Assassin's Quest

In an unexpected turn of events, The Farseer Trilogy improved in its final volume. I wouldn't say Assassin's Quest was good though, just better. And the book definitely doesn't begin as such: I would compare the misery of the experience to watching Logan which I truly hated.

Each of the novels has been bigger than the previous, this final one reaching for 1000 pages in the Finnish paperback print. Around page 400 or so I started to be ready to abandon the book if Fitz would get captured even one more time for more beatings. And of course he got captured once more. But still I soldiered on -- I guess leaving the trilogy unfinished at that point would have been too much against my completionist nature.

Assassin's Quest begins with Fitz having survived dying. Regal has crowned himself as the king and everyone opposing him has scattered around the lands, the rightful king Verity still somewhere searching for the mythical Elderlings to save the realm. Fitz finds himself without orders and decides to go after Regal. That goes about as well as is to be expected from him.

Verity uses magic-powered suggestion on Fitz to command the aspiring assassin to leave his doomed-to-failure attempt and to come to him. Fitz is eventually able to shake off his pursuers and join friendlier people on a quest to finally find Verity.

Fitz became more bearable when he got around people who can watch over him and prevent him from doing stupid things. Such an amazingly inept protagonist that somehow manages to stay as such over three books.

The ending reminded me of the endings of Brandon Sanderson's Elantris and Warbreaker: a magical power is finally unlocked and it quickly solves all problems. I didn't find it very satisfying. Then again, satisfying is not really the word to describe anything in the trilogy. Fitz does gets his revenge on Regal but not via killing him but in a... I guess ultimate more useful way. Fitz gets no chance to gloat or receive recognition for his efforts, but maybe it's better for everyone that he secludes himself.

What I enjoyed were the chapter epigraphs although by this book I feel at least each subject they touch had been repeated at least once. Fitz's wolf companion Nighteyes whose animal behavior and thoughts were amusing as well. I recall Robert Jordan having done that better however.

But someone must be liking Robin Hobb's writings more than me since the Realm of the Enderlings series has kept getting published for so long. I personally have had enough of it for the foreseeable future.