The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb review // I am just rambling a lot

After finishing Liveship Traders, I almost immediately jumped on to reading the Tawny Man trilogy. I was missing Fitz and Buckkeep and I was so curious about what happens next in his life. I finished the books ridiculously fast (in probably 4 days), and then I went back and reread all three slowly, taking in the story.

And I loved all three books so, so much.

And the Fool, the Fool was gold gleaming and joy and a flight of jewelled dragons across a pure blue sky.

I jokingly called The Tawny Man trilogy ‘the one where Fitz adopts many kids’ which is true, but is also ironic because Fitz is the worst father I have ever seen. To be fair, he didn’t have any good role models.

Fitz in the beginning of the trilogy isn’t Fitz anymore. He’s Tom Badgerlock, living in a house in the woods with his wolf Nighteyes and his foster son Hap. He’s 35 years old and has spent 15 of them being dead, cutting himself off so totally from the outside world that only four people know he’s alive. He’s kind of a mess, and I love him for it.

He’s settled into a quiet life and is still trying to bury old ghosts when, one by one, they come back and upend his life. Again.

“Ah, Fitz, Fitz, we are who we are and who we ever must be.”

I love all three books in this trilogy for different reasons. Fool’s Errand might have some VERY heartbreaking moments but I’m sure it’ll become one of my comfort books. There’s just…so many moments of fun and pure happiness that left me giggling in joy.

The Golden Fool features Fitz being dense and problematic (a bit more so than usual). A lot of things happened in this book, like introducing Elliania and Nettle and Thick (best characters ever, I love all three of them). There’s almost nothing by way of a plot, just court drama and unsettling tension and unease that keeps on collecting, and some of the best character dynamics I have ever read.

Lastly we have Fool’s Fate, which…destroyed me. I still can’t stop thinking about this book because it made me feel every possible human emotion while reading it, and when it ended I was left with this empty sadness and wistfulness and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for DAYS.

Random observations, SPOILERS and rambling

Me @ this series:

The handful of chapters in the beginning of Fool’s Errand after the Fool and Fitz reunite are PURE COMFORT before shit starts hitting the fan. Just the two of them and Nighteyes spending their days hunting, cooking, reading, drinking expensive brandy and telling stories.

I had a great deal of fun telling anyone who would listen that the villain in this book is a freaking cat. Well, not technically a cat, but you know. The way cats are written in this series is just *chef’s kiss*.

The Fool’s real name is so beautiful hello??? The moment it was introduced I knew I would die every time the name was mentioned.

The moment Fitz and Prince Dutiful first meet is so wonderfully heartbreaking. Just, Fitz describing Dutiful’s face and saying that time stopped for him at that moment, while Dutiful attacks Fitz with no idea who he is. Then later, the way I started GIGGLING when Dutiful theorised that Fitz was Chade and Lady Thyme’s son.

The Golden Fool was really the Fool’s book. I love how quietly confident he was in his identity and his feelings and his goals, and how much he cared about the fate of the world at large. I liked it whenever he talked about saving the world, but I specifically love this moment where he talks about bringing dragons back into the world:

Remember with your heart. Go back, go back, and go back. The skies of this world were always meant to have dragons. When they are not there, humans miss them. Some never think of them, of course. But some children, from the time they are small, they look up at a blue summer sky and watch for something that never comes.

Saying I hated Starling in this trilogy would be an understatement (at first I was okay with her but very quickly she became intolerable) but I find it hilarious that even though she didn’t recognize the Fool, she clocked that something was going on between Fitz and Lord Golden. Between that and Prince Dutiful asking him and Jek (I didn’t expect to love her cameo so much!) teasing him, no wonder Fitz exploded (he was a spectacularly stupid piece of shit in that one chapter, if you’ve read the book you know what I’m talking about). I just felt really sorry for the Fool, no one deserves that.

The ending of The Golden Fool is my favourite. It feels like a warm reassuring hug. Fitz calling the Fool ‘Beloved’ for the first time. Just – “Beloved, I have missed your company.” I died. ‘He looked at me and nodded gravely, as if thanking me for returning something precious to him.’ I AM DECEASED.

I did not expect to like Elliania, Nettle or Prince Dutiful (or even Swift) this much when I started Fool’s Fate, but turns out I do. The kids steal the show sometimes. The scene where Dutiful and Nettle use the Skill and talk for the first time makes me smile so much. “Prince Mannerless, I am Queen I-Doubt-It-Very-Much of the Seven Dungheaps.” The sass. Nettle calming Thick’s dreams on the boat is another favourite of mine, and then there’s Thick saving Nettle from being consumed by Icefyre. I love their dynamic so much.

I feel infuriated by Fitz and then I come across a passage where he’s just musing about his loneliness and depression and trauma, and I immediately want to give him a hug. I find it kinda disturbing how relatable his loneliness is, actually.

The entire Aslevjal arc was top-notch fantasy writing. I read it on my e reader at 1 am in the morning while everyone else was asleep and the lights switched off, and it was an EXPERIENCE. Meeting the Pale Woman, the fight of the dragons, and Fitz staying behind to recover the Fool’s body and then refusing to put him down to confront the Pale Woman (My dream was dead in my arms. I continued to walk 😭😭😭😭) and then bringing the Fool back to life. Madness, truly.

There’s no consistent overarching plot in the trilogy, but that wasn’t a problem for me because mainly, this series was about Fitz and the Fool and their relationship. They are almost unhealthily devoted to each other, and I think it scares Fitz, in the beginning, to have someone know everything about him and still love him completely and without limits. I just love the way they find safety in each other and they care about each other so damn much. Their last proper farewell makes me crazy just thinking about it. The tenderness and the intimacy and the tragic sadness of it all.

I did not like Burrich’s death. It felt sudden and honestly, it felt as if it happened just to get him out of the way, so that Fitz could go back to Molly. It felt weird that Fitz only returned to Molly after Burrich, Nighteyes and the Fool all had been removed from the equation. I loved Molly in Royal Assassin and Assassin’s Quest, but did she really know Fitz at all?

That being said, I liked the ending. Technically it’s Fitz’s ‘happy’ ending, but it’s full of regrets and angst and unsaid things, and while it sometimes feels unsatisfactory, it just fits.

It was after finishing the whole book that I realised that I’d missed the Fool’s poem and I went back and read it. I don’t cry while reading books, but I’ll tell you I teared up. No other characters have felt SO REAL as they have in this story.

Overall, out of the three books, I have to say I loved Fool’s Errand the best. Despite the Pain, there’s something just so comforting about that book.

Anyways, you got to admire Robin Hobb’s dedication to writing the most tender, emotionally intense and intimate scenes between Fitz and the Fool and then capping it off with, ‘no homo, though!’ HAS SHE REALIZED SHE HAS WRITTEN ONE OF THE GREATEST LOVE STORIES OF ALL TIME?

My ratings for the trilogy:

• Fool’s Errand: ★★★★★ (5)
• Golden Fool: ★★★★★ (5)
• Fool’s Fate: ★★★★★ (4.5)

Because I kinda suck at drawing people, here’s a doodle of Nighteyes, looking up at the sky mid-howl.

If you haven’t read Realm of the Elderlings yet, here’s your sign to start!

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