Fool's Assassin (Fitz and the Fool #1) - Robin Hobb

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⭐ 7/10

And I'm on the final series of The Realm of the Elderlings!  Unfortunately I think this was easily the worst entry out of the 14 (!!) I have read.  It started well, with some big time jumps as we reconnect with former characters.  I thought the ending these characters had in their last series was perfection, so it pained me for old wounds and new conflicts to pop back up, but why not.

This book is way too long.  I was delighted to see a map at the start of the book, a map of one specific place.  And then I realized its so small and detailed because the entire 700 pages take place in this one location.  Pretty annoying, and the middle chunk of this book was a bit of a slog.  I love the characters, and I love the one new viewpoint character in this new book, a breath of fresh air for the series.  Lots of new mysteries and unanswered questions from previous books. There is also maybe one of the saddest deaths I have read before, hit me in a way I wasn't expecting.  But this was way too long to just be setup for the next one.

I say this because the last 100 pages or so were tremendously exciting, and it ends on a huge cliffhanger!  My favourite books in this series have all had terrific endings, and I think this ending bumped the score up quite a bit for me. Hopefully the next book can deliver on its promise and not leave a sour taste in my mouth as I finish up these books.

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