Hobb-A-Long Read-A-Long discussion

Wait a minute was Chade Lady Thyme the whole time, omg I must be reading this wrong. So funny how Lady Thyme had made this trip so miserable for Fitz.

I am so sick of Fitz always being hungry. It's starting to get repetitive and annoying.

So it seems that the magic is coming out a bit more. Not only can Fitz connect with animals but also humans. And when so much has been taken from them and they no longer seem human Fitz could feel that and it scared him.

What scared me was how Chade was acting after the Carris Seed had worn off, I thought he was going to die.

What i don't get is why would the raiders hold people hostage and ask for pay in killing them and if not paid they would return the hostages.

Jessi wrote: "my thoughts on Chapters 6-10

Magic system is a bit abstract. So far I detect three, the Skill, the animal bonding thing that Fitz does... and whatever the red ship Raiders did to make those villag..."

Oh i didnt even thik of that. You think that the Raiders did something to those people. Becuase it seemed like they didnt take much, material wise, maybe they took part of their souls?

Samantha wrote: "Jessi wrote: "Tonya wrote: "Jessi wrote: "my thoughts on Chapters 6-10

Magic system is a bit abstract. So far I detect three, the Skill, the animal bonding thing that Fitz does... and whatever the..."

Good to know it gets better. Sometimes I am really into it and other times i am wondering when the chapter will be over so i can take a break.

Tonya wrote: "Wait a minute was Chade Lady Thyme the whole time, omg I must be reading this wrong. So funny how Lady Thyme had made this trip so miserable for Fitz.

Essentially they are saying "Give us money and we won't release zombies on your land".

Abner wrote: "Tonya wrote: "Wait a minute was Chade Lady Thyme the whole time, omg I must be reading this wrong. So funny how Lady Thyme had made this trip so miserable for Fitz.

Essentially they are saying "Gi..."

Right i get that now that i have read more.

So this is my second read of this book. I do really enjoy the intro to each chapter kind of like a background history of the duchies. Chade fooled me with Lady Thyme the first time now I know whats up and it's funny af to read all his ridiculous demands and his nagging of Fitz. Also we see Fitz resolve his first "mission" without resorting to killing or any other method except persuasion. This lets you know that the Kings assassin is not a blood thirsty hound waiting to be unleashed when someone need to disappear (die), it's more of a discrete tool to resolve problems in an indirect and discrete way. We see that Chade is getting old and needs drugs to accomplish his tasks thus he needs to train someone to take his place, the only difference is that Fitz is in plain sight unlike Chade that is a shadow, somehow I think being a "public" figure makes it more difficult to be an assassin.

First of all: Still hoping Nosy is alive, but doubting it more and more.

I really enjoyed the last 5 chapters and read them way faster than the first 5. I know the plot is technically moving slowly, but it really doesn't feel that way to me, maybe because I enjoy the atmosphere so so much. Anyone here knows the Witcher games, especially Witcher 3? I envisioned so much of Chades and Fitzs journey as parts of that game, don't know why :D

I love that we are getting a deeper look into the magic system! It's all still very vague but I am looking forward to figuring it all out.

Also Chade had me fooled so hard with the Lady Thyme thing, I only got it at the very end of chapter 10 :D

I'm surprised Fitz didn't realize it was Grace (the dog was a dead giveaway) but it's pretty cool how everything worked out.
I knew that the Red-Ship Raiders were having to do something to those people if they were released, and I can't wait to find out how they did that to those people.
I can't believe Chade was Lady Thyme. Need more explanation on how he managed that disguise so well, haha.
The Carris Seed I'm pretty curious about, because to me it feels like it has something more towards the story but was introduced kind of awkwardly (really, writing felt a little clunky here and there to me)

is it bad that i literally didn't get chade as lady thyme until right now. idk why. i must not have been paying as much attention as i thought, oops.

the red ship traiders are really very intriguing to me. they've obviously done something to the villagers, and one of the chapter intros said something about soul cleaving and im wondering if its that. that way they either get gold or to undermine iron production, so it's a win/win hostage situation. payment or disrupting the kingdom. OR it could be regal trying to undermine Verity as heir to get closer to the throne. i think regal is probably feeding the reds the info about verity being away. (sidenote: i still really like verity for all his lack of diplomacy. he's probably doomed though)

the magic is interesting and it seems like its only limited to the farseers because they limited the teaching of it so i wonder how they will react to a bastard having the skill and the wit!

^I definitely feel like Burrich has the wit, no doubt about it.

Ok I think the plot is picking up quite a bit more in these next 5 chapters. We're getting to see a bit more of Fitz's personality and he is communicating MUCH more. I'm enjoying the interactions he has with people as he ventures out of his shell. I really liked how he analyzed the situation with new Duchess and the older Duke who was not manning his towers properly.

I'm very intrigued to see where this plot line goes with the raiders and how this event will affect the King's decisions. I think I know whose bastard Chade is and it helps me to understand why the King would have kept Fitz around, even though Chivalry left and gave up his throne.

FrankieReads wrote: "Ok I think the plot is picking up quite a bit more in these next 5 chapters. We're getting to see a bit more of Fitz's personality and he is communicating MUCH more. I'm enjoying the interactions h..."

Yes i liked the Fitz was able to see in what was he could better handle the security of that area iinstead of just killing him, but he also knew that no one would listen to him so he has to go through the lady of that area, i forgot her name, to let that giy know he should be spending his money on better security.

I wish there were some more shorter story lines (questions asked and answered within a chapter etc.) then I would feel like the story was progressing more. So far it's setting up a lot. I'm very confused by the fantasy element of this as well. I'm looking forward to when the magic systems are explored and explained. My favourite character so far is Verity.

One thing that occurs to me about Fitz's assignment to Rippon and Bayguard is that they would never allow a thirteen year old on his first mission to make the final call on whether to assassinate the duke or not. That decision would come from either Chade or Verity. If they had decided to go ahead with it, then it would have been Fitz's job as agent in the field to find the best clandestine tactic for administering the poison and executing the order. I think the author decided it would feel too off-putting to readers to have her young hero do something so cold-blooded and callous at this early stage of the series and so gave him a clever out with the Lady Grace resolution.

John wrote: "I think the author decided it would feel too off-putting to readers to have her young hero do something so cold-blooded and callous at this early stage of the series and so gave him a clever out with the Lady Grace resolution. "

Yes i though it's was a nice way to do it. I think she wanted to show that the King wants to maintain his kingdom but he's not a ruthless cold blooded killer, thus he wants the situation resolved however can be done. Also i think Fitz kills a man but the scene is not detailed, just mentioned in a passage. just my thoughts on it.

So here are some of my thoughts that I jotted down while reading this sections:

I really enjoyed reading about Molly and Fitz and how their friendship sort of developed in the beginning of this section.

Regal just continues to be super horrible. Some of the things he says!
At least Verity still seem decent enough.

Chivalry died?! Very interesting to see if this will have an impact on Fitz' safety later on. With trying to remove the line?

"Fitz Fixes Fyce Fits, Fat Suffices". Try saying that 5 times fast!

So Lady Thyme was a cranky old woman!

I really enjoyed the scene where we get more insight into Fitz animal abilities. When he saves the little puppy who swallowed the bone.

WAIT!? Lady Thyme was Chade!? Sneaky little man! I did not see that coming at all!

That scene with the 'Red Ship Raiders' was super creepy to read. What just happened. That must definitely be some new sort of magical element added to the story.

Anyway. I'm enjoying the story, although at times it can slow a little, I am actually enjoying how she starts every chapter. I definitely find Fitz' story very intriguing.

I am so intrigued by the Fool! I can't wait to read more of him ^_^ And the Red Ship Raiders are making zombies....I'm hooked XD I have a feeling something is going to happen with Verity soon and I it isn't going to be good. Reading onward!!

So we are definitely learning that Fitz has his own ways of problem solving. I'm wondering if this is going to effect his and Chade's relationship in the future. They have pointed it out multiple times, such as when Chade was sending him off to do little errands and he gave the horse a limp without actually causing permanent hard to the horse and now again with the conflict resolution using Lady Grace.

How old is Fitz supposed to be during all of this? I have a hard time keeping up with the passage of time here.

I agree with everyone here that the Red Ship Raiders scene was very unnerving.

I'm excited to see a little more action and a little more political intrigue happening!

How old is Fitz supposed to be during all of this? I have a hard time keeping up with the passage of time here."

He's between 13 and 14 yrs old.

Woah. Just, woah. I'm LOVING this book now. It's getting so good with the Red-Ships and really mysterious. I think Chade is my favorite. Hope to finish it by Monday

Well that story took a turn towards the dramatic.
I honestly cna't put the book down right now and I just have so many theories, like why the Red raiders know where to attack.
My favourite scene so far was probably the kitchen scene between Fitz and Lady Grace.

I'm falling in love! I love Fitz, the setting, the writing, and the pace, it's a great build up of plot!

I really enjoyed the Chade/Lady Thyme bit. His/Her reprimands of Fitz are pretty funny.

Fitz really comes alive when it comes to animals. He has no fear of royalty or their feelings when it comes to the good care of an animal. I sense that is both the Wit and a bit of Burrich's doing. (As a fur baby momma, I was wincing when he pulls that bone out the dogs' throat... poor baby!)

Huh, so the Red Ship Raiders can do that?! It reminds me of when a persons soul is removed in Supernatural... they just stop caring about their families and only focus on trivial things.

I really like that a little bit more about what Fitz can do has come out. I really hope he is trained in the Skill/Wit soon. I feel like, if he has this natural ability without training, he could be really powerful.

The pacing seems to have picked up a bit... It might just be one of those novels with a slow beginning!

Samantha wrote: "I'm a little behind in this read-along myself so I'm just now re-reading Assassins Apprentice, but I just wanted to say: after everyone reads Fool's Fate, come back and reread chapter 6 of this boo..."
What I remember about this passage( the Keppet sequence, I think you mean) was that Fitz seemed to have that vague disorientation that sometimes occurs when you observe people who are in a blur of confusion, or an altercation; so that you then have to try to resume your awareness of your surroundings, only to be abruptly halted by a sight that makes everything you've just been paying attention to completely irrelevant; like in this particular instance, when Fitz's eyes find Molly's.

So if whatever is happening between those two women vendors hadn't occurred to make Fitz hyper-vigilant, he might not have seen Molly (who looks different now than the last time they saw each other and who might otherwise have been overlooked).

Samantha wrote: "I'm a little behind in this read-along myself so I'm just now re-reading Assassins Apprentice, but I just wanted to say: after everyone reads Fool's Fate, come back and reread chapter 6 of this boo..."

That makes me feel better, haha. I finished chapter 10 just now - was worried I was falling too far behind.

Chapter 10 made my mentality towards this book switch from 'This is a book I'm reading' to 'I love it I love it I love it'. This newest magic-thing with the villagers combined with Hobb's writing in presenting it just made this book for me. I'm seriously digging it now.

I found these five chapters went by a lot quicker and I feel that Regal has something to do with the raids and the raiders knowing just when to raid. Loving it!