Book Tag Week: Quick Fire Fantasy Tag

And I’m back again for another Wyrd & Wonder BOOK TAG WEEK.

This time I’m doing the Quick Fire Fantasy Tag, which was created by the Bookworm Dreamer. I consider myself tagged by Lisa at Way Too Fantasy because I found the tag on her blog.

5-star book

The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb

Of course, the first book to pop in my head is one by Robin Hobb from her Realm of the Elderlings series, which is absolutely fantastic. The Golden Fool is the second novel in the Tawney Man trilogy and it’s one of my favorites about Fitz and the Fool’s adventures.

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“The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince” by Robin Hobb

I can’t believe I’ve read the entire Realm of the Elderlings books and there are no more books in the series for me and Emily at Embuhleeliest, my buddy-reader in all things Hobb, to devour. We were lost and wanting more, so we turned to this novella, a prequel to the massive series we wrapped up last year.

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Realm of the Elderlings, book 0

Pubbed:

2013

Goodreads summary:

Long before the time of Chivalry Farseer, there was another indiscreet member of the royal line. Princess Caution Farseer, in defiance of her name, was headstrong and willful, destined to fall dangerously in love where she ought not.

The child she bore, a Witted boy known as the Piebald Prince, rose to favour despite his questionable bloodlines. But the dukes of the Six Duchies backed Canny Farseer for the throne. And so both young men competed for power… But this was not their only struggle: for they both fell in love with the same lady. Such rivalry could end only in bloodshed…

“Assassin’s Fate” by Robin Hobb

Here I am at the end of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy, the end of the Realm of the Elderlings series, a 16-book epic fantasy series that took me and Emily at Embuhleeliest about four years to read. We made it to the end and had our hearts and emotions ripped apart along the way. The story kept us at the edge of our seats as we wondered what will be become of favorite characters and how the story would end. And when it did… I couldn’t… I…

So much happens that I’ve procrastinated on writing this reflection for the past two months. But no more! I need to get this out (so I can review other books) and move on.

Genre:

Fantasy

“Fool’s Quest” by Robin Hobb

We’re nearing the end, Emily of Embuhlee liest and I. We have just one more book to go before we complete the Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings series, which we’ve been reading for maybe three years now (more or less). What will we do with ourselves after that final book?!

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Fitz and the Fool, book 2
Realm of the Elderlings, book 15

Pubbed:

August 2015

Goodreads summary:

After nearly killing his oldest friend, the Fool, and finding his daughter stolen away by those who were once targeting the Fool, FitzChivarly Farseer is out for blood. And who better to wreak havoc than a highly trained and deadly former royal assassin? Fitz might have let his skills go fallow over his years of peace, but such things, once learned, are not so easily forgotten. And nothing is more dangerous than a man who has nothing left to lose… (Goodreads)

“Fool’s Assassin” by Robin Hobb

I’ve been procrastinating on writing book reviews lately because of this novel. It was wonderful to return to Buckkeep and Fitz again, but much happens and I had so many feelings about it all that when I think about typing it all up, I felt overwhelmed and immediately sought something else to do. But here I am with my thoughts about Fool’s Assassin. I couldn’t put it off any longer because I have to start the second book soon. Of course, I’m buddy-reading it with Emily at Embuhlee liest. We’re nearing the end and we’re not happy about it. We want more.

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Fitz and the Fool, book 1
Realm of the Elderlings, book 14

Pubbed:

August 2014

Goodreads summary:

Tom Badgerlock has been living peaceably in the manor house at Withywoods with his beloved wife Molly these many years, the estate a reward to his family for loyal service to the crown.

“Blood of Dragons” by Robin Hobb

And here we are at last: The final installment of the Rain Wilds Chronicles in which we see dragons return to Robin Hobb’s fantastic world. It’s been an exciting experience reading this book and learning about how dragons function in this world and who exactly the Elderlings are.

Blood of Dragons wraps up the Rain Wild Chronicles while leaving some plot threads untouched, hinting at more to come in other books. My buddy-reader for Hobb’s books, Emily at Embuhlee liest, and I plan to jump into the next stack of books – Fitz and the Fool trilogy – soon. But for now, here are my thoughts on the last installment of the Rain Wilds Chronicles.

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Rain Wild Chronicles, book 4
Realm of the Elderlings, book 13

Pubbed:

2013

Goodreads synopsis:

The dragons’ survival hangs in the balance in the thrilling final volume in the acclaimed River Wilds Chronicles fantasy series.

“City of Dragons” by Robin Hobb

Another Robin Hobb novel, because Emily at Embuhlee Liest and I are just knocking them out quickly. We’re that hooked on the story.

Dragon Haven, the second book in the series, felt like the story’s true beginning. We followed the characters’ quest up the Rain Wild River to seek a new location for the newly hatched dragons.

The dragons hatched malformed due to difficulties they faced as serpents in trying to weave a cocoon, and many others died before they could emerge from their cocoon. Others hatched so disabled that they were unable to survive long. However, Dragon Haven ended on a positive note with the dragons finally in Kelsingra and readers left wondering what will happen next now that they’ve arrived at the Elderling city.

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Rain Wild Chronicles, book 3
Realm of the Elderlings, book 12

“Dragon Keeper” by Robin Hobb

Me and Emily from Embuhlee liest are back at it again. WE’RE READING ANOTHER ROBIN HOBB BOOK!!!! 😀 😀 And so far it’s great, of course!

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Rain Wild Chronicles, book 1

Realm of the Elderlings, book 10

Pubbed:

2009

Quick summary:

The dragon eggs have hatched! Finally the skies will be filled with dragons again…or so the characters hope. Despite the efforts of the dragon Tintaglia and the people of the Rain Wilds and Bingtown, the serpents that cocooned themselves in the Rain Wilds were too weak, too small, and too late to hatch as full grown dragons. Instead, they are deformed, weak, and unable to hunt to feed themselves. Tintaglia abandons them and leaves the responsibility to the people of the Rain Wilds to care for the deformed dragons (so it seems), but the dragons are a nuisance to their human neighbors, so the Rain Wild Council devise a way to get rid of them that would also purge the Rain Wilds of folks considered undesirable.

“Fool’s Errand” by Robin Hobb

It was like visiting an old friend, one I hadn’t seen in a long time. I didn’t realize how much I missed Fitz’s narration until I started Fool’s Errand. I was immediately hooked and so happy to have returned to Fitz and his companion Nighteyes.

Before I get started on this review, let me warn you that if you have not read Hobb’s Farseer trilogy or Liveship Traders trilogy, you will be spoiled for both in the summary portion below. And since it was hard to discuss this book without giving away spoilers, I didn’t bother taking them out of the “My Thoughts” section since I wanted to be specific about some things.

If you are curious about this fantasy trilogy (Fool’s Errand is the first novel in the Tawney Man trilogy), I highly recommend it to you. The trilogies I mentioned above are all part of a larger series called the Realm of the Elderlings series, so I recommend you start with the first set of books (the Farseer trilogy) and work your way through the trilogies if they interest you. I enjoyed them (of course since I’m now on third set of books) and have been buddy reading them with Emily from Embuhlee liest since 2016, I think, and we plan to continue with them through this year. But here’s what Fool’s Errand is all about.