Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

---

Following an excerpt from an in-milieu herbal, “Elfbark” begins with Fitz walking Withywoods again, now aware of the Skilled nature of the ensorcellment that has afflicted it. Steeled against it, he surveys the damage and loss again, and how he addresses the feelings that survey occasions is noted. He and Chade brew elfbark and other herbal concoctions, purposing first to dose Perseverance against the ongoing pain of his injuries and then to administer elfbark to those at Withywods who have been affected by the ensorcellment. Lant is the first of the latter, and the memories breaking upon him once the compulsion to forget is blocked stun him, though Chade questions him despite the shocks.

Lant reports events leading up to the raid on Withywoods and of the event itself. Chade continues to prod, and Fitz quashes bitterness within himself. As Lant completes his report, Fitz and Chade confer together about the implications thereof, determining the power involved in enacting such work. Others are summoned and dosed with elfbark, and more reports are made, clarifying events surrounding Bee’s abduction. Fitz continues to puzzle over the idea of the Unexpected Son, and Perseverance lets out that Fitz is himself. How to proceed thence is discussed.

The present chapter is not the first one to bear the title, of course; one such prior chapter is here, with another here. Both such chapters focus on the deleterious effects of the drug, something the preface to the present chapter reinforces. And some of the negative effects of elfbark, particularly for those being introduced to it for the first time, do show up in the present chapter, although how much of the despair evidenced by characters in the text is a result of the drug and how much is a result of being forced to confront their trauma and victimization is not entirely clear; what the text presents could easily be taken either way. So much said, having the consistency in depiction across the milieu and across decades of writing is a good thing to see; while there may be some argument made against the insistence of late twentieth and early twenty-first century fan communities on internal alignment, such insistence does inform the context in which Hobb writes and in which I read and reread the work, so it is something worth pointing out, at least for now.

With the contexts of composition and initial reception in mind, I suppose some note about the moralizing in the prefatory materials is in order. It is, as I believe I’ve noted and as I know no few people have remarked, not the case that an author of fiction will believe everything that is presented in a text; the perspectives of characters, even unnamed ones not appearing directly, may reflect the author’s informed understanding, but they do not necessarily reflect the author’s opinions or beliefs. As such, I do not think it is the case that Hobb opposes recreational use of mild intoxicants; I think it would be too much of a stretch to read the text in such a way. I do think it would also be too much of a stretch to read the text as a full-throated endorsement of such use, however; as with many things in Hobb’s work, there’s more nuance than that–and, frankly, even the worst drugs used in the Realm of the Elderlings corpus seem to have a time and a place. So maybe that’s the “message” to take from this, if there is one.

It is, after all, “just a story.”

I’m happy to write to order for you; fill out the form below to get your piece started!

Or you can send your support along directly!