Just finished Hobbs Assassin series....

[Cancerman]

OK..i am disappointed. Ive read on so many peoples lists that they ranked this series as some of the best fantasy ever written. I cannot see that. it was good, but not great.

My biggest problem was Fitz. I was hooked on Fitz when I stated reading, but the end, he was killing the whole story for me. I rooted for Fitz, I cheered him on, I wanted him to succeed , but damn he is whiny. I mean he is the most stubborn , negative, whiny, char I have ever tried to care about. At first I was making excuses for him, but by the end I just wanted to slap him. He never changed usually people learn and mature, he seemed to stay pretty much the same. All this stuff going on and he just wants to give up and stay a wolf for Way too long.

In comparison I read Name of the Wind...Kvothe and Fitz have some similarities and some major differences. Kvothe in wayyy more likable. When he is faced with a problem or set back, he figures a way to get through it. He keeps a positive attitude and makes it happen. Fitz whines and crys and wallows in self pity about the problem. The whole time I was reading Name of the Wind I was thinking if Fitz was in Kvothes shoes, he would either drink himself to death, or be one of the sweet eaters doing who knows what for money.

The "skill" also seemed like a lame version of the one power. Except it is not nearly as interesting, or well developed. How someone would rate these books over WoT is amazing to me. Of course there are far more WoT books...but if you compare the first three to these three its like Citizen Kane vs Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

With that being said I did like the books. Overall they were good. I guess I'm being hard because I hear them talked so highly like in the same realm or even close to series like ASOFI or better than say WoT. I don't see that at all.

My question is does Fitz grow up? Is he just a whiny negative guy? If so I don't think I could read the rest, and I would love to finish the series.

 

[ChrisW]

He does grow up a bit but there is plenty more whining to come before that

 

[Evil Agent]

Your complaint is a common one... Actually, one of the only complaints people seem to make about this series. I, however, am one of the people who disagrees with you. I loved Fitz, and never found him too whiny at all. In fact, I totally identified with Fitz, and felt sympathy for him right through to the end.

Also, I loved Nighteyes so much!

 

[Singularity101]

OK..i am disappointed. Ive read on so many peoples lists that they ranked this series as some of the best fantasy ever written. I cannot see that. it was good, but not great.

My biggest problem was Fitz. I was hooked on Fitz when I stated reading, but the end, he was killing the whole story for me. I rooted for Fitz, I cheered him on, I wanted him to succeed , but damn he is whiny. I mean he is the most stubborn , negative, whiny, char I have ever tried to care about. At first I was making excuses for him, but by the end I just wanted to slap him.

No, I still believe Frodo from LoTR is the all time whuss/crybaby/complainer EVER. It's a friggin' ring man... Come on now.

 

[Evil Agent]

No, I still believe Frodo from LoTR is the all time whuss/crybaby/complainer EVER. It's a friggin' ring man... Come on now.

You're joking, right? It's not just a ring. It's a ring...THAT'S POSESSED BY THE SPIRIT OF SAURON!

 

[pockiiee]

O I mean he is the most stubborn , negative, whiny, char I have ever tried to care about.

I had the same problem with him - I finished the books anyhow, I still don't like Fritz....making the same mistake again and again throughout the books, he was just a miserable character, but he drew out my emotions anyhow, which I think is one of the strengths of Hobb.


I know many people don't agree but I enjoyed her liveship traders series more than the farseer trilogy. I enjoyed the different points of view and loved the link it had to the sea and sailing, something I love so I may be biased by this. I thought her writing was improving - there are still whiny characters but you don't have to deal with them as often as Fritz, and they change and grow as the book progresses.

 

[cgw]

I thought the series was very good but have not been in any hurry to read the other series. I was wondering how they compared (pockiiee has giving me one point of view).

 

[Justin2209]

Cancerman, I felt the same way you did with this series. Fitz was the weak part the that series for me. I also thought that Wit was way better than Skill but that might just be me. I enjoyed the read but I won't be rereading them again and I wasn't hooked enough to continue the series. I felt the ending was rushed and very anticlimactic. I just felt like it read 3 books about dealing with the red ships and they were just dealt with in a few paragraphs. Maybe Hobbs was focused on the internal struggles of Fitz more but I wasn't attached to Fitz enough to really care.

 

[Evil Agent]

I had the same problem with him - I finished the books anyhow, I still don't like Fritz....

You read the entire trilogy, and you still think his name was Fritz?

 

[Myshkin]

You read the entire trilogy, and you still think his name was Fritz?

Probably an indicator of how very little pockiiee thought of Fitz.

I too disliked Fitz. I thought Liveship Traders was far better than either Farseer or Tawny Man.

 

[Singularity101]

You're joking, right? It's not just a ring. It's a ring...THAT'S POSESSED BY THE SPIRIT OF SAURON!

Settle down haas... I take it back. *cough* still a ring

 

[Cancerman]

thx for the comments. Im glad to see that others felt like fitz was the weak link in the story. I feel Hobbs writing in general was great, fast moving easy to follow. I have the Liveship books already, and Im thinking of giving them a go. I really wanted to like the series, I hope if Hobb writes more Fitz, he grows up some. He was a draining character and I cant relate personally to someone that negative.

I thought the wit was a very cool idea, its too bad they didnt get into it more. I really love this site thx for your comments I plan on hopefully adding to the community here.

 

[Jahgro]

thx for the comments. Im glad to see that others felt like fitz was the weak link in the story. I feel Hobbs writing in general was great, fast moving easy to follow. I have the Liveship books already, and Im thinking of giving them a go. I really wanted to like the series, I hope if Hobb writes more Fitz, he grows up some. He was a draining character and I cant relate personally to someone that negative.

I thought the wit was a very cool idea, its too bad they didnt get into it more. I really love this site thx for your comments I plan on hopefully adding to the community here.

Cancerman, Fitz had a horrible life. His life was probably one of the toughest out of any book I have ever read. Why wouldn't he be a little whinny? Every event he has ever faced he has been brought down lower than any man should be.

It's an incredible story of a mans struggle through his own morals, and right and wrong, And a larger story of a kingdom good vs. evil. If you think about if your life was Fitz's life, how would you act? Would you be able to be as strong as him?

Reading the assassin trilogy, I have never been so depressed in my life. His story was incredibly real and heartbreaking.

 

[Gilgamesh]

Hobb is one my favorite writers thanks to her trilogy of trilogies. When I red The Farseer Trilogy, I felt Hobb opened a genuine window to Fitz' life. At times I was sad for him, sometimes I was happy. And sometimes I was so angry at him for his behaviors. But all this seemed very realistic to me. I've been angry at some of my friends because of their stupid mistakes so many times that I lost count. People don't always do the right thing, which happens to be very subjective. People don't always do the thing that you expect from them to do. And sometimes they just stare at the choices the life offers them and they get lost in their fear of doing something wrong so that they completely miss the opportunities.

I loved the ups and downs of Hobb's books. I loved the depth of the main characters. I loved the world that she built... It was hard to say goodbye when I finished all the books. I'm glad that she's writing the Dragon Keeper. I'm not going to wait too long to buy it once it's published .

 

[Evil Agent]

I'll just speak up, once again, in defense of Fitz. He's one of my all time favourite fantasy characters, and I completely disagree with people who say he was too whiny. Jahgro makes a good point, which I agree with. If, as a reader, you can't understand that Fitz has had an incredibly difficult life, and you can't relate or feel empathy for him, then that makes me wonder.

 

[Justin2209]

I'll just speak up, once again, in defense of Fitz. He's one of my all time favourite fantasy characters, and I completely disagree with people who say he was too whiny. Jahgro makes a good point, which I agree with. If, as a reader, you can't understand that Fitz has had an incredibly difficult life, and you can't relate or feel empathy for him, then that makes me wonder.

I did feel he was whinny but really only in comparison to other characters in other books. Hobbs does a great job creating a sympathetic character. The problem was that I just couldn't like him. Fitz is a very realistic character. The problem with realistic is it comes across as weak and a little whinny (who wouldn't be in his shoes!). I honestly remember reading those books with anticipation of what he could become. I just felt he could have grown more from book one to book three and after finishing I felt disappointed at the lack of growth. I'm sure the same could be said for other characters in other books just as easily.

Also, at the rushed ending but that also could have just been me.

They were good reads but IMO they just don't make good entertainment. I can easily see why they are recommended so often though.

 

[Luke_B]

People have whined about Fitz being "whiny" on this board before. It's old news. Do people mean he's prone to uttering plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sounds? I can't ever remember Hobb describing him like that. Or do they mean that he has self-doubt, he suffers pain, and struggles with fear? If so, then that's exactly the reason I love Hobb's characterisation of Fitz. Hobbs has created a very moving vision of hero with Fitz. He struggles with great burdens on behalf of his nation with no recognition or thanks, but only persecution. Frankly, the character just wouldn't be believable if he took it all on the chin. Sure, Hobbs doesn't write macho epic fantasy but that's the reason I like her.

 

[Bear]

I don't feel Fitz was whiny. Whining implies that he complained a lot, and was always bitching to others about his problems. I always pegged Fitz as simultaneously stubborn and over-sensitive. And sometimes him being over-sensitive makes him dig his heels in, and causes a lot of problems he could have side-stepped.

But this is particularly what made him interesting to me. There were times where he was a frustrating character to read about, sure, and he made some bad decisions throughout both trilogies. His environment wasn't too kind to him either. But again, this is particularly what gave the series something of its own, in my eyes. Fitz wasn't the dashing hero who always saved the day. He was the guy who didn't speak up when he should have, brooded in the corner until his head cooled, then tried to pick up the pieces when it was too late. He sometimes confused honor with obedience, and he made some large decisions based on assumptions of how others felt, which is never wise. And he's your narrator.

I don't see these as faults of the series, and I don't think it was an accident that he was a frustrating character at times. They didn't hurt my enjoyment of the books. If anything, the fact that he could frustrate me says something about the series. I was invested enough that I wanted better for him, and sometimes ground my teeth when he was getting his feelings hurt over some minor slight and digging his hole deeper as a reflex, but not a lot of fantasy gets a strong reaction from me (particularly the epic fantasy stuff). I give the series credit for pulling me in enough to give a damn. And it's true that he didn't learn from his mistakes quickly. In fact, they steadily stock pile as things continue. But Hobb certainly doesn't let him off the hook for his behavior, which I also appreciate, even if the ending was nowhere near uplifting on account of it.

Add to that, the Fool is one of my favorite characters in fantasy. Another big plus for those books. If I have a complaint about the series, it's that sometimes I think the pacing could be a little tighter, considering the plot. But it's a minor quibble, and barely worth mentioning.

 

[Myshkin]

People have whined about Fitz being "whiny" on this board before. It's old news. Do people mean he's prone to uttering plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sounds? I can't ever remember Hobb describing him like that. Or do they mean that he has self-doubt, he suffers pain, and struggles with fear? If so, then that's exactly the reason I love Hobb's characterisation of Fitz. Hobbs has created a very moving vision of hero with Fitz. He struggles with great burdens on behalf of his nation with no recognition or thanks, but only persecution. Frankly, the character just wouldn't be believable if he took it all on the chin. Sure, Hobbs doesn't write macho epic fantasy but that's the reason I like her.

I think the problem for some people is that Fitz is constantly agonizing over some emotional trauma or moral dilemma. For some this is seen as a plus, for others though it can get tiresome. It is a matter of taste, and has nothing to do with "macho"-ness.

The tone of your post (and others up thread) suggest that some people are actually getting upset that not everyone likes Fitz as a character. This really baffles me. Why are you getting upset over that fact that not everyone likes the same fictional character that you like?

 

[ObtusePunubiris]

I have a theory about this...

I believe the fundamental problem is that some people simply do not have the ability to read a story where the primary protagonist exhibits less than desirable behavior. Reading such characters can evoke negative emotions that the reader then transfers to the author for lack of any other avenue to handle them.

Perhaps this all stems from how people read. If a reader imagines something of themselves in a character and that character does something objectionable, the reader loses their connection to the character and story. This disconnect is then viewed as the author failing to create a sympathetic character, when in fact the author has succeeded in created a character that is not always easy to sympathize with. Big difference.

On the other hand, readers who can separate themselves from the characters in a story may be able to see this more clearly because they have not involved themselves emotionally in the equation. That is not to say these reader aren't emotionally invested in the story, but just not in a way that results in the failings of the character reflecting on the reader personally.

Certainly this is not the case for every person who doesn't like Fitz or the Farseer books, but I think it happens quite a bit. It's very much like the folks who can't read the Covenant books because they cannot get past...

Spoiler

the rape scene.