/lit/ - Literature

>>18226772
ok, I just finished Fool's Errand, and I'm back on the Robin Hobb train. Shit's good. But I have to admit that it's still rather bloated. The first third of the book is pretty much an elaborate recap of the previous trilogy. Where old characters just meet up and talk and reminisce about the past. And it's a long as fuck book too. When I say 1/3, I mean like 8-9 hours of audio. For comparison, your average Cradle book is about 8 hours.

But I said I needed a refresher on events, and that's what it gave me, so I'm thankful for that. Perhaps it helps that the audiobook narrator is really good, so he makes conversational dialogue interesting. I love his interpretation of the fool. He gives him this asexual quality to his voice. Not sounding definitely masculine or feminine, but right in between. And when the fool gets into his aristocratic role, he makes him sound haughty.

They could have edited down some of the intro though. I know Robin Hobb wanted to establish a strong bond between the characters, but still it felt like some of it was excessive.

And Fitz is still frustratingly dense. I forgot about that. He was rash and stupid and for god knows what reason, people tolerate him. All because he has powers I guess. And he's really good at killing. But Fitz ALWAYS makes situations worse than they have to be. He ALWAYS makes bad decisions, or fails to plan, or fails to control his impulses. Constantly bungling everything. It's so annoying. I'm really trying to search for a redeeming quality. But he's just a huge fuck-up. I don't root for him at all. I just pray he doesn't fuck things up irrevocably.