I mean, I love her writing style. Her words just jump of my Kindle screen and transport me into the Realm of the Underlings in a heart's beat. Her prose transcends that of most writers and not just in the fantasy genre. I have completed the Farseer and Liveship trilogies and the thing that stands out the most to me was her perception of the personalities of her non-human characters; of whom Nighteyes and Paragon have been etched out the best. Her descriptions of the magical structures of the Wit and the Skill in particular are both extremely surreal and tangible at the same time. The only grouse that I have against her are the length of her novels; which are almost always more than 600 pages long; largely plodding along at an unrealistically slow pace.
Although I knew I would be visiting the Realm again, it had been more than two years since I finished the concluding volume of the Liveship trilogy. This was mostly because the ending was less than satisfactory and I vowed to take a break from her work and focus on other authors. However like the Skill that beckons and taunts Fitz, I could not stay away from this series forever and here I was, back with Fitz and Nighteyes who are both fifteen years older and wiser. As is typical of Robin Hobb, the actual story does not start till you are at least 40% into the book. For a long time after I started reading, Hobb, in her gentle and meandering way recounts Fitz's journey after the events of the Red Ship War. Chade and the Fool are back at Fitz's little cabin as they try to coerce Fitz into giving up his simple life and immerse himself into Buckkeep politics again. Meanwhile as the story unfolds, the Witted are being increasingly prosecuted, so Fitz must tread a very careful line. As he forms an unusual partnership with the Fool, we uncover some unexpected facets of the Fool. I did miss his usual antics and maddening tendency to speak in riddles.
Hobb introduces several new and compelling characters- Hap (Fitz's adopted son), Laurel, Jinna and the crown prince, Dutiful. I must confess that although Dutiful was not entirely to my liking, both Laurel and Jinna were interesting female characters that lend a refreshing vigour to the plot. I hope to see their roles in a more prominent way in the remaining books. Like Fitz, I found Dutiful to be tiresome for the most part, though he does redeem himself a bit toward the end.
I wouldn't say that it was among her best work (the first two books of the Liveship trilogy occupy those positions), but it was certainly a nice reminder to me why I love Hobb's writing so much. There are emotional, nay, gut wrenching moments in the book which will leave even the toughest reader teary eyed. All in all, a good yet slow start to the Tawny Man trilogy. Looking forward to reading the next two volumes in this series.
My rating: 3/5
Image source: amazon.in
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