I love Bee.

Fool's Assassin is such a unique book imo. Most of it is simply about Fitz's daily life in Withywoods, yet its so darn beautiful.

I loved this one so much. Adding Bee to the narrative was a genious move from Hobb.

"this trilogy is probably the best" couldnt agree more. "this entry is a contender for the best entry in the series" yas. "i loved it" *slams like button half a million times*

Just finished this one and was so happy to find this awesome review! What an incredible book 1 and reset, and you nailed it with the intimate and quiet gothic horror feel of this thing while still feeling fast paced and full of complex character work. AND THE NEW MAIN CHARACTER!!! What an incredible surprise that was, and she immediately became a new favorite. The climax and ending was harrowing indeed, just a killer ending and cliffhanger

I wanted the first half of the book to never end. You nailed it when you said it has some horror elements to it. I knew something was gonna happen and was just waiting for it. The tension was slowly building. Despite anticipating something happening, when that moment in the middle of the book played out, I was devastated. The small slice of life moments in the first book were some of my favorites in the while trilogy. Can't wait for the spoiler discussion because there is so much that happens.

Fool’s assassin being better than fools errand and ship of magic is a big statement. Cant wait to finish rain wild and get back into fitz journey

Nice set up, pretty cool map. Love your channel, keep it coming.

No surprise, I loved this as well! Jimmy, you've made me need to go and read them all again! Your insights are just brilliant. Looking forward to your review for Fool's Quest, which made me cry like nothing else. Will

Great review! I like the new setup, a casual communion with the Nuttgod, ;-) I love the feeling of this book, it's like the calm before the storm and it's great to see Fitz in a relatively peaceful time for a change. The way everything starts to go downhill for Fitz after a certain event was heart-breaking. And yeah the new POV is just stellar. It's amazing how fast you get attached to the character.

Yay, the reviews! You do look far more comfortable in this set up. Yes, a great deal of Fool's Assassin is a 'slice of life', and I love it every time. Very much like the beginning of Fool's Errand, I think it's a perfect way to 'catch up' with what Fitz has been doing in the years since our last view of him. **mildest of spoilers - avoided where possible** To find him living the life he never dreamed he could have, to keep him company as he went about his days, to watch as he took part in his own life, was a wonderful balm to the soul - which, let's face it, is just getting us lined up for the next Robin Hobb sucker punch. The off-screen event, yes, aggravates me to this day, I feel outraged that I could miss such a vital event - and I do mean *I* feel, because it's absolutely a personal attack, aimed directly at me, how could I not have been there?! - that's how much I feel I deserved to 'know' about it. The on-screen event, clarified where I stood about that character, because my main emotion was tied to how Fitz was reacting, rather than to the event itself. I WANTED TO SHAKE FITZ SO OFTEN - I mean, I'm used to him needing a hint to get him thinking in the right direction, but JEEZ! How oblivious was he?! About ALL THE THINGS! My first read through had me shouting out loud at him "OMG FITZ YOU'RE A F*%KING MORON" And you now see why I have re-read so often - the first RE-read, is almost as good as reading it the first time - you get so many more layers the next go 'round. Looking forward to the next two reviews, and VERY excited for the spoiler chat.

Love the new filming setup!

Thanks for the exhilarating video. I just finished Fool's Assasin. Strangely enough it was my first Hobb book. I'm making a habit of long walks with audiobooks, and i just run into my native Finnish language translation and audio reading of the novel. Translation is solid and the narrators for Fitz and Bee are really good. Having re-read Gene Wolfe's Severian books just a month ago I felt like comparing these two great fantasy weavers. Wolfe is genius, but Hobb is in a league of her own in her handling of the reader's emotions. I literally wept many times when the story spilled out slowly. A middle-aged heavyset man hiking around a small Finnish town in tears of love for literal skill and cunning yarn. Started the second part today. And to know there are a dozen more books still to be explored in the series. Being a writer myself the only regret is that this stuff halts my own work. Too good, too damn interesting to learn from. Bruised but happy.

Great review! I agree 100 percent that this is in the running for best Elderlings book. Like most people, I think Rain Wilds is the worst Elderlings series (I still like it but as we know the other Hobb books are on a different level). After just reading the prologue and first chapter of Fool's Assassin I knew I was back to the Hobb I love. Her prose has always been great but I thought this was her best written yet. As you said, it was like every sentence is packed full of so much emotion. It was almost hard to read at times because of the constant emotional intensity. I think I really like the slower Fitz books because this and Fool's Errand are my two favorites so far. I just started Assassin's Fate and I already know I'm not ready!

I dig the setup! Feels like a cozy book club chat. Kind of funny for a booktube video to have no book shelves in the background though. One might say it... subverts the genre? man Fools Assassin is so good. So many great new characters, the setting of Withywoods, all of it.

Fool's Assassin is my second favourite book after Assassin's Fate. Bee was such a fantastic addition to this book, love the slow build of Fitz and Bee's relationship, so good. Structurally this series, on the whole feels like a callback to Farseer. The first book being coming of age (this time of Bee), the third book being a voyage etc. Very cyclical.

So glad you enjoyed it :) always love your reviews. Can't wait for the spoiler one!

I like the new setup, more casual and laid back feel. I get what people mean by not much happening in terms of the overarching lore, but I agree with everything you said in this review (as usual!) - I still found the story super compelling and could not put the book down. (I may have finished it faster than any other book in RotE). I wasn't sure how I could both understand it as 'slow' and yet also be constantly hungry to keep reading, but I think you explained why well. There IS a lot happening when it comes to the character development, the relationship development, the reflection on past events within the series, and how all three of those things are intertwined. Something interesting I've been thinking about (which y'all have sorta touched on in the live discussions) is how different people can (paradoxically) see the same book as slow or fast, and I feel it has to do with their expectations going in. In particular, my theory is that based on the titles and 'blurbs' at the back of the book, people set certain expectations and feel the book as slow when that does not happen. I felt this when I read the blurb at the back of Fool's Errand which said something about the Fool sending Fitz on some mission (which the title also implies), and because of that, I felt the beginning of the book was quite slow. In hindsight, if I had not read the blurb on the back and didn't think about the title too much, I prolly woulda felt better. In Rain Wilds, a lot of reviews mention the first book as being slow. I remember reading one which explicitly mentioned that what's written on the back of the book (about characters becoming dragon keepers or something like that) only happens at the end of the book, and thus they disliked the story for being slow. I purposefully didn't read the back of Dragon Keeper initially and I did not feel it was slow at all, just the usual Hobb taking time to build up characters, and enjoyed it quite a lot. However if I HAD read that blurb, I probably woulda felt that pacing a lot more. I definitely learned this lesson with Fool's Assassin. I didn't read the blurb at all, and I also realized that the TITLE set certain expectations and I had to try to push back those expectations. Basically (sorta spoilery), I think people feel it is slow if they are waiting for the Fool himself to show up, and this is how the title of both this book and this subseries is... misleading. (Though arguments could be that the title 'Fool's Assassin' has quite a few interpretations in the context of the entire story... It only seems more and more clever the more I think about it, would love to hear y'all talking about it more in the live discussion!) PS I'm halfway through Assassin's Fate right now, and I just don't want the series to be over :'( I'm planning on lining up the time that I finish Assassin's Fate to come out right around the time your review of the final book comes out (or the live discussion happens). I'm reading all the short stories first to delay the ending as much as I can, and the Willful Princess / Piebald Prince ones are really good! Definitely recommend reading those (though I know you'll prolly read em all anyway). Will you do a 'whole series' review afterwards to wrap up everything?

I loved all the quiet time at Withywoods. (Mild spoilers for very beginning!) It was so amazing to see Fitz living his best life with Molly like how he always wanted. I already loved Molly since her wit-bees incident, so I was so glad to see her happy with Fitz. One line, no context: "Chivalry! There you are!" And cue the waterworks. 😭

I saw another booktubber who was complimenting Hobb's world-building I think, then a few days later saw a signed copy of "Forest Mage" at the bookstore. Not a fan of fantasy, but a huge sucker for autographs, and got it and the first book in the series. Look forward to giving her books a try.

I can’t wait for your live stream!!!

I was so nervous when I heard Hobb would be returning to Fitz's story after so many years. How do you follow up Tawny Man? It was the ultimate trust fall and she caught me. I never should have doubted her. Glad you enjoyed it as well! SPOILERS BELOW . . . . . . . . The scene that sold me on Bee is where she's helping Fitz burn the messenger's body. Fitz is stressed about exposing his daughter to such a thing and then we get Bee's perspective and she's just excited her father trusts her with this grown up task and isn't scared at all. A great moment for her character and it adds depth to see Fitz from someone else's eyes.

jimmy you convinced me to give realm of the elderlings a go; reading after The 2nd Apocalypse i was sceptical after the first book but with how you talked about the series I carried on through. If I read this Story a few years ago i would've DNF the series but Fitzs character made me want to continue; rain wilds really made me consider a DNF but slogged through and go to say just finished bees first chapter and so glad I continued with the story. Nothing ive ever read has hit me as hard as ' And then she died '. Im not an emotional person but man that chapter hits hard. glad I kept faith with your recommendation. hoping fitz gets the ending he deserves.

Late to the party! Oh god, I just finished Tawney Man, to hear your take that Futz and the Fool is even better has me stoked! Will try to not read Rain Wilds just to get through it and actually enjoy the journey

Nice review! I also loved this book, although probably not as much as the three Tawny Man books. I really enjoyed seeing how the psychological effects of what Fitz went through in the earlier series continue to impact him even when he's living the life he supposedly always dreamed of. Now I'm really curious about what the 'off-screen' event is because I honestly can't think of what it is

This book is my favourite in this trilogy, but Tawny Man is still my fav overall🙂 Yes, the dog scene was brutal but it really shows just how amazing Fitz is 😎 Can't wait for the spoiler discussion!

Yes to everything! Think this is my favorite entry in the whole series. The only way it could've been better is if THAT thing you mentioned happened on-screen and was as beautifully done as that OTHER thing, but alas. I hadn't made that connection to the gothic horror elements before but it's spot on! Sure it's slow, but I flew through it. To me SO MUCH was happening in regards to Fitz reevaluating his relationships both past and present, and you could feel it building and building to a very satisfying climax. I mean come on, it's Fitz! As long we're in his dumb unreliable head I'm content.

I can totally see where people who say nothing happens in this book are coming from but even tho it is a slow start i just could not put it down. I completely agree with you about Chade.

This is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. What is really unique about this is that almost 90% of the story takes place inside a single manor and its grounds. I have a fascination for old houses and mysterious passages within them, so I really enjoyed this book. Also the story was just beautiful, lot of love but also heartache and suffering and twists all rolled into one.

As long as the background stays purple you're good, friend.

Omg i was literally ugly crying out loud last night at the end of tawny men, it totally makes sense how you wanna go back and re read i miss burrich so much i want to even hear him scolding fitz about small things 😭.

This was without question my favorite book in the whole series!

Like the back ground 😁

I really like this video set up a lot, it seems more personable. How you can lean back and rest your arm out feels like just chilling with a friend and brings a more relaxed aesthetic and conveys body language and your emotions more than the floating head set up. Not that that was bad either, just saying this way is nicer in my opinion. :)

Omggg i was so scared to start this book this morning. I felt as if i read i would mess up the happiness at the end of tawny men for fitz...does that make me his changer😅🤗😜😜

Im still in the first trilogy but cannot wait to reach your level . set is cool very casual i like it.however i miss my Twoiaf but im biased😁🤓

Jimmy is an old men 82 yrs , 6 months and 3 days, he just figured out how to use the old skill scrolls

hmm, I like the lighting and the map, but it's hard to fuck with the bookshelves the bookshelves are just so pretty.

I've been a huge Hobb fan since my mid-teens (I'm in my thirties now), but for some reason I never started reading this last Elderlings trilogy until only this summer (maybe I kept putting it off for so long because the idea of finally reading the ending of Fitz's and Fool's story was too painful? idk) ANYWAY. I pretty much agree with you on all your points here, definitely enjoyed the "slower" slice-of-life elements of this book, teared up/bawled my eyes out every twenty pages or so, just from all the emotional pay-off, and the ending hit me like punch to the gut in the best way possible. I just started reading the final third book yesterday, and I'm equal parts terrified and excited to see this story to the end.

Framing the map in those cool l.e.d. lights everyone has would be cool.

Don't want to spoil anything. Loved the books, all of them. My number 1 story and number 1 author. The video setup is much better than before ;) Just wanted to say, for the later spoiler discussion, please don't hold back. I feel like you all sometimes still try to avoid spoilers there but it just makes it harder to follow for people who read the books a while back. Please talk freely, spoilers and all :)

I gotta come back.... still making my way through Liveships.

Setup is a nice change, bruh.

On the Couch, starring Jimmy Nutts

This setup provides a better look at beefcake Jimmy and I’m all for it 👍

My favourite scene of maybe the whole series was SPOILERS FOR FA ||fitz tearing that vile dog breeder to shreds. You could really feel the impact when fitz jumps in 'ruins the mans face in one punch' and fucking chucks him. Yes! yes! yes! I would do something similar if in the situation, but you can really feel the wolf in fitz showing in this scene. 15/10||

So I am mainly a audiobook “reader” and this has killed me since the book was released. The choice that they made to use Elliot Hill as the narrator what the worst choice by far out of any of the other narrators. I find that I can not enjoy this trilogy at all and I know this is not just my opinion either. He takes me completely out of the story. It’s just sad because I love the others and I just feel like I am forcing myself through with him. The ending of this trilogy in particular I know should have gutted me but I didn’t even shed a tear because I was so far removed from the story because of the narration. Ugh Also, love the new more laid back set for sure!

This book was imbued throughout with 'dread' and made me extremely uncomfortable right up to the final scenes.

Bee

Tons of emotional scenes.