The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
Rate and review The Golden Fool! | What does everyone else think?
The Golden Fool is the second book in Robin Hobb’s The Tawny Man series. First published in Great Britain by Voyager in 2002.
Fitz has succeeded in rescuing Prince Dutiful from the clutches of the Piebald rebels. But once again the cost of protecting the Farseer line has been dear: Nighteyes is dead.
A grieving and reluctant Fitz is assigned to protect Fitz and, at the urging of the mercurial old assassin, Chade, take on the mantle of Skillmaster. But Fitz’s efforts to locate Skill-users for Dutiful’s coterie attract some unlikely, and potentially dangerous, recruits…
Kettricken’s plans to marry Prince Dutiful to the Outislander Princess, Elliania, can now proceed, securing a lasting peace with the former enemies of the Six Duchies. But before Elliania will accept, she challenges Dutiful to undertake an impossible quest. He must travel to the Out Islands and slay a legendary Outislander dragon.
Fool’s Errand was a great beginning to a trilogy, it shared much with Assassin’s Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy) in that it set the scene, introduced (or re-introduced) the characters and created a perfect platform for the rest of the series. I started the second book, The Golden Fool, hoping that there may be happiness and a well-deserved peace for Fitz, but very much doubting that it was on its way, at least not until the third and final book.
The prologue is called Losses Sustained and the opening of The Golden Fool deals with the loss that Fitz feels following the loss of his bond beast Nighteyes. There is also a sense of loss for the reader; the departure of Nighteyes leaves the series without one of its major characters, a gap which new characters such as Dutiful, Hap and Jianna simply do not fill to the same degree. The opening three hundred pages are OK but not as exciting and enthralling as you would hope. It is then, however, that two trilogies collide. The Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders are separate series set in the same world. Suddenly, the major players from Bingtown (The Liveship Traders) appear in Buckkeep and the events of the two stories are like two great rivers meeting and forming a great lake.
The scaled lad advanced a step closer to the Queen. Chade made a motion to forbid it, but the boy merely dropped to one knee. He looked up at her as he spoke. ‘I beg forgiveness if I have given offence. I speak only of what I know. As you have said, I am young. But it is Tintaglia who has told us, with great sadness, that she is the last true dragon in the world. If it were otherwise, I would rejoice to bring her these tidings. Please. Let me see your dragons, let me speak to them. I will explain to them her need.
The first 300 pages, as I have already said, did not set my pulse racing. It is not often that a fantasy story will stay in one location (Buckkeep) for so long. The “quest” has long been a pre-requisite, perhaps a cliché also, but its main advantage is of moving the story along and introducing the reader to new locations. However, once the politics and domestic dramas of Buckkeep have been covered, Hobb gives the reader the excitement and adventure that they are waiting for.
There was time for the author to reacquaint us with an old and very dear friend in Burrich. This is a genuinely moving chapter, it still amazes me how attached you can become to an author’s creation. In Burrich, Robin Hobb gave us a person that all would like to know and it was lovely to see (read) him again and this event also opened up many more exciting possibilities for future stories.
The Golden Fool is another excellent book by Robin Hobb; the middle chapter of the trilogy sets up the story beautifully for the conclusion.
The Golden Fool: Book Two of the Tawny Man (Tawny Man 2) (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 712
Publication date: 2008-10-06
Publisher: HarperVoyager
RRP: £7.99
Lowest new price: £3.21
Lowest used price: £1.67
The Golden Fool, the second volume of Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy, is explicitly a sequel to both the Farseer and Liveship trilogies. The palace intrigues, which Fitz has found himself dragged back into, have as much to do with the politics of trade and conquest--the war between the Bingtown traders and their living ships and the theocratic bullies of Chalced--as with the oppression of the beast-speaking Witted by the majority and the terrorism of the Piebald faction among the Witted. Fitz has always been a deeply flawed hero--growing up as a royal bastard trained in assassination has not been good for his character--and his inability to understand how deeply he is loved upsets all the people around him.
One of Robin Hobb's strengths is her capacity to set up an interesting dialogue between metaphor and the literal; at both levels, The Golden Fool is a novel about moving through estrangement to reconciliation, about finding out the truth and then finding a way of living with it. This thoughtfulness means that, as always with Hobb, Fitz's role as tutor of a magically gifted prince, is as exciting as the book's occasional explosions of violence. --Roz Kaveney
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Golden Fool: Book Two of the Tawny Man (Tawny Man 2) (Amazon.com)
Author: Robin Hobb
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 712
Publication date: 2003-10-06
Publisher: HarperVoyager
RRP: $16.50
Lowest new price: $9.23
Lowest used price: $2.20
The second in the thrilling fantasy series returning readers to the Six Duchies and the magical world of the Farseers, from the author of the bestselling Assassin's Apprentice. Fitz has succeeded in rescuing Prince Dutiful from the clutches of the Piebald rebels, and has returned with him to Buckkeep castle. With Dutiful safe again, Queen Kettricken can proceed with plans to marry him to the Outislander princess, Elliania, but with tensions building among the peoples of the Six Duchies over Kettricken's tolerance of the Wittted, even Buckkeep is no longer safe. A reluctant Fitz is assigned to protect the young prince, and also train him in the Skill, and in doing so he finally makes contact not only with his estranged daughter, Nettle, but with someone in Buckkeep who may possess a greater Skill talent than Fitz. And who may represent a terrible threat to the Farseers. Meanwhile, Elliania arrives, and before she will accept Prince Dutiful's betrothal challenges him to undertake an impossible quest. He must kill a legendary Outislander dragon.
Product Description
Submit your own mini-review
Let people know what you think about The Golden Fool. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving The Golden Fool its overall rating that will decide where The Golden Fool finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.
Books you may also enjoy...
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. The Lord of the Rings is the best known as most enjoyed fantasy book of all time. If you have never read this, or The Hobbit before, then you are in for a real treat! ... read the full review
Summary: It is hard to put into words the happiness that can be felt when reading literature as good as this.
The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
The Earthsea Quartet brings together Ursula Le Guin’s four legendary Earthsea sagas for the first time in a single volume. ... read the full review
Summary: Stunning, thought-provoking fantasy.
The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
The Liveship Traders series continues with the second book, The Mad Ship. Althea Vestrit continues her quest to reclaim her rightful inheritance, the liveship Vivacia. The Vivacia has been seized by pirates led by the enigmatic Kennit, a man who believes that destiny leads him to become King of the Pirate Isles. The Vestrit family are nearing financial ruin which leads them closer to the mysterious Rain Wild Traders who own the ship. Amidst these events the mad ship, Paragon is once again launched despite the history of death and despair that surrounds him. ... read the full review
Summary: A spell-binding story full of wonderful characters and intrigue.
Also in this sub-genre...
- The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
- The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
- The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
- The Judging Eye by R Scott Bakker
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
- The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
- Magician by Raymond E Feist
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
- Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
- Lord Fouls Bane by Stephen Donaldson
- Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
- Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
- A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist
- The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin
- Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- The Illearth War by Stephen Donaldson
- Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
- The Power That Preserves by Stephen Donaldson
- Tales From Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
- Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb
- Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb
- The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
- Silver Mage by CM Debell
- Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb
- The Ice Crown by Sean Beech
- The High Lord by Trudi Canavan
- The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
- The House of the Stag by Kage Baker
- The Magicians Nephew by CS Lewis
- The Diamond Throne by David Eddings
- The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
- The Wounded Land by Stephen Donaldson
- The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien
- Jarrak’s Darkness by Colin R Parsons
- The Riddler’s Gift by Greg Hamerton
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- The Novice by Trudi Canavan
- Magyk by Angie Sage
- The Lost Barkscrolls by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
- Fire by Kristin Cashore
Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
Must-reads
The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.
Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled
Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
