Fool's Errand

We are here, you and I, Fitz, to change the world. Again.

Fifteen years have passed since the end of the Red Ship War, when the Outislanders' threat to the Six Duchies was crushed. For many, the memory of dragons passing high overhead has faded, becoming the stuff of dream – or legend. But for Fitz the past cannot be so easily laid to rest. Since he helped his King, Verity, raise a Skill-dragon with which to defeat the Outislander Raiders, Fitz has wandered the Six Duchies – from the Trader port of Bingtown in the south to the frozen lands of Bearns in the north – accompanied only by his wolf and Wit-partner, Nighteyes.

Assuming the name of Tom Badgerlock, Fitz now lives in a small cottage as far from the demands of Buckkeep and the cares of the world as possible. His responsibilities extend only as far as the chicken he keeps, his ageing wolf and Hap, the orphan boy he has adopted. But for the ever-present gnawing of his Skill-hunger, Fitz is content in his new life.

But this peace and contentment cannot last. Visitors bring the outside world crashing back into his life. The minstrel, Starling, brings news of how the Witted are being persecuted throughout the Six Duchies because of their magical bond with animals; and Fitz's old mentor, the assassin Chade, begs him to come back to Buckkeep to train the young Prince Dutiful in the ways of the Skill.

Yet it is only with the appearance of his third visitor, and the news that Prince Dutiful – fathered by Fitz's body – has gone missing that he decides to rejoin the world of the Farseers. With the young Prince's bride-to-be on her way from her Outisland home, Fitz's assignment to get him back in time for the ceremony seems very much like a fool's errand, but the dangers ahead could signal the end of the Farseer reign.

Hobb covers portrayed here are from UK editions, by John Howe.