I LOVED the ending of Assassin’s Fate, but the inconsistencies and the way the Liveship characters were reduced to the background made me dock a full star. I sobbed like nobody’s business over that ending, and honestly still haven’t recovered over a year after reading it! While this book definitely feels like the most "middle book" out of the three "Fitz" middle books in the series (i. To me, this felt like Robin Hobb had simply forgotten about one of the best, most heart-wrenching scenes she’d ever written, and I hated it!

Especially Bee and Shine’s scenes were so suspenseful and I loved seeing them pool their resources and work together despite their issues with each other.

Also, Bee convincing her captors that Shun is essential just about broke me 😭 Gimme that Shun arc, Robin Hobb, because if anyone has ever needed development, it’s her! And Fitz also overheard quite a bit about the Fool carving his face onto Paragon, so would he really be so clueless when Malta alludes to it yet again?

For those who are not fans of jumping points of view, this book might at times irk, as we continue to jump primarily from Fitz’s point of view, to that of his daughter, Bee. There are very few authors who can get me to tolerate considerable detail spent on clothing, gifts, feasting and just plain organizing stuff. And, little Bee, Fitz daughter has been taken, but it will take some time for Fitz to know that, but when he does, then he will do everything in his power to get his daughter back and punish the bad people behind the kidnapping.Then something new would happen, but within the same chapter or the next, characters are rehashing that action as well. I loved seeing the Farseers together and acting as a semi functional family unit in this and I can’t wait for Fitz and Beloved to reunite with Bee, but knowing Robin Hobb I doubt things will be that simple. This entire buildup made the second half of this book land so extremely well for me with (dare I say) fast-paced action, character-defining moments, shocking and exciting character appearances, and series-defining lore drops.