Assassin's Fate

It feels like a long time since I was in Huddersfield bus station, perusing a particular new book. It was my 17th birthday. I was pretty hyped up after picking up the second of Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. My bus companions, no doubt, were far from thrilled at having to listen to me rattle on about this book that would be forgotten about by the time I got back to college on Monday morning. On the other hand, they were probably delighted to not be hearing about Star Wars.

Royal Assassin was the second of the first trilogy in Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings, a series of linked series. I'd enjoyed the first, as much as a 16-year-old could. I'd enjoyed the easy prose, the languid pace and the engaging characters. Looking back, I suspect there were many elements that I'd simply skimmed over. The first one certainly hadn't blown my mind like it has in later years. Despite this, I'd decided to blow my weekly allowance on the second volume. It was, perhaps, the best entertainment purchase I've ever made. The memory of having bought it sticks with me because it's a book that's influenced me and stuck with me through multiple education establishments, jobs, you name it.

Hobb's books are personal, particularly the three trilogies focusing on FitzChivalry Farseer. It feels, after a dozen years and nine books, like I know Fitz. It feels like I've watched him grow from a boy to a man. I've been through each of his experiences with him. I've celebrated every triumph and commiserated with every disaster. There have been times when I've wanted to get hold of him and shake him as he made yet another mistake - all in service to the Farseer throne. As characters go, it's hard to think of any who surpass him for pure humanity. Fitz is an assassin and a father. A loyal servant and an independent thinker. A man of great passions who at times is reduced to little more than a vassal. It's this humanity that makes Fitz so memorable and so relatable. For his sake, I wanted the final book featuring him (I assume, considering the title) to do him justice.

It does.

Assassin's Fate is a colossal book. It might not be the best of the Realm of the Elderlings books (that accolade surely goes to Assassin's Quest), but it does a wonderful job of concluding Fitz's part in the epic saga. Never has Fitz been more human, more flawed and more perfect. He continues to frustrate throughout, but at last there is the sense that this is Fitz the man - not Fitz the assassin. Cut loose to deal death to the Whites of Clerres, who have snatched his daughter, Bee, he assumes the mantle of vengeful father and, as is to be expected by now from Hobb, fills the role brilliantly. He makes bad decisions - some many times over. He fails to realise how much he is loved by those around him. He relies on himself too much and is disdainful of those around him. Traits built over eight previous volumes reach their peak and make him the pinnacle of all fantasy characters.

Around him there is a huge cast of beautifully drawn characters. Like Fitz, they're uniquely human - or wolf, or dragon. With Assassin's Fate quite possibly acting as the final volume in a sixteen-book series, many old faces make appearances. Whether they were wilful, arrogant, compliant, frustrating, haughty, greedy or otherwise before, so they are now. Many have aged - all appropriately. Brashen Trell is just one old face who plays a significant role who has clearly mellowed with the years and responsibility of captaining the liveship Paragon with his wife, Althea, who remains stubborn and single-minded. He is instantly recognisable, not just because of his name, but because of his actions.

Chief amongst the supporting cast is the Fool - who, as ever, is unpredictable. He provides the perfect counterpoint to Fitz, just as he always has. Colourful, flamboyant and chaotic, even while he has his plans, he - or she, as we still don't know for sure - introduces chaos to proceedings as he strives, alongside Fitz, to reach Bee. The relationship between Fitz and the Fool is strained from the off, and there's a lingering sadness to their interactions. Fitz's lack of trust in his long-time companion is almost painful as Hobb brings it to life brilliantly.

In true Hobb style, the final volume of the trilogy starts slowly. There are answers to long-standing questions provided, but the pace is glacial. The sense of finality gradually creeps into the book as the protagonists journey to their destination where the final showdown (if that's quite the word for a Hobb conclusion) takes place. This is Hobb's greatest strength: her ability to sustain interest while building character, providing low-level answers and never resorting to cheap cliffhangers. The humanity of the entire series has been its greatest strength and should be its greatest legacy. Great storytelling doesn't need narrative tricks and helpful deus ex machina that satisfy the rule of cool. What it needs is heart and soul. Hobb's plotting is natural and paced beautifully. A journey that many would skip over in a paragraph can take her 200 pages and more whilst sustaining interest because you're invested.

Assassin's Fate provides a wonderful conclusion to the entire series. It's not to say it has all the answers we've been craving - there are certainly still some questions that need to be resolved - but it brings a natural conclusion to a cycle of fantasy storytelling that will live long into the future.