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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great series but we need more..., August 12, 2000
By A Customer
I've been somewhat depressed since finishing this last book in the Liveship series. It was a wonderful story and even though the author will return with more on Fitzchivalry, it's very hard for me to say good-bye to the characters in this novel! I've often thought that a third trilogy in this world that finally takes us into the Chalced States could fully explain it's evil history and bring about some force for revolution. Let's hope that Fitz will be joined there with Amber, Althea, Brashen, Clef, Ronica, Reyn and the ships!! I'm also dissatisfied with the ending. Many details seem to have been rushed by in an effort to tie things up quickly. I can't believe that the reunion in Bingtown was not described. Neither was the reaction of the Bingtown folks to the news from Jamailla. Huge construction projects were undertaken in the Rain Wilds and only hinted at. A final conversation between Althea and Wintrow must have happened off the page and we can only guess at its contents. In fact, we don't hear Althea's voice much at all in the second half of the book. What happened to her passion? It would be different if she had had an opportunity for vengeance and chose forgiveness instead. I feel that she was robbed. Especially Kennit's lies wounded her and there is no final accounting or reparations. Why didn't she stand up and denounce him? Why didn't Brashen tell everyone what happened during the "truce". Why was Wintrow and everyone except the wizardwood charm/conscience taken in by Kennit's manipulations? Kennit may have begun to face the pain of his past, but he never acknowledges his current misdeeds and especially his lies. And it is just painful to read as one person after the next falls for his machinations. He never truly becomes whole without facing himself. Still, this is one of the best trilogies I have read and my main complaint is that it's over! Please have some of these characters sail on!
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Little fall-off from a high beginning, August 23, 2000
With so much being churned out in the way of epic fantasy, it's always a pleasure to come across something original and unique. I felt that way about Hobb's Assassin books and wondered if she'd be able to maintain such high standards in this latest trilogy. While I don't believe she quite got there (it is after all a pretty high bar she set herself), this series certainly stands on its own as quality fantasy, and its final book is a fitting conclusion (though one wonders if that word has been banned from the genre). The basic storyline is both original and interesting, and she manages to avoid the typical banalities of genre fiction. Hobb creates characters far more often than character types and then flings them out into her world on their own or in various twos and threes. Best of all, her characters are often conflicted over their motives and actions, allowing for a depth of introspection seldom seen in the genre. And nowhere is this better done than in her main character Kennit, who alternately has the reader pulling for his success and hoping for his well-deserved comeuppance. It is a tightrope act she attempts with this character and I at least would have to say she pulled it off. It is tough enough to evoke an emotional response in a genre where characters all too often barely squeak into two dimensions, let alone three, but here Hobb swings for the fence in an attempt to elicity a multiplicity of responses. And she connects fully. Not only with Kennit, but with others as well. It takes a brave soul to attempt a character made out of wood; it takes an excellent writer to make me care about that character. Is the final book as strong as the first? I personally don't think so but it doesn't tail off much. Does the book seem rushed toward the end as several readers have commented? Without a doubt. Some plotlines are all too neatly resolved (one of her characters tries to make a distinction between "coincidence" and "destiny", but I wasn't buying it myself) and some characters' roles/personalities change a bit too abruptly, but in a work that spans three good-sized novels and a dozen major characters, these turn out to be minor complaints, far outshadowed by the quality of the story and especially the characters. She's two for two in series and I look forward to her next work--I wouldn't even mind if it's another multi-book "epic".
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Series Whose Conclusion Somewhat Disappoints, August 9, 2000
After the strengths of the first two books, as well as the opening two thirds of this volume, I would have been willing to assert that this trilogy was one of the best works ever written in fantasy. In almost all respects, I continue to believe this. However, Hobb has somewhat sadly stumbled in the concluding hundred pages, appearing to rush to resolution, as if having once predetermined that this work would be a trilogy, she could not decide to extend it into a fourth book. This is truly unfortunate, has her conclusion appears rushed and, compared to the pages preceding, loosely wrapped up, with a resolution that is only barely satisfying. After all the character and plot development that led up to this work, the final hundred pages seem precipitate. The main characters come together abruptly and in a way that is largely contrived, several are disposed of summarily, and everyone else lives happily ever after. While this type of fairy tale ending may satisfy some, I found the conclusion to Hobb's earlier Farseer Trilogy far more credible. Further, the disposal of the Chalcedians, the plot against Bingtown and the Satrapy of Jamaillia, the restitution of the Vestritts, and the rescue of the fortunes of the Wild River Traders, as well as Reyn and Malta's new identities, never reach full fruition, rather arbitrarily and hastily wrapped up as are so many other plot threads earlier so well developed and measuredly evolved, and Wintrow's fate in particular seems atrophied. Finally, the mystery of Maulkin's Tangle gets settled simply with a quick trip up the river. While I continue to believe overall that this is one of the best works of fantasy that I have read, I nonetheless remain mildly disappointed in the ending. After the investment of time and energy, both by the author and myself, in setting up and developing a wonderful story, I can only wish that she had been willing to committ an equal amount of time and development to her ending, which would have provided the substantial balance needed to conclude this story fully. As is, the ending seems somewhat stillborn, with so much more that it could have offered. I can only say that I'm sorry.
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