Fool's Fate is the third book in the Tawny Man trilogy and the ninth book overall in The Realm of the Elderlings saga. I read all sixteen books in this series earlier this year and the Tawny Man trilogy truly knocked me off my feet. We once again meet FitzChivalry Farseer in the middle of his life. After the events of the Farseer trilogy Fitz is living a life away from Buckkeep and all of its political intrigue. That is until the Fool returns to bring Fitz back into the fold with a mission to save the prince, and once again, the world.
Fool's Fate kept me enthralled for days. Throughout Fitz struggles with the weight his name carries and whether or not the Farseer name is one he wishes to accept. His relationship with the Fool is tested at every turn throughout Tawny Man and we see the lengths the two of them would go to protect the other. I loved watching the edges of this world expand. It was a thrill to see characters from the Liveships trilogy arrive in Buckkeep, even if those interactions did have disastrous consequences for Fitz and the Fool's relationship.
What made this book in particular so gut wrenching was that the Fool assumed he knew how it would end. Fitz's outright refusal to accept that made the inevitable that much harder to stomach.
I spent the latter half of the book sobbing my eyes out. "My dream was dead in my arms." Is a sentence that will haunt me until the end of time. Fitz and the Fool can truly never catch a break and their separation at the end of the book ruined me for a good long while. Hobb is an absolute master of writing the most emotionally devastating literature you'd ever come across. Fool's Fate is a book that will stick with me for years and years to come.
The triumphant conclusion to our three thrilling fantasy series, from the author of the bestselling Farseer and Liveship traders trilogies.
The triumphant conclusion to the tale of the Farseers, in which kingdoms must stand or fall on the beat of a dragon's wings, or a Fool's heart.
A small and sadly untried coterie - the old assassin Chade, the serving-boy Thick, Prince Dutiful, and his reluctant Skillmaster, Fitz - sail towards the distant island of Aslevjal. There they must fulfil the Narcheska's challenge to her betrothed: to lay the head of the dragon Icefyre, whom legends tell is…
Ship of Destiny is the third book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the sixth book overall in the Realm of the Elderings series. At first I was reluctant to step away from Fitz and his world, I loved the Farseer trilogy so much it was hard to start another trilogy without him in it. That line of thinking didn't last long. The Liveship trilogy does an amazing job of world building. We learn so much about the lore of this world and get a glimpse of the enormity of what Hobb is setting up.
I also fell in love with the cast of characters we were introduced to. The majority of the characters we follow were quickly separated in Ship of Magic and they don't come back together again until Ship of Destiny. I couldn't put Ship of Destiny down once I started it. I was anxious as to how all the story beats we were reading would come together and come together they did, in an absolutely explosive way.
Wintrow is probably one of my favorite characters from this trilogy. He is forced into a world he never wanted anything to with but grows into a strong and more confident version of himself. Malta's character is also amazing. In the first book I was so deeply annoyed with her I couldn't ever imagine liking her character. I changed my tune by the end of Ship of Destiny. I doubt that the two Vestrit siblings could've imagined their lives turning out the way they did, but they are both powerful in their own rite by the end of the trilogy.
Paragon was also a favorite of mine. I found all of the Liveships fascinating but Paragon's story is horribly tragic and I wished nothing but the best for him.
And finally, Amber. She is hands down of my favorite characters from across the Realm of the Elderings saga. She is fierce and funny and haunted. The big reveal with her and Paragon in Ship of Destiny left me screaming in pure joy.
Ship of Destiny was incredible and it is another book that I will never be able to stop thinking about.
'Even better than the Farseer books. I didn't think that was possible' GEORGE RR MARTIN
The triumphant conclusion to the magnificent Liveship Traders series.
The dragon, Tintaglia, released from her wizardwood coffin, flies high over the Rain Wild River. Below her, Reyn and Selden have been left to drown, while Malta and the Satrap attempt to navigate the acid flow of the river in a decomposing boat.
Althea and Brashen are sailing the liveship Paragon into pirate waters in a last-ditch attempt to rescue the Vestrit family liveship, Vivacia, who was stolen by the pirate king, Kennit;…
White North was one of my most anticipated reads for 2026. I love nautical stories wrapped in mystery so I knew this book was going to hit all the right notes for me. I am also weirdly fascinated with the doomed Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest passage and this book has direct tie-ins to that.
There were several moments in this book where I was so floored that I had to stare at the wall in silence for a few minutes. The twists and turns took me by surprise every time. I never knew what to expect each time I started a new chapter. I didn't know who to trust or which narrative might be the factual truth of what happened to the Melpomene and her ill fated crew.
All of the characters have distinct and flawed motivations for doing the things they did and I love nothing more than unreliable narrators and morally gray characters. The end of the book left me completely speechless and stunned and I couldn't have asked for anything better.
White North is absolutely incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves a brush with nautical horrors.
Sarah Waters meets The Terror in this twisty, chilling historical polar gothic for fans of Michelle Paver and Emma Stonex.
'True Gothic: twisty, unreliable, and full of forbidden joys ... a brilliantly queer, brilliantly playful successor to The Terror' NATASHA PULLEY, bestselling author of THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET
Eight years ago, HMS Melpomene met disaster on her search for the missing Franklin polar expedition. A tiny handful of survivors returned home against all odds; now, one of them is to be hanged for a murder he claims no memory of committing. Among the spectators is ambitious London newsman, Harry…
In the tale of Hamlet, Horatio is recorded as a loyal friend, but what if he were more? What if he filled Hamlet’s heart and dreams? And Hamlet filled his? This modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, told through Horatio’s eyes is much more than a tragedy. Antique Roman is also a love story about how the handsome and dashing Prince of Denmark finds himself drawn to the quiet, introverted Horatio while at university in Wittenberg. Slowly but surely, Hamlet helps the guarded Horatio see his own true value and shows him how love can bring light to life.
But all too soon for the lovers, Hamlet receives word that his father, the King, has died, and he is to return to Elsinore in Denmark to comfort the grieving Queen. Horatio soon follows to support Hamlet, but finds the royal court mired in intrigue. It appears the late King’s death may not have been of natural causes, the Queen has already remarried her late husband’s brother who has taken the throne, and there have been reports of sightings of the dead King’s ghost.
Told mostly in modern English, this novel also weaves in lines from Shakespeare’s original play, thus offering readers an easy-to-understand version of the Bard’s Hamlet that still captures its flavour and mastery. It also opens up intriguing possibilities about what was the real story behind the play.
