Fool's Quest

Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy is hands-down my favorite fantasy series of all time. Nothing compares to it. With the other series that follow, Hobbs' world just gets richer and more intricate. Having said that, it's been years since I read her, but picking up Fitz' story where we left him at the end of The Golden Fool books, I fell right back in. I think all readers should take that to mean you can jump back into the fire easily, or if you're new to the Fitz books, the characters are so wonderful and the plots so captivating you don't need a backstory (though reading all the previous books is highly recommended). Hobb is so adept at incorporating the history, memories, anecdotes and emotions of the characters without info-dumping; she's at the top of her game here and in book one, Fool's Assassin. The character of Fitz, with his good heart and his self-reproach, is still frustratingly lovable; but really all the characters - from a stable boy to a proud horse named Fleeter to Nettle the skillmistress - command our attention. Hobb can pack a tear-jerking punch into only a few lines of dialogue, and the threads of secrets and intrigue in these novels have been woven into a fine blanket that I happily wrapped up in. A nuclear war could've happened while I was reading Fool's Quest and I would've been oblivious. It's that good.