Buying Options
Kindle Price: | $9.99 |
Sold by: | Random House LLC Price set by seller. |
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

![Fool's Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 by [Robin Hobb, Megan Lindholm, Stephen Youll, John Howe]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XkZsO0OmL._SY346_.jpg)
Fool's Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 Kindle Edition
Robin Hobb (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
Price | New from | Used from |
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial |
Mass Market Paperback
"Please retry" | $5.20 | $1.34 |
MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
"Please retry" | $4.00 | — |
- Kindle
$9.99 Read with Our Free App -
Audiobook
$0.00 Free with your Audible trial - Hardcover
$11.96 - Paperback
$16.38 - Mass Market Paperback
$8.99 - MP3 CD
$4.00
FitzChivalry Farseer has become firmly ensconced in the queen’s court. Along with his mentor, Chade, and the simpleminded yet strongly Skilled Thick, Fitz strives to aid Prince Dutiful on a quest that could secure peace with the Outislands—and win Dutiful the hand of the Narcheska Elliania.
The Narcheska has set the prince an unfathomable task: to behead a dragon trapped in ice on the isle of Aslevjal. Yet not all the clans of the Outislands support their effort. Are there darker forces at work behind Elliania’s demand? Knowing that the Fool has foretold he will die on the island of ice, Fitz plots to leave his dearest friend behind. But fate cannot so easily be defied.
Praise for Robin Hobb and Fool’s Fate
“[Robin] Hobb’s rich, vibrant and unique world [is] filled with sentient ships, magical beasts, and fascinating characters. . . . Highly recommended.”—Library Journal
“Rich, enchanting fantasy from one of today’s best practitioners . . . reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin’s The Other Wind [and] Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.”—BookPage
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSpectra
- Publication dateFebruary 3, 2004
- File size3347 KB
![]() |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin
“[Robin] Hobb’s rich, vibrant and unique world [is] filled with sentient ships, magical beasts, and fascinating characters. . . . Highly recommended.”—Library Journal
“Rich, enchanting fantasy from one of today’s best practitioners . . . reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin’s The Other Wind [and] Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series.”—BookPage
Amazon.com Review
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
LIZARDS
Sometimes it seems unfair that events so old can reach forward through the years, sinking claws into one's life and twisting all that follows it. Yet perhaps that is the ultimate justice: we are the sum of all we have done added to the sum of all that has been done to us. There is no escaping that, not for any of us.
So it was that everything that the Fool had ever said to me and all the things he'd left unsaid combined. And the sum was that I betrayed him. Yet I believed that I acted in his best interests, and mine. He had foretold that if we went to Aslevjal Island, he would die and Death might make another snap of his jaws at me. He promised to do all in his power to see that I survived, for his grand scheme to change the future required it. But with my latest brush with death still fresh in my memory, I found his promises more threatening than reassuring. He had also blithely informed me that once we were on the island, I would have to choose between our friendship and my loyalty to Prince Dutiful.
Perhaps I could have faced one of those things and stood strong before it, but I doubt it. Any one of those things was enough to unman me, and facing the sum of them was simply beyond my strength.
So I went to Chade. I told him what the Fool had said. And my old mentor arranged that when we sailed for the Out Islands, the Fool would not go with us.
Spring had come to Buckkeep Castle. The grim black stone edifice still crouched suspiciously on the steep cliffs above Buckkeep Town, but on the rolling hills behind the keep, new green grass was pushing optimistically up through the standing brown straw of last year's growth. The bare-limbed forests were hazed with tiny green leaves unfurling on every tree branch. The wintry mounds of dead kelp on the black beaches at the foot of the cliffs had been swept away by the tides. Migratory birds had returned, and their songs rang challenges in the forested hills and along the beaches where seabirds battled for choice nesting nooks in the cliffs. Spring had even invaded the dim halls and high-ceilinged chambers of the keep, for blossoming branches and early-blooming flowers graced every alcove and framed the entries of the gathering rooms.
The warmer winds seemed to sweep my gloom away. None of my problems and concerns had vanished, but spring can dismiss a multitude of worries. My physical state had improved; I felt more youthful than I had in my twenties. Not only was I building flesh and muscle again, but I suddenly possessed the body that a fit man of my years should have. The harsh healing I had undergone at the inexperienced hands of the coterie had inadvertently undone old damage as well. Abuse I had suffered at Galen's hands in the course of his teaching me the Skill, injuries I had taken as a warrior, and the deep scars from my torture in Regal's dungeons had been erased. My headaches had nearly ceased, my vision no longer blurred when I was weary, and I did not ache in the chill of early morning. I lived now in the body of a strong and healthy animal. Few things are so exhilarating as good health on a clear spring morning.
I stood on the top of a tower and looked out over the wrinkling sea. Behind me, tubs of earth, freshly manured, held small fruit trees arrayed in blossoms of white and pale pink. Smaller pots held vines with swelling leaf buds. The long green leaves of bulb flowers thrust up like scouts sent to test the air. In some pots, only bare brown stalks showed, but the promise was there, each plant awaiting the return of warmer days. Interspersed with the pots were artfully arranged statuary and beckoning benches. Shielded candles awaited mellow summer nights to send their glow into the darkness. Queen Kettricken had restored the Queen's Garden to its former glory. This high retreat was her private territory. Its present simplicity reflected her Mountain roots, but its existence was a much older Buckkeep tradition.
I paced a restless turn around its perimeter path, and then forced myself to stand still. The boy was not late. I was early. That the minutes dragged was not his fault. Anticipation warred with reluctance as I awaited my first private meeting with Swift, Burrich's son. My queen had given me responsibility for Swift's instruction in both letters and weaponry. I dreaded the task. Not only was the boy Witted, but he was undeniably headstrong. Those two things, coupled with his intelligence, could carry him into trouble. The Queen had decreed that the Witted must be treated with respect, but many still believed that the best cure for Beast Magic was a noose, a knife, and a fire.
I understood the Queen's motive in entrusting Swift to me. His father, Burrich, had turned him out of his home when the boy would not give up the Wit. Yet the same Burrich had devoted years to raising me when I was a lad and abandoned by my royal father as a bastard that he dared not claim. It was fitting that I now do the same for Burrich's son, even if I could never let the boy know that I had once been FitzChivalry and his father's ward. So it was that I awaited Swift, a skinny lad of ten summers, as nervously as if I faced the boy's father. I took a deep breath of the cool morning air. The scent of the fruit tree blossoms balmed it. I reminded myself that my task would not last long. Very soon, I would accompany the Prince on his quest to Aslevjal in the Out Islands. Surely I could endure being the lad's instructor until then.
The Wit Magic makes one aware of other life, and so I turned even before Swift pushed open the heavy door. He shut it quietly behind him. Despite his long climb up the steep stone stairs, he was not breathing hard. I remained partially concealed by screening blossoms and studied him. He was dressed in Buckkeep blue, in simple garments befitting a page. Chade was right. He would make a fine axeman. The boy was thin, in the way of active boys of that age, but the knobs of shoulders under his jerkin promised his father's brawn. I doubted he would be tall, but he would be wide enough to make up for it. Swift had his father's black eyes and dark curling hair, but there was something of Molly in the line of his jaw and the set of his eyes. Molly, my lost love and Burrich's wife. I took a long, deep breath. This might be more difficult than I had imagined.
I saw him become aware of me. I stood still, letting his eyes seek me out. For a time we both stood, unspeaking. Then he threaded his way through the meandering paths until he stood before me. His bow was too carefully practiced to be graceful.
"My lord, I am Swift Witted. I was told to report to you, and so I present myself."
I could see he had made an effort to learn his court courtesies. Yet his blatant inclusion of his Beast Magic in how he named himself seemed almost a rude challenge, as if he tested whether the Queen's protection of the Witted would hold here, alone with me. He met my gaze in a forthright way that most nobles would have found presumptuous. Then again, I reminded myself, I was not a noble. I told him so. "I am not 'my lord' to anyone, lad. I'm Tom Badgerlock, a man-at-arms in the Queen's Guard. You may call me Master Badgerlock, and I shall call you Swift. Is that agreed?"
He blinked twice and then nodded. Abruptly, he recalled that that was not correct. "It is, sir. Master Badgerlock."
"Very well. Swift, do you know why you were sent to me?"
He bit his upper lip twice, swift successive nibbles, then took a deep breath and spoke, eyes lowered. "I suppose I've displeased someone." Then he flashed his gaze up to mine again. "But I don't know what I did, or to whom." Almost defiantly, he added, "I cannot help what I am. If it is because I am Witted, well, then, it isn't fair. Our queen has said that my magic should not make any difference in how I am treated."
My breath caught in my throat. His father looked at me from those dark eyes. The uncompromising honesty and the determination to speak the truth was all Burrich's. And yet, in his intemperate haste, I heard Molly's quick temper. For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
The boy interpreted my silence as displeasure and lowered his eyes. But the set of his shoulders was still square; he did not know of any fault he had committed, and he would not show any repentance until he did.
"You did not displease anyone, Swift. And you will find that to some at Buckkeep, your Wit matters not at all. That is not why we separated you from the other children. Rather, this change is for your benefit. Your knowledge of letters surpasses the other children of your age. We did not wish to thrust you into a group of youths much older than you. It was also decided that you could benefit from instruction in the use of a battle-axe. That, I believe, is why I was chosen to mentor you."
His head jerked and he looked up at me in confusion and dismay. "A battle-axe?"
I nodded, both to him and to myself. Chade was up to his old tricks again. Plainly the boy had not been asked if he had any interest in learning to wield such a weapon. I put a smile on my face. "Certainly a battle-axe. Buckkeep's men-at-arms recall that your father fought excellently with the axe. As you inherit his build as well as his looks, it seems natural that his weapon of choice should be yours."
"I'm nothing like my father. Sir."
I nearly laughed aloud, not from joy, but because the boy had never looked more like Burrich than he did at that moment. It felt odd to look down at someone giving me his black scowl. But such an attitude was not appropriate to a boy of his years, so I coldly said, "You're like enough, in the Queen's and Councilor Chade's opinions. Do you dispute what they have decided for you?"
It all hovered in the balance. I saw the instant when he made his decision, and almost read the workings of his mind. He could refuse. Then he might be seen as ungrateful and sent back home to his fa... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
About the Author
From Booklist
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Inside Flap
Assassin, spy, and Skillmaster, FitzChivalry Farseer, now known only as man-at-arms Tom Badgerlock, has become firmly ensconced in the queen?s court at Buckkeep. Only a few are aware of his fabled, tangled past?and the sacrifices he made to survive it. And fewer know of his possession of the Skill magic. With Prince
Dutiful, his assassin-mentor Chade, and the simpleminded yet strongly Skilled Thick, FitzChivalry strives to aid the prince on a quest that could ultimately secure peace between the Six Duchies and the Outislands?and win Dutiful the hand of the Narcheska Elliania.
For the Narcheska has set the prince on an unfathomable task: to behead a dragon trapped in ice?the legendary Icefyre, on the island of Aslevjal. Yet not all the clans of the Outislands support the prince?s effort to behead their
legendary defender. Are there darker forces at work behind the Narcheska?s imperious demand? As the prince and his coterie set sail, FitzChivalry works behind the scenes, playing nursemaid to the ailing Thick, while striving to strengthen their Skill?ultimately bringing his unacknowledged daughter into the web of the Skill magic, where the truth must finally unfold.
The quest emerges amid riddles that must be unraveled, a clash of cultures, and the ultimate betrayal. For knowing that the Fool has foretold he will die on the island of ice, FitzChivalry has plotted with Chade to leave his dearest friend behind. But fate cannot so easily be defied. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product details
- ASIN : B000FC0ZEO
- Publisher : Spectra (February 3, 2004)
- Publication date : February 3, 2004
- Language : English
- File size : 3347 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 928 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0553582461
- Lending : Not Enabled
- Best Sellers Rank: #44,219 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #80 in Arthurian Fantasy (Books)
- #106 in Arthurian Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #775 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Robin Hobb is a New York Times best-selling fantasy author. She is published in English in the US, UK and Australia, and her works have been widely translated. Her short stories have been finalists for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards, as well as winning the Asimov's Readers Award. Her best known series is The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's Quest.)
Robin Hobb was born in Oakland California, but grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. She has spent her life mostly in the Pacific Nortwest region of the US, and currently resides in Tacoma, Washington State, with her husband Fred. They have four grown offspring, and six grandchildren.
Robin Hobb is a pen name for Margaret Ogden. She has also written under the name Megan Lindholm.
She published her first short story for children when she was 18,and for some years wrote as a journalist and children's writer. Her stories for children were published in magazines such as Humpty Dumpty's Magazine for Little Children, Jack & Jill and Highlights for Children. She also created educational reading material for children for a programmed reading series by SRA (Science Research Associates.) She received a grant award from the Alaska State Council on the arts for her short story "The Poaching", published in Finding Our Boundaries in 1980.
Fantasy and Science Fiction had always been her two favorite genres, and in the late 70's she began to write in them. Her initial works were published in small press 'fanzines' such as Space and Time (editor Gordon Linzner). Her first professionally published story was "Bones for Dulath" that appeared in the Ace anthology AMAZONS!, edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson in 1979. A short time later, a second Ki and Vandien story entitled The Small One was published in FANTASTIC in 1980.
During that time period, she and her family had moved from Alaska to Hawaii, and subsequently to Washington State, where they settled. She had various money making occupations (waitress, salesperson, etc.) while striving with her writing. Her husband Fred continued to fish Alaskan waters and was home only about 3 months out of every year. The family lived on a small farm in rural Roy where they raised lots of vegetables, chickens, ducks, geese and other small livestock.
In 1983, her first novel, Harpy's Flight, was published by Ace under the pen name Megan Lindholm. Her later titles under that name included Wizard of the Pigeons, Alien Earth, Luck of the Wheels, and Cloven Hooves.
In 1995, she launched her best selling series of books set in the Realm of the Elderlings. At that time, she began writing as Robin Hobb. Her first trilogy of books were about her popular characters, FitzChivalry Farseer and the Fool. The Farseer Trilogy is comprised of Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest. These books were followed by The Liveship Traders trilogy, set in the same world. The Tawny Man trilogy returned to the tale of Fitz and the Fool. Most recently, the four volumes of the Rain Wilds Chronicles were published: Dragon Keeper, Dragon Haven, City of Dragons and Blood of Dragons.
In 2013, it was announced that she would return to her best-loved characters with a new trilogy, The Fitz and the Fool trilogy. The first volume, Fool's Assassin, will be published in August of 2014.
Other works as Robin Hobb include The Soldier Son trilogy and short stories published in various anthologies. A collection of her shorter works as both Lindholm and Hobb is available in The Inheritance.
She continues to reside in Tacoma, Washington, with frequent visits to the pocket farm in Roy.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
I had a one day gap between the arrival of the Tawny Man and the Farseer Trilogies and I had a feeling of withdrawal. I was completely drawn in to the series. The prose, the characters and their development, and the story completely blew me away. Far better than the Lord of the Rings in my opinion. I have been a fan of the LOTR books and movies for years and reread then and rewatched them multiple times over the years.
It was fortunate that I am retired so I had time to spend in reading the books in sequence (Farseer, Tawny Man, and Fitz and the Fool - over 7000 pages in three weeks). I had trouble putting them down to go to the bathroom and to meals.
The main proponent has the same kind of personality of Frodo in LOTR, meaning it had a lot of self-doubt and soul searching. It went a little overboard for me. That was an essential part of the character and the storyline though.
It is set in a fantastical time with swords, magic, bonding with animals, dragons, and death and destruction. There were sad parts that physically depressed me and uplifting parts that elevated my mood. Hogg weaves all this together in a masterful way. I truly found it amazing. If you enjoy this type of story and can keep track of the characters and plot, you will also find these books amazing.
The only real problem I had was in determining which character was talking in one paragraph and/or between paragraphs. I frequently had to go back and reread a couple of paragraphs, or less or more, to place the quotes. That took some effort at times. It not so bad to take away my interest in each and every character and conversation.
If you can't tell, I heartily recommend this entire series of the three trilogies. I have already purchased the next trilogy and the next set of four books (quadrilogy??). I am going to take a break. I believe these books go in to more detail that are introduced in the first set of books and will be more standalone.
I do believe that I will reread the series a a later date.
And finally (a modest spoiler), what is it with the plot device of spending hundreds of pages on characters that barely matter in subsequent books? I am thinking of at least 20 characters including Thick, Dutiful, Shun and even the Fool, who is hardly vital in this last book. At least GRRM just kills them off!
Set in an alternate world in a renaissance time period, it continues a story of friends, family, magic, dragons, and much more. While there might be many of these themes available, the Farseer and Tawny Man series definitely stand out in how you will fall in love with the characters and be engaged in the plot.
Of the "Tawny Man" series, which is the follow up to the "Fitzchivalry Farseer" series, this is the most action packed. The first two in the series were more of a set up of the end, as well as a reminder of what happened in the first series and a point of filling in some of the important details of the plot line that further develops the characters and gives you the "why" of many of the things that have happened in the past.
While the Tawny Man series doesn't get you quite as attached to the characters as Farseer did, it's definitely a must read to complete the story and will definitely give you both joy, sorrow, and a mixture of emotions as you learn more about the characters. It's definitely satisfying, though I'd say you really should read the first series before it. If you haven't, then definitely read it after. It's wonderful.
There are notes of the authors other series "Liveships" throughout the books that give you several peeks into the lives of those characters as well, which I feel adds a lot of flavor to the book.
I have read all three of the aforementioned series several times, with this one being read with my family aloud so that my husband can experience this wonderful story.
Top reviews from other countries

No obvious endings for Hobb! OK, you might guess some details but I doubt you'd come up with the meat.
Anyway, this is an absolutely amazing end to the trilogy. I am not ashamed to say I was brought to tears several times in this book. It some places it is heart-rending, in others very touching, and always full of page turning excitement.
The Prince, Dutiful, has agreed to go to the fabled glaciated island where legend says that the dragon Icefyre is sleeping under the ice. But Lord Golden, The Fool, has already said he will die there so Chade and Fitz engineer it so he cannot get there.
Does that stop him? Well, read it and see.
We learn more about skilling and The Wit in this book and meet some interesting new characters and say farewell to some beloved ones. But we also reacquaint ourselves with some people we haven't met for a long time.
Will Nettle ever find out the truth? Will Molly? Will Buck ever learn that the Witted Bastard lives?
Is there really a dragon under the ice and what has happened to the Pale Woman from the Red Ship wars?
This book is your Skill Stone to the answers and if you don't put this down when you've finished and declare it the best book ever, then I'll set a dragon on you!

Bringing an end to the Tawny Man trilogy, Fool’s Fate provides a satisfying conclusion to the main story arcs of that series within a series, while still revealing tantalising hints of more adventures to come across the wider linked Elderlings tales.
There was a point about halfway through that the main story appeared to be concluding, and where I was worried about how many pages were left to go and if it was just going to be filler. I should have learned by now that there’s no filler in a Robin Hobb book, but they do offer such a complex and interlinked world of characters, cultures and magic offer, that there are always more elements of the story to tell.


The story is brilliant as always and you gets few shocks here and there. The ending did leave me a little annoyed as there didn't seem to be any real ending(not the whole story just bits in particular) as you'll realise when you finish it! I do hate to say that it does seem as though a few loose ends were tied up rather quickly but all in all its brilliant and I would love to see the character brought back someday.

It is remarkable that Robin Hobb has managed to write 6 books with which I can find hardly any fault. The books are admittedly quite slow in places (especially 'the golden fool')and it does not have the large set piece battles of the "a song of fire and ice" books (i.e. "Game of Thrones") by George R.R.Martin. But there is no filler; at no point did I find the books too long.
The exclusive focus on the main character Fitz may bore some, the surprise elements of Martin's books, when you don't know who is going to die next, is absent. It does perhaps get a bit tiresome that Fitz gets beaten up so much throughout the series and it's nice that there is a happy ending for him.
All in all probably the best set of fantasy novels of their kind, and possibly just one of the best set of novels, that I have read.
I should point out that the series needs to be read in order. Otherwise it is unlikely to captivate you.