Hobb, Robin - Fool's Fate

[oyceter]

I want to go back! Read it too fast, and now all I want to do is luxuriate in a reread of the trilogy.

And all I can think of right now is: the Fool went away! He wasn't supposed to go away, he was supposed to go off with Fitz and.. I don't know. Do something. But together. Waaaaah!

And Fitz brought him back and oh his poor back and the mind touches without barriers and then I'm supposed to be happy because he goes off and marries Molly, who I never cared that much about anyway, after the thing with the Fool and how is that supposed to match up anyway?

Guh.

And Burrich! Cried when they finally met and Burrich says that when Fitz is hurt all he can think of is a six year old boy and his promise to Chivalry.

Glad Elliania and Dutiful like each other, because I liked the Narcheska.

There may be more coherent thoughts on healing and on things going right and scars disappearing (even the fingerprints! Did those reeeaally have to go away?) and things coming back (mmm, scene with Girl on Dragon) later.

But... oh, the poor Fool in the hands of the Pale Woman and Fitz has to find him like that.

Ouch, I still hurt.

Links:
- rachelmanija's review

Comments

[angeyja.livejournal.com]

oh dear...thanks for the FYI.

[ebonbird.livejournal.com]

It's out? It's out?! It'soutit'soutit'sout?!!!!??
I'm off to get it - today!!!!!

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

Finishing that story makes my heart ache - both for the story and the knowledge that I'll never read it with the same amount of fear, love, dread, and heart-pounding fascination as I did this time.

Fitz. The Fool. I wanted...so much for them and what I wanted most didn't happen. Still, in some ways, I think it was the perfect ending for them. Both of them now existed in a place outside prophecies and visions. The future was now finally a thing no one could know. The Fool's place in the stream of time was now completely changed and although I *hate* it, I do think it was right for him to withdraw and allow things to come around full circle for Fitz.

The taking of the fingerprints and the lack of a final goodbye were so, so painful and, again, fitting in a way I think only Hobb could make happen. It would have truly been awful or heavy-handed in another writer's hands.

And it is full circle because even though - as he says - he never wore the crown, he was still a king. He was the Sacrifice and lived as such. For him to wholly give himself over to that, he had to allow himself to merge who he was (Tom Badgerlock) with who he was meant to be (FitzChivalry Farseer).

Oh god...so many perfect emotional little moments. So much weight in the words and actions.

Dammit. I'm crying again.

[oyceter]

*hugs*

I know. I think that was the biggest thing Fitz could give the Fool, giving him an existence that wasn't just the White Prophet. And oh, the scene when he gets his old memories and pain back from Girl on Dragon and the Fool... ow.

And I so understand why the Fool left -- the comparison with Nighteyes and his lostness and having to find himself through himself instead of through Fitz.

I love how Fitz has about everything that was slowly and painfully stripped away from him in the first trilogy -- his first love, his child, respect, and a willingness to go on again.

But oh, that final severing with the Fool still hurt. And I somehow think they'll see each other again, because now that's the one thing for Fitz that is still incomplete.

Re:

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

In one sense, the last book is a huge emotional payoff. But the things that happen to make that so just...like you say, ow.

And I so understand why the Fool left -- the comparison with Nighteyes and his lostness and having to find himself through himself instead of through Fitz.

Yup. And the fact that there was now no need for them to continue the roles they'd assumed for so long. The Fool's insistence on pulling himself away from Fitz so that they could both have futures was so painful and yet one of the greatest acts of love he could give to Fitz.

I love how Fitz has about everything that was slowly and painfully stripped away from him in the first trilogy -- his first love, his child, respect, and a willingness to go on again.

He became king in all but name until Dutiful finally took over, I think. As far as what came back to him? When he and Burrich first saw each other again, I cried (I did that a lot with this book :)). When he holds Nettle and notes that it's the first time he's ever held his daughter in his life, I teared up.

Patience cracked me up with that "You can get me sixteen years, mister!" line of hers.

But oh, that final severing with the Fool still hurt. And I somehow think they'll see each other again, because now that's the one thing for Fitz that is still incomplete.

Cried. Buckets. Oh, I so want them to see each other again! But I don't think it would be until after Molly's death (considering what the Fool said to Fitz) or until Fitz himself was dying. I refuse to believe that the Fool and Fitz will never see or hold each other again.

"I have never been wise." That's right up there with "Beloved, I have missed your company" and Burrich's cry of "You're not dead!" from the end of Royal Assassin.

Re:

[oyceter]

Giant emotional payoff! And not just of this trilogy, but it's a huge emotional payoff of the other two as well. So impressed with all the detail laid in from the beginning and how it all works out and with the knowledge that while this would have been heartrending nonetheless, it's even more so because we've been immersed in the world for nine books. Ha. I bet Robert Jordan wishes he could do that ;).

I remember not being all that emotional when the two dragons finally mated, despite knowing it was the Fool's goal all along, but when Fitz goes back, waterworks. The entire way through. Especially when Fitz just starts calling the Fool "my Fool" and Beloved, and then again when the Fool asks him to stop.

Definitely think the Fool and Fitz meeting again won't happen for a while -- think now the Fool needs to figure out himself as well, almost like what Fitz was doing. The Fool seems to be at the kind of point Fitz was at after Royal Assassin. Hee, but the fanficcer in me is thinking of scenarios and remembering that the Skill prolongs lifespans (Kettle!) and wondering if Fitz will go find the Fool after Fitz's family is grown up and Molly is gone. Has a nice sort of symmetry for me. I will make up scenarios in my head to comfort myself, because the book is still lodged in my heart and nothing right now feels quite as real as the Six Duchies.

Re:

[thewildmole.livejournal.com]

*snort* Robert Jordan wishes he could write anything other than "she tugged her braid and smoothed her skirt".

...because the book is still lodged in my heart and nothing right now feels quite as real as the Six Duchies.

I feel the same way. I didn't even turn on the car stereo on the way home because I didn't want to change the way I was feeling.

I went and checked her site and she says she "thinks" it's the last Fitz/Fool book, but that she thought that at the end of the Assassin series as well. She said that if an idea presented itself she would write it; however, she wouldn't write a Fitz/Fool book just for the sake of "branding". I'm going to hope for more since it took her five years to swing back around to the Six Duchies. But even if she does, that means it's gonna be a couple years.

I've already started re-reading Assassin's Apprentice...

And, hey, feel free to email me if you want to discuss any part of the book in detail *g*.

[oyceter]

Heh, sure thing.

Good pain, you know, the bittersweetness of Tigana type pain, but still pain.

[oyceter]

It's out!! Go forth, read! ;)

[ebonbird.livejournal.com]

I read it. Finished it a few days ago. Did you cry? I cried. So many times. And I agree about Tigana hurt, only, Tigana even ended with hurt and even though Fitz and Fool separated, I'm reminded of how much mature of selfless Fool was. He would be the friend Nighteyes would have been.

[oyceter]

I cried so much! So did thewildmole.

And at least there wasn't the same level of Tigana hurt, re: Dianora.

Of course, I also have giant visions in my head of Fitz and the Fool meeting up sometime very much later, or something ^_^. I think I cried pretty much every time Fitz had to reconcile with his past (Burrich told him to come home!) and lost it when he found the Fool in the caves.