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Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, Book 1)
First published 2002 · 688 pages
A deeply intimate, autumnal return to a beloved world that will slowly and masterfully break your heart.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like sitting by a hearth fire with an old, weary friend, listening to them recount a tale of reluctant duty and profound love. The narrative unfolds with a steady, deliberate grace, immersing you entirely in the protagonist's rich interior life and the quiet rhythms of his isolated existence before pulling him back into the treacherous currents of court politics. It is an autumnal, deeply melancholic experience, steeped in nostalgia and the heavy weight of past traumas. The prose is exquisite and unhurried, demanding patience but rewarding it with some of the most intensely realized character bonds in fantasy. It is a book for those who read to feel deeply, offering a beautiful, devastating exploration of loyalty, aging, and the agonizing cost of destiny.
- Mood
- autumnal
- nostalgic
- emotionally heavy
- cozy yet shadowed
- Tone
- introspective
- melancholic
- earnest
- bittersweet
- intimate
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the burden of duty · profound friendship · aging and the passage of time · grief and healing · animal companionship
- The writing
- Richly detailed and deeply interior, prioritizing the protagonist's psychological landscape over rapid-fire action.
- The arc
- Moves from a quiet, isolated contentment into reluctant duty, culminating in profound, heart-wrenching loss.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave lifelong character attachments and do not mind having their hearts slowly broken by exquisite, character-driven fantasy.
Content notes
- animal death
- profound grief
- depression
- violence
About the book
Robin Hobb has emerged as one of today's foremost fantasy authors. Now she continues the adventures of one of her most popular heroes in the first book of what promises to be her most spectacular trilogy yet. Fool's ErrandFor fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony--thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse. But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.From the Paperback edition.
Description from Open Library.
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