Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb

Yesterday I finished Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb. It marks the end of a journey. For Fitz and the Fool, and for myself.

Over two years has passed since I picked up the first book in Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderings series of books, Assassin's Apprentice. Assassin's Fate is the sixteenth, and the final book in the vast and magical universe that Robin Hobb has created for us to take part in.

What a journey it has been.

This is not a review of the series that comprises four trilogies and a tetralogy. Nor a review of the final Fitz and the Fool trilogy. It isn't even a review of the book that concludes the story. I simply felt compelled to share some thoughts after reaching the end of these stories.

All of Robin Hobb's books are slow burners.

Throughout reading them, I've stopped thinking about each individual book as a separate unit. Although the books can be read individually, each sub-series really is one distinct story. Seems to me they have been divided into separate books for practical reasons. I am very glad I didn't follow these books as they were released. The waiting between releases would've been unbearable. As I've read them (on my Kindle) I've barely stopped to pause when reaching the end of one before continuing with the next.

The books are character driven. Although set in a rich world, well developed with its lore and mythology and various forms of magic, the characters take centre stage throughout. And they are rich characters. Fully developed, flaws and all. So much of Hobb's take on the human condition, I can relate to. I lost count of the number of times these books made me go ‘I never thought other human beings thought such silly thoughts, in such destructive manners’.

Some characters develop and they grow. Others never find peace nor redemption. But throughout it all, you get a feeling of them being distinctly human. Which, I suppose, is why reaching the end of this world feels a bit sad. It's like saying goodbye to a cast of people you've become acquainted with, grown comfortable with, over years.

But what a send-off it was.

The moment I understood where Hobb was going with the story, I was literally shouting for joy. She took almost every interesting thread of story and character from every single one of the preceding fifteen books and weaved them together in one perfect conclusion. It was the Realms of the Elderlings version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe of superheroes. With none of the superpower fatigue. None of the decline in quality.¹

I loved it.

Every single moment of this book, I loved. It felt like a perfect culmination of a story I had spent years following. A celebration of all the wonderful and magical characters I had met along the way. An homage to the perfect imperfection of the fucked up human relationships that make life worth living.

And a wolf.

Don't have much more to say than that. I don't know if you'll like these books. I sure did. Even if sometimes getting through felt a little bit like a slog. But it was worth it. Well worth it!

If you do want to make the commitment, I have one advice for you: Don't skip anything. Don't even blink past a sentence or two. If you do, a moment of beauty in this parting gift that is the final book will almost certainly fly by without you noticing.