The second book in the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, and by far possibly the best of the three, this book picks up where the first left off, with Regal's assassination attempt on Fitz failed miserably, where the main character still isn't in a situation to do anything about it but return to Buckeep as he is bound by duty to the King. Regal grows impatient to succeed the throne, and as he grows more ambitious, so do his attempts grow more extreme. Though the premise of being stuck in a situation where you can't do anything to the person who's repeatedly trying to kill you has been used (and proved to be fun to read) in the previous book, this book explores further into Fitz growingly complicated life. His duty to the King interferes with his love life, which recieves a stunning revival with the return of a certain someone, his ability with the Skill leads to some problems, conspiracies are being formed, and all the while, the Kingdom is STILL under fire from the Red Pirates, who seem to be getting further and further inland. And still no one is getting any closer to solving the mystery of Forging.
A lot of characters are developed in this book, again proving Robin Hobb's finesse. Most first-person type books aren't very capable of giving a balanced view on its other characters, but Robin Hobb pulls it off. Verity faces his problems as King-in-Waiting. Burrich's disapproval of Fitz's usage of the Skill still threatens their relationship. The Fool remains as mysterious as ever, and darker characters are given more spotlight in this book. The turn of events also remains, as before, unpredictable, making this book harder to put down than the first as the twists come so suddenly and so unexpectedly that they send you reeling with every passing chapter. The ending also end convieniently for you to start rushing to the stores for Book 3.
Another matter that I would like to bring to attention is the introduction of the character Nighteyes, the wolf, which leads to the forming of possibly the most powerful human-animal bonds ever.
Robin Hobb again wields power over our emotions. Expect to grumble, scream, shout and smile with every event that the main character experiences. With the bulk of the Farseer Trilogy in this book, if you've gotten this far, you'll realize that the 60+bucks spent (on this one and the one before) was well spent. More than well spent, even. I keep it with me, alongside His Dark Materials and The Sight, which shows just how much I adore this series.
And yet I only have Shahril to discuss it with. (rolls eyes)
Khairul won't take my word for this, but this book deserves a 10 out of 10. 12 even. It's that damn good.
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