Wow. This is a big call, and I might get into trouble for saying this coz it's 'just fantasy' but this is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, and the Fool is one of the most beautiful characters I will ever meet. 'Nuff said. ( )

Pre09:

Well, at least it went out with a bang. I liked the travel to the ice island. The action was solid and the villains were inventive. ( )

Skillmaster and the Dragon.

The quest for the dragon involves some perilous and arduous sea travel and other journeying, which many of this party are not particularly sorted too. Fitz, as Skillmaster has a few problems on his hands, least of which is the actual reason behind this trip to start with, and what the Fool is really up to.

Another fine book, but I think a few people are going to be annoyed by the Fitz/Fool resolution, if you can call it that.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/10... ( )

The Tawny Man series winds to a close and it's a bittersweet moment. Knowing that the series has wound up is bitter but the path is sweet. I avoided reading this for a while because I was enjoying the journey so much.

Fitz is still trying to train the kings coterie. Finds that one of his old mentor's children has run away to join the royal army and embrace his Wit abilities. Fitz is going to accompany the prince while he tries to fullfil his mission to kill the dragon to win the hand of his promised bride and everyone seems to have different plans.

Although everything is wrapped up, it did leave room for more, though I'm not sure that more wouldn't spoil the feeling of finality and my enjoyment of the series. The stories are well-crafted and each book stands on it's own, to be complemented by it's companions. A series to return to occasionally to refresh your palette and remind yourself how good fantasy can be. ( )

The final volume of The Tawny Man.

This was a wonderful conclusion to an amazing series… but, as is typical with Hobb’s work, it’s more geared towards those who enjoy character-driven stories than fans of flashy plots. The main plot with the dragon wraps up a good two hundred and fifty pages before the book ends; the rest is concerned with how Fitz deals with the aftermath.

And it is absolutely heartwrenching. I didn’t cry quite as much as I expected to, but I certainly engaged in my fair share of wretched sobbing. There are some really painful moments here. I’m leery of saying too much for fear of giving spoilers, but readers should be prepared to go to hell and back with these characters.

I am a little iffy on part of the ending, though; as the previous reviewer mentioned, it seems to go against the direction these characters were heading in. There were also a few things, (such as Fitz’s Skill addiction), that were overlooked or abandoned along the way, and it would’ve been nice to see a bit more about what was going on with the Six Duchies and their Old Blood conflicts while the main protagonists were off in the Outislands. If this series and the Farseer books have one main flaw, it’s that Hobb is restricted to Fitz’s perspective. The Liveship Traders books proved that she is adept at juggling multiple storylines and ultimately bringing them together in a way that fits. Since everything here had to be filtered through Fitz, some of the various plotlines suffered.

Overall, though, this was wonderful. After I’d finished, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I still can’t. This is a book – a whole series, in fact – that’ll stay with me for a long, long time. I can’t recommend Robin Hobb highly enough. ( )