Finally, I have finished this very long book. It took me more than a month! Not only because it’s a long read (760+ pages, tiny letters, small margins, etc.), but because my reading habits have shifted significantly for a couple of reasons. In the end, I can say it was worth it.

As the third and final instalment of the Farseer trilogy, it’s obviously impossible to place the story of this book into proper context without spoiling major plot points in the prior two volumes. Let’s consider, for the purpose of this article, that the first book is done with, so here’s a ridiculously short summary of the second book. (Highlight it with your mouse to see better).

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

FitzChivalry is serving King Shrewd as the Royal Assassin. Eventually, the king becomes quite sick and King-In-Waiting Verity takes it upon himself to lead the war against the invading forces. Fitz helps the prince as much as he can, while also spending quite a bit of time serving his father’s wife, Patience, and Verity’s wife Kettricken. At the same time, he forms a very strong Wit (his supernatural ability to communicate with animals) bond to a wolf cub he’s rescued, Nighteyes. All the while, he is also hiding a romantic relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Molly. He is quite busy with everything going on, especially since he’s trying to hide his Wit from prince Regal and his Skill-capable servants. In a desperate attempt to obtain some help in the war, Verity sets out West to find some help in the Elderlings, a legendary people who has helped the King of Six Duchies generations earlier. Regal takes this opportunity to take control of the Keep and quickly pronounce Verity dead, making him the official King-in-Waiting. Not long after, the King dies, murdered by Regal’s crew and their Skill. Witnessing this, Fitz goes berserk and kills two of Regal’s cronies. Regal accuses Fitz of murdering the King and jails him. While Regal declares himself King, Fitz is then tortured, mentally and physically, to the point that he has to leave his body to join his wolf in the Wit. Declared dead by Regal and buried, his body is then exhumed by two of his closest allies (Burrich and Chade) and he eventually shifts his consciousness back in from Nighteyes.

**SPOILERS END**

In this third entry, Fitz starts by recovering from the events that saw him flirt dangerously close to death. His friends and mentors, Burrich and Chade, nurse him back to health. He decides to go on a personal quest of vengeance against the new king, Regal. After an attack, both his mentors believe him dead and he finds himself alone with his wolf, Nighteyes, to continue his quest. As his Wit-bond with the wolf becomes deeper and see them blend into one another.

His first attempt on Regal’s life is unsuccessful, but Fitz receives a message from Verity, still alive in the mountains and wishing for the young man to join him. At the same time, Fitz learns through the Skill that Molly is pregnant with his child, a happy news that coincides with a decidedly unhappy one as Verity’s wife, Kettricken, lost her child during pregnancy.

Fitz continues his quest with Nighteyes towards the mountains, meeting quite a variety of folks, some of whom decide to follow him, like a mysterious old woman named Kettle and a travelling minstrel named Starling. Danger abounds, as Regal and his remaining followers are determined to catch him and do what they failed to accomplish earlier.

I won’t go into more details as far as the story is concerned, because it is worth discovering on your own. We get an even deeper understanding of Fitz as a character, a complex young man dealing with a plethora of life-altering events. Like it was the case in the first couple of tomes, there is quite a bit of action, but the story evolves mostly outside of these events, in the innumerable conversations between the different characters.

The difference for me was how invested I felt towards Fitz and Nighteyes, particularly. As readers, we met him when he was a six year-old kid and we see him grow and evolve, dealing with enough suffering for multiple lifetimes. We root for him on his quest and feel his pain with every setback. He’s clearly not an invincible or infallible hero, but he tries to do right as much as possible, even if he makes questionable decisions here and there. That makes him all the more relatable.

Apart from the Tolkien universe, The Witcher series and a few other book series aimed at a younger public (i.e. Percy Jackson or Harry Potter), this was one of the rare times I delved into fantasy novels with this trilogy. It’s not exactly an easy read. It’s very dense and we spend a lot of time inside the protagonist’s head, so the only perspective we ever have is his, leaving us wondering how others perceive the immense changes the Kingdom of Six Duchies is going through. Furthermore, the particular magic (the Skill and the Wit) at play in this world can be hard to grasp. At times I had to go back a couple of pages because the transition between the “real” world and what is experienced through the Skill or Wit isn’t exactly clear. It takes some getting used to. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to get into other fantasy series.