Fool's Fate (Part 1)

Synopsis

The voyage to Aslevjal begins. On the delegation's ship, Fitz watches like a nameless assassin, the Fool like a lord condemned by his own visions. On the icy islands await: clans of Outislanders, spies of the Pale Woman, and an imprisoned dragon who may not deserve to be slain.

Robin Hobb shifts into epic mode. The landscapes of the Out Islands, the fog of Aslevjal, the stifled cry of the black dragon: all vibrate with a foretold ending. The Fool knows he will die. Fitz refuses this fatality. The narrative alternates between adventure's tension and the intimate depth of a relationship that barely dares to name itself.