Fool's Fate

The Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 3

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Nick Taylor

The triumphant conclusion to the Tawny Man trilogy, from the author of the bestselling Farseer and Liveship Traders trilogies.

The moving end to the tale of the Farseers, in which kingdoms must stand or fall on the beat of a dragon's wings, or a Fool's heart.

A small and sadly untried coterie – the old assassin Chade, the serving-boy Thick, Prince Dutiful, and his reluctant Skillmaster, Fitz – sail towards the distant island of Aslevjal. There they must fulfil the Narcheska’s challenge to her betrothed: to lay the head of the dragon Icefyre, whom legends tell is buried there deep beneath the ice, upon her hearth. Only with the completion of this quest can the marriage proceed, and the resulting alliance signal an end to war between the two kingdoms.

It is not a happy ship: tensions between the folk of the Six Duchies and their traditional enemies, the Outislanders, lie just beneath the surface. Thick is constantly ill, and his random but powerful Skilling has taken on a dark and menacing tone, while Chade’s fascination with the Skill is growing to the point of obsession.

Having ensured that his beloved friend the Fool is safely left behind in Buckkeep, Fitz is guilt-stricken; but he is determined to keep his fate at bay, since prophecy foretells the Fool’s death if he ever sets foot on the isle of the black dragon. But as their ship draws in towards Aslevjal a lone figure awaits them…

©2003 Robin Hobb (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

“Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers… what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics.” ( The Times)

“Robin Hobb writes achingly well” ( SFX)

“Even better than the Assassin books. I didn’t think that was possible” (George R R Martin)

Nice ending

Nice, a bit predictable ending, but it made me feel all nice and smiling. A truly "and they lived happily ever after" ending.
Great narrator, transmitting the right feelings in his voice.
I'm looking forward to what's next.

good shit

good narration, lovely story. nice quality in the production. i recomend this over the other version

Beautiful Narration

Best narration. I thoroughly enjoyed the series. The story is excellent. Sadly the Farseer trilogy narrator almost put me off continuing, glad I followed through.

Terrible quality production

This is yet another totally brilliant series by Robin Hobb, building perfectly on the previous Liveship Traders and Assassin series.

But the audio editors left MANY instances of repeated lines often with the narrator giving a sigh of frustration before starting the line again.

The first time gave me a giggle, but it happens repeatedly throughout the book as though the editing job was rushed. By the end I felt truly annoyed. I've not had an audio book from here with so many issues like this.

I hope it will be re-edited. Robin Hobb books so rock and Nick is a fair narrator.

Wonderful trilogy - I will miss my Fitz

I love this book as I love the whole trilogy and all of the stories about Fitz and the Fool and all of their friends. The story about them now being finished, I will miss them and they leave a hole in my heart.
I feel Fitz is a very relatable and real person, a real character as he has many faults and more often than not does things opposite of what you would like.
I hope I'll get to read more about Fitz in the future.

Wonderful extension of the farseer trilogy

Great story. and it took it's time to unwind and finish which was nice. No need for cliffhangers.

I love the book it self

But the quality of the sound becomes weird from time to time it goes up and down in volume and gets a bad quality to it. The pause between chapters could also have been better

Nice follow up

Fills in gaps and ties up loose ends. Builds nicely on the previous trilogy. The plot also thickens.

Slow burn like ember fire

Full of losses and one truly frustrating character - the Pale Woman. So well written and performed, I think I haven't hated any character more before. Not even Regal.

Nevertheless, a brilliant book, finally giving some piece of happiness to a main character.

My heart is healed

Lovely and gripping read. Enjoyed the whole journey with Fitz and the Fool. Definitely characters I will carry with me forever