds - anything to do with the Rain Wilds, Trehaug, Cassarick, Bingtown, Kelsingra, etc. Love it, want more of it. 

Withywoods. I fell in love with this quiet home and the people in it, especially as seen through Bee’s eyes, and especially once she discovers the places in the walls.

The Pirate Isles - fun stuff and I liked that we got to see a little bit about how it’s developed both as far as appearances and it’s political/trading place in the world. 

Stuff I especially want more of, questions I still have, mysteries I want solved, etc.:

I’ll honestly take anything in this world at any time, but here’s the stuff particularly weighing on me....

Magic: SO much more about magic and how it works and where it comes from. For instance, the Silver.

How is it in the dragons?

How did it get into the memory stone?

How is it related to the Skill?

How did the Farseers get access to this magic?

How do people not related to Farseers sometimes get it?

Is the Skill/Silver related to the Wit or are they totally separate things?

Do dragons have Skill and Wit? And also something else?

What, exactly are (were?) The Others.

AND WHY ARE THEY TERRIFIED OF CATS?

Speaking of cats - why can they talk to anyone regardless of Wit?

Are cats and dragons related somehow??!

And what about pecksies?! 

What about The Whites? Where does their magic come from? Is it related to all the silver/skill/dragon stuff at all? Where did they come from and how are they related to humans, Elderlings, etc?

Also what in the freaking frak IS the skill-current and how does it woooorrrrrk? 

HOW are the Vestrits all so linked to magic?!?! I keep having these theories that Ephron did something to all his kids and grandkids, maybe to protect them from the blood plague, that made them all more susceptible to things like dragon glamour and skill-healings and the like. And why did he decide to stop trading with the Rain Wilds and magical items? What did he KNOW? Am I making stuff up in my head, or is there something there? I feel like there’s something there.  

History: grand-scale and smaller more personal things I’d love to see explained more either in short stories or as characters learn more in potential future trilogies and such - like as Nettle and the coteries learn more from the skill-cubes or as the new Elderlings and dragons learn more from their artifacts and buildings. Some examples:

Chade’s life. Would ADORE a short story about his life pre-Fitz, his many adventures as Lady Thyme and other identities, his life as Lord Chade and all of the secrets he never told anyone, his various spy networks and how they worked, etc. 

How did the Servants get so corrupted? How did their unholy alliance with The Others get formed? What was Clerres before it was the White Prophet/Servant place? What were the bones and skulls from? Some creatures bigger and badder and older than dragons?? 

FITZ’s Parentage! Especially his mom! We know she was Mountain-born, we know she had an affair with Chivalry who was not one to go about having affairs like that, we know Fitz’s grandfather forced his mom to give Fitz up, but that’s literally it. How did Chivalry and his mom meet and what happened between them? Why did his mom’s family decide she couldn’t keep him? Did she have the Wit - is that how he got it?? What was little toddler Fitz’s life like?? What happened to his mom after she was forced to give him up?? Did she marry and have more kids - are their Fitz-siblings and their kids and grandkids out in the world, maybe in the Mountains?

And that time really early in the books, maybe the second one? When he encountered some people in the market from the Mountains and there was a young woman who started screaming and pointing at him and crying and was held back by the others - I mean, that was his mom yea?? Why did we never come back to that scene. I kept waiting for Fitz to remember that and link it to what little he remembered of her. Sigh. 

Stories about Dragons and Elderlings of old! Maybe some about their destruction but also just ... what their lives were actually like?? How they came about?? How they made their art and architecture and stuff?? IDK. I’m so curious about this part. 

Maybe something about King Wisdom and how he sought out the Elderlings for aid, or if the Elderlings were already gone by then how he discovered the putting-your-life-into-stone thing? Maybe some stories about skill coteries who traveled together up the skill road to make their own dragons? TELL ME HOW THE FARSEERS ARE LINKED TO THE ELDERLINGS!

The gods, too. Sa and the priesthood of Sa and how all that got started, how it got corrupted, etc. How Sa connects with El and Eda. Are they real? Are they representations of the Skill or the Skill current or???  

Chalced’s history is one I’m very curious about. Are they connected to the Servants and Others in toppling the Dragon/Elderling civilizations, or did they just hate the Stone Pillars for other reasons? How did they get to be so ... terrible? 

Future:  Some of the stories I wanna see about what comes next!

BEE!!!! Bee and Kettricken and Per and Integrity and Hap and Motley and Spark riding through the Mountains together with Fitz/Fool/Nighteyes-as-stone trailing them! How all of their lives progress, and how Hope and Promise grow up together and what their lives are like and maybe check-in with Steady and Swift on occasion and yea. 

Are Fitz and the Fool and Nighteyes happy now that they’re whole and in the Skill together? How long can they stay active and watch over Bee? 

Gosh, I’d really like to see how the folks at Withywoods continue to heal and recover. Too bad they don’t have therapists in this world...

Will Prilkop be able to take the dozen or so Whites left and build something new? Maybe use their powers for good? Will Bee ever be prompted to find and use a Catalyst or will she continue to refuse to be a White Prophet? Will another White step in her place, and if so - will it be good or bad?!?! 

Will Motley find a wit-bond? Did Fleeter ever find one?? What about Swift - we never found out if he got one did we??! More wit-bond stories! 

Chassim, the Duchess of Chalced! How is she faring? Is she able to make progressive changes to her country? Do she and Selden keep in touch??

How are the Rain Wilds and Bingtown Trader’s societies being affected by all of the changes? Same for the Pirate Isles. Are they able to adapt and prosper? Would love to see some stuff about their times both between when TRWC ends and Fitz/Fool trilogy begins and also after all the dust settles as the Liveships turn into Dragons and whatnot as well.

How are Erek and Detozi doing??

Geography: I’d love to see some complete maps of the Realm. Maybe have some stories set in or around the Spice Islands since we hear so much about them but have never been there. Will we find more Elderling ruins? Where the Whites originally came from? Are the icy glacier areas in the North covering more ancient ruins? More about this world!!

So yea that’s a lot. And that’s just what’s occurring to me right now. I feel some deep re-reads are gonna be in order. This might one of those series that I just continually find myself reading and re-reading. 

I’m dazed.

Come talk to me RotE fandom!! (my inbox is open)

[redscullyrevival]

Royal Assassin: Farseer Trilogy Rundown

It’s that time again @sonnetscrewdriver - as if you didn’t know because I am chatting to you right now lol

Setting/Plot/Narrative:

More great quality, I mean I can only repeat myself so much lol

The one part that really stood out to me was the first encounter with the white ship

That socked me in the gut I loved it so much

The series is overall well written and paced, occasionally meandering but I enjoy the world given and am not a intensely plot oriented reader - I like a good meandering 

But every once in a while Hobb lays before the reader a scene of just precisely perfect prose, and I have no doubt those scenes shift from person to person but for me the reveal of the white ship, the person pointing and laughing at Fitz the only one who could see

The way the scene is written is simple enough, its mostly a relay of events void of emotion other than silent terror

It is however wedged into two larger connecting moments and when I read it my heart raced and I found myself reading too quickly that I didn’t understand so I went back to re-read the paragraph and didn’t gain anymore answers - which was thrilling! It’s like a dreamy haze in the middle of events, a mirror of Fitz own experience and I in turn cherish the experience. Hobb has endeared me to her completely, I ordered the last Farseer book before I finished this one as well as the first Tawny Man. 

The game of cat and mouse and lies and keeping a straight face and restraint and all that is tops, I love love love tension and paranoia in media even though it destroys me in my real life.

Where the heck do we go from here though omg

Fitz

This guy

What’s almost completely unbelievable about Fitz isn’t his magic mental walls and wolf brother and ax wielding assassin resume, that shit makes sense in well placed, paced, and intentful context.

What (almost) makes Fitz unbelievable is his introspective-to-extrospctive ability.

Example: 

Fitz being able to acknowledge the pain he put Molly through for the benefit of no one else without being prodded by anyone one else; understanding that he used her, hurt her, and didn’t listen to her, coming to that truth all on his own is completely phenomenal. 

I’m glad Fitz realizes all this, that Hobb is compelled to explain unseen social male transgression/aggression- she doesn’t want her readers to think Fitz and Molly’s parting is romantic or entirely one parties “fault” and I applaud that. 

She pulls it off, but oh man it gets close, it gets really close at times. 

Fitzy’s life blows lol

I felt bad for him, that he got stuffed back into his body. Things went south so bad for him and the outlook ahead is so vast and steep there was a real part of me that was like “No, just... just let him hunt. Leave the poor bastard alone.”

Burrich

I cry

This is my favorite man

Burrich needs hugs

Ya know what’s great though? 

I’m eh on the reveal about Burrich/Patience/Chivalry but thankful at the same time. ‘Cause it’s a love triangle sure but from the much more interesting perspective of being over with by the time I learn of it and I appreciated that.  

Burrich is a very slow burn of a character isn’t he? I think that’s why I like him so much, he is someone I think we’re going to keep learning about along with seeing him react to events and survive and all that. 

Best part of the book hands down was when Molly was like “Yeah the ladies love Burrich” and Fitz is like “Wha duuur why?” 

pfft 

Prince Verity

I love you Verity

Where Shrewd didn’t take any risks Verity has taken many, and good for him. 

I mean, it hasn’t really worked out for him so far but you know, good on him for taking action 

Verity is a character I actually really, really like. He is a warm glow whose presence is sturdy and reassuring not just to Fitz but to myself. I want him to pull through and succeed almost more than Fitz does I think!

Hang in there Verity! 

Please don’t make me cry, fuck

Prince Regal

Alright

I know I’ve only read two books into this series and then Liveship Traders but the pattern I’ve peaked into thus far is that Hobb’s villains are acutely frustrating and not just with their machinations, oh no; Regal and Kennit’s grasps for power are understandable, it’s their obliviousness that causes, me at least, to look-up-from-the-page-to-stare-into-the-office-camera.

Granted Kennit could see some of the wider picture, more so than Regal, but both are still incredibly short sighted for being so overly ambitious - and are undoubtedly that way by design.  

Because that’s one of the biggest markers of selfish people. 

And that’s ultimately the baseline evil of Regal, he is just selfish. 

I know I’m suppose to probably be repulsed by Regal but I’m not. I can’t honestly pinpoint what it is about him I like. 

That’s a lie, I can 

I like Regal as a character because he is a bit wild. This story is all secrecy and plots and trying to be steps ahead of magic and schemes and shadows and doubts and in the mist of it all is this overgrown toddler with no sense of tact or skill (or Skill, haha) but there he is anyways twirling a baton of destruction and chaos. 

He’s a professional competent moron! 

And I enjoy his use in the narrative. 

I can’t believe he wants to inherent a scorched earth though, come on Regal open your eyes 

Lady Patience

Oh sweet Lady Patience

She is a great character

Her ability to be perceptive and subtle is better than Chade’s or Fitz’s or anyone elses but at the same time she is off the mark more often than not

which is such a great contrast for a character to have, love her to bits.

I really hope she is in the next book a lot more - oh and Lacy! I love Lacy. She looks like Jasminka Antonenko in my head.

Chade

What’s fascinating is I spent the book waiting for Chade to betray Fitz.

The idea of the Pox Man being an omen withing the narrative struck too deep for me, a over analytical reader. 

I wasn’t actively reading thinking to myself “He’s going to betray him! He’s going to do it!”

Naw

But a little subconscious nagging, a little pause before continuing his scenes perceived and followed Chade around my experience reading.

I believe the often reiterated Pox Man myth in this book is meant to coincide with Chade’s appearance, that the Pox Man hovers above disaster and implies doom but Chade is true and loyal; a debunking of the world’s superstition for the reader. 

Chade is still mysterious and I think he’ll always put me on edge a little bit but I’ve grown fond of him. 

King Shrewd

A shady mofo up until the very end.

Shrewd plotted like how I play chess; badly.

He sat on his tools for to long, he didn’t take risks or defended peices - in a lot of ways he seemed to be a lot like Royal to be completely honest, just fortunate enough to be the actual king. 

If he weren’t king though...

That might be a bit unfair, Shrewd was a bit vague for me.

Kettricken

I’m frustrated on Kettriken’s behalf

Her strength is unfathomable to me

She needs to be allowed to loose her shit

I’m stressed out for her, I’m frustrated for her, she is so quick and smart and talented and is just wasted within her situation and the way things work in the keep and society and ugghghghgh

Be safe my Queen!

The Fool 

What a precious little bean

Confounding and irritating at times but a soft soul trying their best

I won’t allow anything to happen to them

Still kind of annoyed with them on occasion though

You may notice I am using gender neutral pronouns because I think we’ve been given enough clues that the Fool is outside of Fitz’s understand of many things including the constant use of “him”. 

Very interested in that but I doubt it will be a focus in this next book if ever

In the mean time though I hope the Fool is with Kettricken or somewhere safe. I hope they become more coherent and consistent for their own sake and maybe start to do and act for themselves instead of exclusively for others. 

Molly

You go do you baby, don’t look back

Get the fuck outta dodge 

Don’t take this the wrong way but I hope I don’t see you again any time soon

I love you but you gotta move on, be the sane one, sever ties and float away 

I believe in you

Kisses

xoxo