Product Description

From an extraordinary new voice in fantasy comes the stunning conclusion to the Farseer trilogy, as FitzChivalry confronts his destiny as the catalyst who holds the fate of the kingdom of the Six Duchies...and the world itself.

King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz--or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest--perhaps to death. Only Verity's return--or the heir his princess carries--can save the Six Duchies.

But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9733 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-05
• Released on: 1998-01-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 757 pages

From Booklist
In this conclusion to the Farseer saga, FitzChivalry's quest for revenge on the usurping Regal requires him to journey to the Elderlings (wise old mages in the classic mold) and afterwards to realize the emergence of his own magical gifts, at which point the quest comes to an end after a mere 688 pages. Like much high fantasy these days, the book could have been pruned more than a trifle; on the other hand, along with the extra wordage come extra measures of characterization, world building, and emotionally compelling scenes of both magic and battle. And this is definitely the end of one story, although the world Hobb has created is now sufficiently developed (even why the characters have such archetypical names is explained) to be the scene of future books. In all, this is an improvement over its predecessors that will please their readers and probably whet their appetites for more from Hobb. Roland Green

From Kirkus Reviews
Final installment--each entry independently intelligible--of Hobb's stunning fantasy trilogy (Royal Assassin, 1996; Assassin's Apprentice, 1995) about the beleaguered Six Duchies and their Farseer kings. Months ago, King Verity vanished into the far mountains in search of the semi-mythical Elderlings, whose help he must have in order to defeat the rampaging Red Ship Raiders, leaving his murderous, venal, and insanely ambitious brother, Prince Regal, to dispose of Verity's last few loyalists at his leisure--including narrator, spy, and assassin FitzChivalry. Poor Fitz, unable to contact his beloved Molly (she thinks he's dead) and daughter (by Molly) for fear of exposing them to Regal's attentions, uses his magic Skill to locate Verity and receives an imperious summons: ``COME TO ME!'' So, abandoning his plan to assassinate Regal, Fitz enters the mountains with a small band of helpers. Eventually, having evaded Regal's minions, Fitz comes upon Verity Skill-carving a huge dragon out of black rock; nearby stand other lifelike dragon-sculptures that, to Fitz's animal-magic Wit, seem somehow alive. Are these eerie sculptures what remain of the Elderlings? Yet, for all his Skill, Verity cannot bring the dragons to life; and soon Regal will arrive with his armies and his Skilled coterie. An enthralling conclusion to this superb trilogy, displaying an exceptional combination of originality, magic, adventure, character, and drama. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"Superbly written, wholly satisfying, unforgettable: better than any fantasy trilogy in print--including mine!"--Melanie Rawn

"With shimmering language and the alluring garb of Faerie, Hobb concludes her Farseer trilogy with this immense coming-of-age novel."--Publishers Weekly

Customer Reviews

So painfully realistic it'll tear you up - great book
Blegh, it's been 10 minutes since I finished the Farseer Trilogy with this novel's conclusion. Boy, what a ride it's been. It's the feeling you get after a long journey returning home.. but you're changed: like Frodo from Lord of the Rings. I feel this numbing hole now that it's over. But this book has faults nonetheless. Other reviewers have pointedly complained about the pacing/length of this novel as well as its ending. I agree with them.

This novel is by no means 'boring' it just feels very sluggish in the middle during the journey part of reaching Verity. And it departs from the 1st two books a lot: gone are so many characters we loved, gone are the focus of court intrigue in the face of the Red Ship Raider's Forging. Instead we are left with torturing poor Fitz even more so that by the end of it I could not help wiping stubborn tears (and I rarely cry lol so you can tell this stuff is bleak).

My gripe with the ending as a whole is that it is too realistic. This not hollywood by any means. All that pain and suffering should mean there's a nice reward in exchange...... right? Also, the Red Ship Raiders and Elderlings story line is swiftly concluded within a chapter almost. The whole book was the about the process not the result.

It's been 2 weeks to the day since I was searching here on Amazon reading reviews for a good fantasy series while I waited for George RR Martin.. Farseer Trilogy has been amazing. I've lost several hours of sleep reading late into the night hoping against hope for witnessing Fitz get his due. *SPOILER*------------ Sitting in a cottage in Buck with Nighteyes and his bastard son; scribing diligently in front of a warm fire away from court plotting and judgemental people is 95% of the life he always wanted minus the love of his life who left him for his closest friend instead.

Finally, a series worthly to rival "The Lord of the Rings"
Robin Hobb is a master of story weaving. I am not especially fond of fantasy, but a friend turned me on to this series, as well as the Liveship and Tawny Man series. To maximize the effect of these interwoven novels, read them in that order (ie., The Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Traders Series, and the Tawny Man Series.) The depth of the stories, as well as the richness and development of the characters easily rivals my all-time favorite series, The Lord of the Rings. Robin's work is truly a mastery of story telling. In fact, the only complaint I could conceive with her books is that they are too detailed (much in the same fashion of The Lord of the Rings.)

Slow, boring and painful
Wow. This was the slowest book I've ever read. Like many of the other reviewers, I thought that this book was about 500 pages too long. To make it worse, many of the truly interesting elements that were focused on in the book were wrapped up in about 5 pages at the end. Instead of those interesting elements we, once again, got to focus on Fitz's misery--over and over and over again. It just seems that the author lost her steam on this book and even part of the second book. It's too bad because there was a lot of potential to make this more expansive and focus on the issues of the kingdom. It just felt like a waste of time. Don't bother.