Several years have passed since FitzChivalry Farseer, or Tom Badgerlock as he wants to be known, helped his cousin King Dutiful to help his spouse Elliania get rid of the other White Prophet that had demanded them to kill the ancient dragon Icefyre (as told in the Tawny Man-trilogy). Fitz is now married to Molly, living a quieter life as the guardians of Withywoods for their daughter Nettle, who is now the Skill master of Buckkeep.
As a warning, there are major spoilers here, so be warned. It's better to read this book, as knowing too much of it could spoil it. And this is a book that should be read, not summarized. just jump over the next 5 paragraphs to avoid spoilers if you so desire.
As a surprise, Molly suddenly announces being pregnant. This is something they had thought impossible as she has gone through menopause. At first, Fitz is delighted but soon begins to suspect not all is right. When the time of supposed birth comes and goes, it is obvious to him and Nettle, that Molly has lost her mind. But finally, several years after her announced pregnancy she does give a birth to baby girl, a tiny babe whom everyone thinks will die soon. But to everyone's surprise, she does not and despite growing slowly, she does grow, despite being always smaller than her years.
For a long time, people, even Fitz, believe Bee to be mentally challenged, as she does not speak and just runs after her mother. Then, after Molly dies suddenly, she is forced to speak with her father as well and it's soon evident that she is far smarter than anyone has thought. Fitz is ever surprised to learn that she knows how to read and write as well, though by her mother.
Some time passes after the death of Molly when Bee and Fitz receive a message from a dying messenger. The woman gives her mysterious missive from Fool, a White Prophet friend of Ftiz's, asking him to look for his unknown son. This is all, with no other information leaving both Bee and Fitz in the dark of the matter beyond danger towards Fool as well.
A bit later, on the eve of Winterfest, Bee, and Fitz are on a market, where Bee sees a blind beggar. As Bee wants to be brave, she escorts the man securely over the street. As he hugs her, Fitz sees this and thinks something foul is going on and as he stabs him, it's revealed the dying man is Fool, but badly tortured. He decides to take Fool to Buckkeep for healing and sends Bee back home.
While Fool and Fitz are in Buckkeep, Withywoods is attacked. Several people are killed and Bee is captured by mysterious attackers. And this is where the book one ends.
Major spoilers end here
Fool's Assassin is a fantastic read. I can easily peg it as the best opening book in all of the Farseer saga. It's well-written, flows with ease, and has a very deep emotional core. This is strengthened further by its two narrators.
As usual, Fitz does a lot of the narration. After a while, Bee becomes the second main narrator and we get to see the situations from her perspective, from a view of a 9-years old girl, who is trying to make sense of things after the sudden passing of her mother. She's trying to navigate not only the world and other kids who see her as strange, but find out things about her father as well, whom she before was pained to be in contact with because of his overflowing emotions thanks to Skill and Wit.
These two perspectives are often quite different. They both are filled with sorrow because of the death of Molly, but Fitz is also burdened by having his duties to the throne, his responsibilities to Withywoods and people employed by him, and his knowledge of him having very little idea on how to actually rise a little girl like Bee. Fitz is constantly dragged in every direction and he is extremely aware of how this must be affecting Bee when it looks like he is ignoring her.
Bee on the other hand sees her small world changing faster than she'd like. New people, new emotions, the feelings of being ignored and treated as something different. Those all boil inside her, even jealousy of her father when Shun, a bastard noblewoman comes to live with them after Chade begs Fitz to take her in. Bee is a great character in her own right, adding a delicious second layer of narration to her father's voice.
All this narrative depth packs quite a punch. Despite the time span the book takes, it's quite simply breathtaking. I do not have enough words to praise it.
Here's a thing though. If you haven't read the previous books in the series, you might not get as much out of from it. Sure, the basic gist of what has happened before is explained when the need arises, but for the best impact, it would be wise to read the saga from the beginning starting with the Farseer trilogy, which tells how Fitz became what he is and the Tawny Man trilogy which tells how he finally ends where he is at the beginning of this story.
This said Fool's Assassin is quite a read and a page-turner at that. It ends in a very delicious cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more. If this is the pace Robb keeps up in the next two parts, this just might be the best trilogy in the series.
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