“Once, in perhaps a thousand years, there may come a man capable of making such a great change in the world. A powerful king, perhaps, or a philosopher, shaping the thoughts of thousands. But you and I, Fool? We are pawns. Ciphers.”

Fitz is still recovering from the attack he endured. He’s a poisoned shadow of his former self. Self pity and anguish makes him decide not to return to Buckkeep. But when Fitz in seizure accidentally skills he decides otherwise as he becomes aware of the health of his King and the political turmoil that’s present at Buckkeep.

As much as I liked the Assassins Apprentice, the second book in the Farseer Trilogy, was a lot harder to get through. Luckily enough this was a buddy read with @booksandrollercoasters , so we pulled each other through the struggle of 600+ pages. Slow fantasy is my jam, but this book was so heavy on character development that it lacked on plot while I desperately wanted to know more about what was happening with the Red Ships.
Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this book. The writing style of Hobb felt yet again like a warm bath on a cold winters day. The characters were so well fleshed out that they felt almost like I reunited with my family. So when I was rejoined in company with Burrich, the Fool and the strong female characters like Kettricken, Molly and especially Patience (bless her heart) I was thrilled. I even jumped for joy when Fitz developed a strong connection to the cub, Nighteyes - we are brothers we are pack. Surprisingly this book was quite heavy on romance. Although it did seem a bit much and many seem to hate that specific storyline I quite liked it.

All in all I enjoyed this book and rated it 3,5 stars.