Assassin’s Fate

Simplesmente magnífico, um dos melhores finais (se n o melhor) de qualquer história q eu ja li ( li a versão de kindle e depois comprei versão física)

From the very first pages of assassins apprentice I was irresistibly drawn into the characters robin hobb has created and the world they abide in. The story arc of the unique friendship between fitz and the fool must be one of the most skilfully crafted of the fantasy genre; Tolkien may have devoted more thought to the language\history of middle earth, thus imparting a perhaps more "epic" feel to lotr, but hobb gives center stage to the characters' development and interaction with one another, thus allowing for greater emotional impact.Over the course of the past few months I read all eight previous books relating to fitz and fool (have not read live ship or rain wilds chronicles) with much enjoyment and wonder at their creative magnificence and poignancy. It seemed nearly impossible that assassins fate could bring all the strands of such a beloved series to a satisfying culmination. And with a few reservations, I say that robin hobb has in this final book crafted a fitting end to her literary spectacle.Much complaint has been made of the length of the journey to clerres. Perhaps it is simply a matter of taste, but I felt not at all those chapters to be boring or "useless". I enjoyed the chance of reading the characters' thoughts and interactions in the confined space of paragon. I especially liked per and motley; lant and spark, though necessary, felt more to me as " sideline" characters. The inclusion of several characters from robin Hobbs liveship and rainwild series, though feeling a bit contrived, somewhat akin to a troop of actors marching out to take their bows onstage, provided an additional sense of closure as they drew toward the finale of all series set in the eldering realms. My main grief with this section of the book is the predominance of amber and the near absence of the fool. I felt this last chapter in the saga of fitz and the fool should have included more interaction between them, instead of the indifference instilled by amber. Furthermore, as noted by other reviewers, I thought the reasoning for Fitz's inability to skill here insufficient.The chapters of bee's journey are, yes, grim and rather depressing to read. She is in the hands of a ruthless dwalia and her all too brief experiences of hope are met with harsh reprisals later. I suppose the account of all the abuse and maltreatment is essential to informing bee's later action; it develops vindeliar as well, leading up to a transformation on his part too.Once, however, everyone does arrive at clerres, the action unfolds neatly and swiftly. One can feel the tension thrumming through the pages. Here robin hobb delivers on the promise of previous chapters, and the elements woven in the "slow" buildup of earlier pages converge in a gripping conclusion. The denouement is a thrilling read of suspense, action, surprises and tearful moments. Beware-- you will slack shamefully on mundane tasks and get nothing productive done whilst absorbed in the final chapters.***warning: there be spoilers ahead***I see from comments here that opinion is divided on the end robin hobb wrote for fitz and fool. I felt the Fitz's carving of a stone "dragon" was no great surprise; even fitz expresses that he somehow always knew this was the end he would choose, to follow in his king's footsteps, and it seems as though ms hobb envisioned this a long time ago. The fools unification as well was a harkening back to the repeated references of "no limits" and "two beings as one". So the whole unfolding of this scene invoked a beautiful sense of symmetry, of things coming full circle. Fitz's infection by parasitic worms, however, was simply too grotesque. I am aware a gradual but inevitable decline was necessary to explain his urgency in carving a stone dragon, but could it not have been contrived in a less gruesome manner? For example, could fitz have not simply succumbed from having pure silver coating half his body? As many reviewers have noted, fitz did not deserve to be the victim of such a bloody spectacle before his loved ones. It rang discordant with the beatific unification that follows immediately afterward. Even so, goosebumps ran down my arms and tears pricked my eyes when the prophet and his catalyst sank into the stone, finally merging as one. Their continuance in immortal form, present yet removed from mortal reach, was a poignant end, reminiscent of earendil doomed forever to watch over middle earth, sailing in wingilot amidst the stars.Despite the few aforementioned grievances, the way in which ms hobb weaves the strands of her tapestry to an epic conclusion is nothing short of sheer literary magic. It has been a long time since I have been so transported, and even longer since I have experienced such an emotional connection with the story. I am left with the indefinable ache of a bittersweet farewell to two of fantasy's most beloved characters. Thank you, ms. Hobb for giving us the saga of fitz and the fool. It has been a beautiful journey.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have read all of Robin Hobbs' books prior to this one, as they are all starting to come together in this last book III of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy!

Hobb lo que escriba es maravilla, así que lo disfruto enormemente. Totalmente recomendable, si te gusta la fanatasía y las buenas historias, este es un libro, pero antes de eso por favor lee todos los anteriores

Wow. Just wow.This is a beautiful book, in so many ways. Physically (and it's rare that I buy a physical book these days, but I did this time and I'm glad) it's a gorgeous cover -- and an intimidating length. I took great pleasure in just holding the book while I read it. But even on the Kindle (yes, I bought both formats) the sheer beauty of Hobb's prose is pleasurable from the beginning to the end, and at 853 pages it is a pleasure that is not soon over.Plotting is clever and assured, as always. We left volume two (Fool's Quest) on a minor cliff-hanger. So of course this opens with Bee instead of Fitz. And of course the two parties miss each other repeatedly, for interesting reasons. But so many questions are answered on the way, so many old friends (or in the case of Chalced, old enemies) are encountered, and so much character development occurs that the journey does not feel like it's been unnecessarily strung out. And when the inevitable confrontation finally ensues, there are still more revelations, including what happened to all the dragons.There is so much more to this than plot and characters and prose, though. How does the future relate to the past? Can the endless round of retribution ever be stopped? What is the line between love and manipulation? What comprises a person's identity? Relationships? Gender? (The shifting pronouns referring to Beloved are a continual joy.) Memory? Where does one's primary responsibility lie? When does justice become vengeance? How much of grief is anger at being left? Those are some of the topics I was prompted to ponder. I am sure there are many more."Don't do what you can't undo, until you've considered what you can't do once you've done it." This phrase runs through the book, and ultimately ties the end to the beginning of the story, all 15 volumes earlier. Which raises the question of where to start in this oeuvre. I think you could read this last trilogy on it's own. I don't think you could read this volume on it's own, though there are explanations and precis of past events and connections dotted about. There are just so many references and connections to all the other books in this world -- not just the Fitz books, but the live ship traders and the dragons too -- that events in Assassin's Fate could not be adequately understood without having read the rest, at least in my opinion. If you only read this trilogy, you might well expect Fitz and the Fool to part ways at the end, because their relationship has never been easy. But read from the beginning of Assassin's Apprentice, and their differences are the differences of people who cannot endure living without the other.So I highly commend this book to all -- after you have read, at the least, Fool's Assassin and Fool's Quest, preferably the Farseer trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy as well, and ideally those plus the Lifeship traders trilogy and the Rain Wild Chronicles. They are all well worth the time.