Fool's Fate
 Illustration by John Howe | |
| Author | Robin Hobb |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | John Howe |
| Language | English |
| Series | Tawny Man Trilogy |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Voyager/Harpercollins |
Publication date | 1 November 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| ISBN | 0002247283 |
| Preceded by | The Golden Fool |
Fool's Fate is a book by Robin Hobb, the third in her Tawny Man Trilogy. It was published in 2003.
Plot summary
Once assassin to the king, Fitz is now Skillmaster to Prince Dutiful's small band, sailing towards the distant Out Island of Aslevjal. His duty is to help the Prince fulfil the Narcheska Elliania's challenge: Bring her the head of the dragon, Icefyre, whom legends say is buried deep beneath the ice. Only after this task is complete will they be married and bring an end to war between their kingdoms.
It is not a happy ship: the serving boy, Thick, is constantly ill/sea-sick, and his powerful telepathic abilities cause many on the ship to likewise be ill. Fitz, his Skill-dreams plagued by a female dragon, is unhappy at leaving the Fool behind but is determined to keep the White Prophet from his fate, death. Chade's fascination with the Skill is growing to the point of obsession.
Few on the Out Islands welcome the idea of a foreign prince slaying the Aslevjal legend.
A small party finally arrives on the frozen island where the dragon is, greeted by the Fool, who has flown there with the help of a stone dragon he previously rode. His intentions are at odds with Chade, who is determined to slay the dragon to secure peace, whatever the cost.
The Wit and The Skill
Throughout the six books that make up the story of FitzChivalry and The Six Duchies "The Wit" and "the Skill" play a major role.
The Wit is the ability to communicate and bond telepathically with animals, while the Skill is the ability to telepathically communicate and influence fellow humans. Late, we learn that both abilities can do much more and few of the possibilities are rediscovered by the characters of the Farseer trilogy.
Throughout the story constant referrals are made by the characters that those possessing The Skill have reduced in number and ability, as its teaching was confined in order to keep it a secret weapon for the king. In the distant past those with the Wit were first revered, then considered odd, until the event with King Piebald that made everyone despise the Wit. Since then, the Wit has been feared by the majority of the common people for hundred of years, leading even to public executions by angry villager. This led many families to live with their Wit kept secret, and some Wit families to live with their others like them, but clear of towns. By the end of the last book, efforts made by the Queen Kettricken contribute to a path in which, hopefully, will reduce the ignorance of common people towards the Wit and make it stop being despised.
In the past the King would be assisted/defended by several coteries of Skilled people, groupments that from the Skill Scrolls should at least include 6 members.
Some characters, such as Fitz, possess both abilities to a lesser or greater degree. There is the mention of other magics such as Hedgewitching and a few others (regarding elements such as water and fire), but they only play a minor role and not much is uncovered about them. An ancient scroll describes the circle of magics with relations one to another, meaning familiarities between some kind of magic and opposition between others. It's said that one who masters one magic can try learning the basics of related magics, but that one should never try to master all magics for mental problems or worse could ensue. The art of the Skill nearly got lost as for one period of time the only Skilled one in the Six Duchies who was able to use it with knowledge of what he was doing was Fitz himself, and he was barely trained. However, since then, scrolls of the past Skillmaster have been discovered, Fitz's mentor who had been denied training with much effort became able of Skilling, and both Fitz's children are proficient at skilling. The scrolls helped them discover a lot, and with the discovery of the Skill pillars, memory cubes and Elderling cities, they may hope one day to master the skill to a level comparable to the old skillmasters, for the Skill could truly do incredible things in the past. As of the end of the sixth book, Dutiful's coterie (Dutiful, Chade, Fitz, Nettle and Thick) are able at Skilling and twelve people answered the Calling, making a total of at least 17 Skilled ones.
The Skill originates from the Elderlings, who were a race of mythical beings that were much more advanced and often revered as god-like to the people of the Six Duchies, who had existed thousands of years in the past during the time before a great cataclysm that had nearly wiped out the dragons and humans both. It is later revealed that the Elderlings were actually a race of humans who underwent a physical and mental change due to their constant exposure to the then highly prevalent dragons. The dragons had their own form of telepathic magic that allows them to communicate with each other and to a lesser extent the Elderlings, who learn their own form of this mental communication magic as a result of this. This ability to mentally communicate with the dragons and each other is actually the predecessor to the Skill, which is genetically passed down from the Elderlings to their human offspring after the cataclysm. The Elderlings, who had by the time of their fall had cities all over the world, spread their genes to some of the surviving humans. The Skill-strength of a person is higher in those who have more Elderling blood in their veins. All Skill users are actually descendants of the Elderlings.
Editions
- A British English paperback edition was issued in London by Voyager/Harpercollins in 2003 with ISBN 0-00-224728-3.[1] This edition's cover is illustrated by John Howe.