𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓.

𝑻𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝐳𝒆, 𝜤'𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

𝑴𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.
________________________


I've been gently pestered to start this series for a long time, and what a fool I've been to wait so long.

Poor, dear Fitz. Hobb has a magical way of endearing this boy to you. I think it helped that I have a similarly aged child as Fitz when he starts out on this journey but there's something incredible that kept me from feeling anything but sympathy and a desperate longing for someone to love Fitz like he deserves. I'm not a sucker for a sad boy usually. It drives me nuts, actually. But Hobb balances that tightrope and keeps him on the right side of sympathetic, not pathetic. The supporting cast is detailed and nuanced, no one is flat, everyone feels authentic and complex.

The plot is slow, this isn't a book of action and suspense and thrills. But somehow it took me like a boulder rolling down a hill and I had to keep on going. I'm fully invested in the story and the politics and the action to come, just hinted at.

The world is complex and varied and interesting. We've not remotely scratched the surface of what is going on here with the lore, history and world building and I cannot wait to see where it's all going in the next one.