Fool's Errand cover art

Fool's Errand

Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 1

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Fool's Errand

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Nick Taylor
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About this listen

Return to the world of the Farseers…

Robin Hobb’s best loved characters, Fitz , The Fool and Nighteyes the wolf, face new adventures and trials in the first book of The Tawny Man trilogy.

When Assassin’s Quest closed, Fitz was living in self-imposed exile. Wracked with pain, he had chosen to discard the magical gifts that had seen him survive the wonders and torments of navigating the legendary city of the Elderlings, and of raising a dragon.

Now, in this the first of a new trilogy, we are returned to the world of the Six Duchies and the lives of those who managed to survive the events of the first Assassin trilogy.

Fifteen years have passed and events are about to sweep Fitz out of his quiet backwater life and into the main political current again. Persecution of the Witted has become rampant throughout the Six Duchies despite Queen Kettricken’s effort to damp it. The Witted themselves have begun to strike back. So when 15 year old Prince Dutiful disappears, is it only because he is nervous about his betrothal ceremony to an Outislander princess, or has he been taken hostage by the Witted? Worse, is he perhaps another ‘Piebald Prince’, a Farseer tainted by Wit magic? As the desperate situation worsens, Kettricken has no choice but to summon Fitz to Buckkeep, for who better to track the young prince down than another gifted with the Wit, together with his bonded companion, the wolf Nighteyes?

©2013 Robin Hobb (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Military Royalty Paranormal Magic

Critic Reviews

"Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers… what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics." (The Times)

"A gleaming debut" (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant  
With a change in narrator from the previous 6 books following the story of the Farseers, words and names like kettricken and chalsed were prounced frustratingly different….
You think the new narrator would have listened to the correct pronunciation before starting, but instead had the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable and left me wondering who he was talking about.

Often there were no slight pause between the end of a chapter and the introduction of the next chapter, which removes the emotion from the story.

Also poor editing with the errors made by the narrator left in; with him restarting to read the same sentence.

I’m Frustrated

Terrible Performance for a great story

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So far I have listened to the assassin’s apprentice series, the magic ship series and this one.
I love love love them.
They are very well written, with fascinating plots that twist and turn surprisingly.
Robin Hob seems to be incredibly perspicacious when it comes to her characters and the relationships between them.
Spiced with deep symbolism, I love the social commentary, messages and teachings that flow beneath the surface.
The narrator often sounds a bit extreme with his dramatisation of the clipped, uptight, owning class accents, but he does a good job at differentiating the characters.
No respite between chapters.

I love these books

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narrator took a bit of getting used to but was fine. the story pick up and runs well with Tom.

great book in a fantastic series

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Robin Hobb has created a vivid and beautiful world in the Farseer books and this series is a great follow up to her first in this world. Picking up the story of Fitz and Nighteyes and the Fool is seamlessly done and the new adventures are just as captivating as the first series. Also, a great job by the reader to help you immerse yourself in the story.

A thrilling fantasy story

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I struggled at first with the difference in narration between this and the farseer. I'm glad I pushed on though, this is a beautiful story, Robin Hobb weaves magic with her words. There are some issues with editing, the start of each chapter is jarring. Far too loud and too quick after the soft ending of the previous chapter.

Takes some getting used to

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only criticism is that there is no gap between the last line of a chapter and the announcement of the next chapter. it can be quite jarring

great to get back to Fits

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Another great Fitz instalment.
But the pronunciation of the narrator and the poor editing was a let down.

There were several places where while paragraphs were repeated and words mispronounced eg “lead”.

But if you can ignore that, it is worth it.

Shame about the editing

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Great story as usual, good voice acting. Far too short of a book, looking forward to the next one.

Storytelling fantastic & good voice actor

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While Nick Taylor does a great job of narrating Robin Hobbs amazing stories, the production of this book is fairly woeful. Hobbs has an amazing knack for poignancy at chapter end. Whether it's a wistful lilt, a bombastic cliff hanger or a mournful dirge, all of which this book boasts in plenty, the end of each chapter requires a breath of calm reflection so the mind can process. This production lacks that. At the end of a heartbreaking chapter, as soon as the last word has been read, without half a second passing the production plows on with a neutral "Chapter X". This sounds like a small thing but i challenge you to listen to this and not take note of the savagely abrupt transitions which, in my opinion, negatively effects the product. Brilliant story, wonderful voice acting and terrible production.

Amazing story, great reading, average production.

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there was a moment early on where the narrator repeated a sentence that should have been editted out. the chapters clip off too quickly and then he SHOUTS "Chapter 28!" and its just jarring when it follows a really sad or sentimental moment

editing problems

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