Okay. Here goes.

[clo_again]

First of all, FITZ YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOT! That over with, onto my other thoughts.

The Bad

- the first couple of hundred pages dragged a bit. It was all; "Oh they're on a ship, oh Thick is seasick, look Fitz is doing nothing, oh they're on land - wait they're on a ship again!" I started to worry that the series had fizzled out but when it picked up a bit around 250-300 pages I really began to get into it.

- Thick began to irritate me after a while. I have nothing against the character but the restrictions on Fitz.... I've always enjoyed Fitz sneaking around and exploring because it meant I as the reader got to see more of what was going on around him - when he was reduced to hauling Thick around it really limited his exploration. Perhaps this was intentional, but I wish Thick had been his responsiblity less often.

- The whole thing on Wuislington I found too dragged out. I suppose it did provide some important clues but I'd rather it had all taken place in Zylig and saved more tedious sea journies. Just a personal gripe.

- The Pale Woman. Admittedly she was an excellent villain. She was scary as hell and had the added advantage of being almost an evil!Fool which was great. However with the first book being about Piebalds and the second focusing on Buckkeep, Elliana and Peottre, having the Pale Woman spring out was surprisingly disconcerting. Unlike Regal who was there throughout the 'Assasin' series, the Pale Woman has been a far too nebulous presence to be as effective as she could have been. This is where I feel telling it all from Fitz's POV falls down - what you gain in closeness to the character you lose by not being able to relate events elsewhere in the world.

- Fitz wasn't there when Burrich died? I don't understand that. I think Fitz should *definitely* have been there. To me that was the whole point of having Burrich on Aslevjal anyway - otherwise he could have simply fallen off his horse or something back in the Six Duchies and Fitz would have found out when he got back. I think we were robbed of a rare moment between Burrich and Fitz there.

- Molly. Molly was never my ideal match for Fitz. She's nice. She'd be an excellent friend. She's an okay character. But his wife? She's missed far too much of his life. She's had seven children *without* him. She doesn't know anything of his assasin training... does she? I need to re-read the earlier books, but still she doesn't know enough of what he's been through, of what he is. Fitz himself admitted Molly would have forced him to choose between Nighteyes and her. So why, WHY, after all the incredible Fitz/Fool hints - and at times far more than that - of this book, does Fitz end up with Molly? It makes no sense. Fitz grew beyond Molly a long time ago. He and the Fool switched bodies for crying out loud! He brought the Fool back from the dead! How the f**k can he end up with Molly? It feels like RH tried to force a fairytale ending on the whole thing and it simply hasn't worked. I *liked* Molly/Burrich. I almost cheered when Molly turned Fitz away from her room at the end of FF. Molly/Fitz was over *long* ago. Grrr.

- So the Fool left at the end without knowing Fitz was alive?! He just *left*?!! WTF?!! And Fitz made *NO* attempt to follow him, to catch up with him, to let him know that he was okay? I'm sorry, but that seems highly out of character for the both of them. Fitz refused to let the Fool *die* for godssake, just shrugging off his departure like that doesn't match. Grrr.

- Fitz was a moron *so* many times during this book. No one can be that dense. No one. I'm sure they can't be. Honestly Fitz. Get a clue.

- The whole Rooster Crown thing? o_O Not really a complaint just like an... "Okay. That was bizarre." Ministrels?!! Just.. after all that build up it contained ministrels?!

- Speaking of build-up, I did think the first meeting between Nettle and Fitz would be more momentous. It was like.... "Oh look. Nettle. Eh." -_-

- Uh... hello, left open for sequels! I however do not want more sequelsat this point, I want my Fitz/Fool happy ending and I want it now. Dammit.



The Good

- The Fool on Aslevjal!! OMG@£$#%$$*inchoherentsquealing*!! I knew he was gonna be there, but still....I think I surprised my family with the squeals of joy. ^__^

- I *highly* approved of Fitz's Skill being disabled - at that point it was beginning to become a bit too much of an advantage. It's annoying when it looks like the heroes have too many advantages. Strange the way they managed it but it worked I guess.

- I cried when Burrich showed up on Aslevjal. *blushes* I almost couldn't believe what I was reading then I went back and he WAS there and I cried. No matter how impossible, no matter how silly or ridiculous his being there could be argued to be, right then I was feeling so depressed about the whole Fool-being-captured-thing that Burrich showing up made me as happy as it made Fitz.

-I cried *SO* much towards the end of this book. Before the Fool left and definitely before he was brought back to life, I was sniffling every few pages. I don't do that with many books so it was a mark of how much I was enjoying it... though the Fool being dead tore me to pieces for a while.

- I screamed lengthy and highly offensive insults at Fitz when I thought he was just going to leave Aslevjal without looking for the Fool. I screamed them all the way up until he said 'I'm not going' and then I started screaming with happinness. *looks sheepish* And I cried when Thick stayed behind too. I was just so happy I thought they might find Fool alive.

- Fitz bringing the Fool back to life - I LOVED IT! It was far more believable than I would have expected it to be. I was just speechless all the way through. It wasn't silly and it didn't jar the mood of the book and I just loved it. Although have we heard the rooster crown was made of wizardwood before? I can't remember.

- I enjoyed the antagonism between Chade and the Fool - it was great to have a divide within the group. Plus it fit well with Chade's character though I found him more of a spooky character in this book than I had in the others.

- The Pale Woman *was* a good villain, despite my complaints about her sudden appearence. She was genuinally scary.

- The Fool crying when they were lost in the ice palace. *wibbles* I was practically screaming at Fitz to hug him and he DIDN'T! You idiot! Just hug the poor man for crying out loud, he was a bit upset about his imminent death!

- The Fitz/Fool moments. They were what *CARRIED* this book. This entire trilogy has revolved around them and the beautiful moments they had in this book really made me happy. I would however, have wished for at least one proper kiss between them - they've only ever had two, one back in the Assasin series which was barely more than a brief mention and the one here which was for a different purpose entirely. I really wish they could have had just *one* sweet, romantic kiss, especially since RH was so determined to force Fitz/Molly on us at the end.

- So after all that the Fool was a guy? *rolls eyes* Okay. I wonder if he *had* been a girl we'd still have got stuck with the Molly/Fitz ending? Though it doesn't matter; we should have had a Fitz/Fool ending regardless of gender.

-I loved Lacey and Patience. I really did. I've always enjoyed Patience's character and to have them show up again was fantastic.

- I LOVED Nettle calling Fitz 'Lord Wolf'. I can't think of any better title for him and I really wish it had somehow been worked into the plot as his new assumed name. I liked Nettle overall in this book, though she became less interesting towards the end.

I think that's about all for now, or at least all I can remember. Overall I enjoyed it, especially about pages 350-700 or so, but the ending ruined it by making no sense when compared to the rest of the trilogy. Dammit. Not to say that I won't be re-reading all my favourite Fitz/Fool parts again. ^___^ I do think though I will begin to get annoyed if she takes advantage of the sequel-friendly ending and writes another lot of books. I'll read them of course, just for Fitz and the Fool, but I will not be best pleased.

Great reading, but sadly not on par with the Assasin trilogy.



Good grief. I'm knackered after all that. ^__^ Ice-skating was great. We have to go again.

Love, peace and jelly babies,

Clo

EDIT: Ooooooooooh boy. I had Fitz/Fool plot bunnies nibbling at me when I finished the book last night and now someone just wondered what Fitz's reaction would be if he saw Paragon. >__< SOD OFF YOU DAMNED BUNNIES!