Fools Assassin

by Robin Hobb

FitzChivalry ("Fitz") is a bastard of the royal Farseer family of the Six Duchies, who had previously used his inherited magical skills in the service of his king. After his past heroic sacrifices, Fitz had allowed all but his closest family and friends to believe that he had been killed. Under the name Tom Badgerlock, Fitz had enjoyed ten peaceful years with his wife and children as landholder of Withywoods, once the country estate of his father.

Fitz is reminded of the haunting disappearance of the Fool, a beloved friend who had helped shape Fitz's destiny since childhood, by the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers close to his home. Their arrival precipitates a new crisis and new tragedies, including an imminent and powerful threat to the life of Fitz's young daughter, Bee Farseer.

Fearing for the survival of both the Fool and his daughter, Fitz is driven to return to the world of court intrigue at Buckkeep Castle, where he must take up the threads of his old life in an effort to save everything he loves from destruction.