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Comments about the Treasure Beach on Others’ Island precede “The Vengeance.” The chapter returns to Bee as she watches what the dragons do that emerge from the Paragon, and she assesses her situation as she directs Perseverance to seek what can be found amid their tumultuous surroundings. Survivors begin to gather and take stock of their collective disposition, and Bee sours on the Fool. Kennitsson’s death is reported, as is the poor condition of the son of Althea and Brashen, and the Fool and Bee confer about their loss, Bee souring on him yet further, and rapidly.

Bee continues to watch the dragons wreak ruin on Clerres, and those that emerged from the Paragon are joined by Heeby and, unexpectedly, by Icefyre. Motley joins the onlookers as Icefyre enacts his own revenge on Clerres, and the crow soon flies among the dragons as Prilkop emerges to offer Bee and her companions assistance. Prilkop urges the Fool to sue for peace, but the Fool replies that the dragons will have none of it, and Tintaglia joins the fray. The Fool urges Prilkop and his own companions to flee, and Bee speaks her own recriminations of Clerres.

Conversation is interrupted by Brashen’s recovery and his son’s report of events to him. The dragons’ ruin of Clerres continues around her and her companions, during the night and into the morning. In the morning, the dragons that had emerged from the Paragon claim the body of Kennitsson, consuming it and his memories, and one of them shares his name, Karrigvestrit, adopting the ship’s family’s name as part of his own. The dragons depart, and the survivors begin to take care for themselves. Bee finds, to the surprise of most assembled, that she can heal with the Skill. Rapskal joins the group, offering awkward condolences and reporting the imminent arrival of the Vivacia before joining those assembled in remembrance.

Bee wakes the next morning to breakfast served by Perseverance and a report from him. Part of the report is that the Fool has sought Fitz again; the Fool returns, unsuccessful, and Bee hardens her heart against him.

The prefatory materials of the chapter call back to the beginnings of the Liveship Traders novels, laying out explicitly the rules Kennit violates in his own trip to the shore in question. As at several earlier points in the Realm of the Elderlings corpus, there is an impression with them that the rules are of advanced age; they are presented in the current chapter as if in translation, and in their earlier appearance, they are presented as long-known lore. It is another implication of the long term at work in the Realm of the Elderlings, one reinforced by Icefyre’s comments and the Fool’s about the ways in which Clerres worked to commit what amounts to genocide on the dragons. Icefyre, after all, had been encased in the ice of Aslevjal long enough that his image had faded to a dull shadow under the ice and reports of his presence had become tales told by the old around the fire at night, and even though it is made clear throughout the Realm of the Elderlings novels that dragons inherit memories from their forebears and from what they eat, his tirade is plain that he was, himself, present at Clerres as dragons were slain by deceit and trickery. It is the case that language seems to change more quickly in the absence of mass media than in its presence; consider the differences between Wulfstan’s English and Laȝamon’s, Laȝamon’s and Chaucer’s, Chaucer’s and Malory’s, or even Malory’s and Shakespeare’s, then between Shakespeare’s and that of Wordsworth or Coleridge, and note how much remains from the earlier to the later. But given that there are characters present in the novels who live centuries and more, and that the passage of generations is remarked upon, there still has to be a long time involved.

I suppose it is something that emerges as a frustration of Hobb’s motion away from the Tolkienian tradition, something certainly clear in earlier series as I have remarked once or twice (and probably will again). Then again, Hobb herself notes her indebtedness to Tolkien, and I have noted, too, that, despite her motions away from the Tolkienian tradition, Hobb works in conversation with it. That she works over long scales of time is not unlike the chronologies presented in the appendices to The Lord of the Rings and in The Silmarillion–and there is a correspondence to the latter in the present chapter, as well, the description of Icefyre as he arrives at Clerres reminiscent of descriptions of Ancalagon the Black. But there is no heavenly mariner to send him tumbling to the ruin of mountains, no shining savior to plead before gods for release from evil. And there are still many other ways in which Hobb moves away from The Professor, even as there are some ways in which she remains clearly his student.

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An account of an early White Prophet introduces “Ship of Dragons.” The chapter begins with Bee regaining consciousness as the Fool talks to her, the experience painful to her because of the number of potential futures he represents. The Fool reports to Bee about Perseverance, carefully avoiding mention of Fitz until he is pressed directly for it and relates his expectation that Fitz is dead. Bee rails at the assertion, but as she searches within herself for the touch of his magics, she begins to accept that her father is gone.

At length, the pair reach Lant, and the Fool urges more haste to escape. Lant bears Bee on his back, escaping the fortress of Clerres into the surrounding countryside, where they meet Spark again. The Fool relates their expected course of action: return to the Paragon and make for Buckkeep. Bee is told that she is an aunt, and Perseverance is collected. Escape continues, and the Fool muses on the arrogance of the Servants and relates the depth of the Skill-healing Fitz forced upon him. Bee finds herself relegated to being a child who must be protected, which chafes at her, and the matter of Prilkop’s whereabouts receives attention; he had fled, but to where was not marked.

The group reaches one of the Paragon‘s boats and are welcomed aboard. The boat reaches the liveship, and its passengers board. Bee is taken aback by the liveship but soon confers silently with the craft, exchanging news. The liveship begins to transform into the pair of dragons from whose cocoons it was made, and Per takes Bee to her cabin, leaving her to assess herself and her situation. She remarks what Fitz had brought with him to save her, sorrowing over some things and exulting in the presence of her books.

Bee’s reverie is cut off by an attack befalling the liveship. She reluctantly surrenders the Silver that had been promised to Paragon, noting the power it could have offered her, and Kennitsson relays it to the figurehead. As he, joined by the son of Brashen and Althea, does so, Bee, Per, and the Fool flee the ship. Swimming away, Bee sees the liveship assailed and burning, and as the ship sinks, two dragons rise from it and begin to go about the work of destroying those who assail them. Bee watches the dragons at their work with some satisfaction as those around her work to retrieve survivors.

The prefatory comments of the present chapter once again prompt attention. Although it is not explicitly stated, it is clear to me that Gerda and the people whom she serves are the forerunners of the Chyurda; the description of Cullena, her attitudes, and the people that spring from them seem very much in line with Kettricken’s people. Deszcz-Tryhubczak writes about them, and the texts of the Realm of the Elderlings corpus support such an assertion, with examples here, here, and here, among others. That the White Prophets are known among the Chyurda is itself such an indication; the “religion” is not known in the Six Duchies during the Farseer books, and if it receives attention in the Liveship Traders works, I do not recall it at the moment. The Chyurda are further removed, geographically, from Clerres than are Buck, Bingtown, or Jamaillia, yet they are aware of the “faith”; the easiest explanation is that there was some sort of mission from Clerres to the Mountain Kingdom, and the account of Gerda presented in the preface offers some confirmation thereof. It is likely a back-filling, part of an effort to connect and unify the Realm of the Elderlings novels across themselves (and one that is not always successful, I admit; see this and this), but it is something that, at least for me, works well enough.

In the chapter, proper, there is a lot going on, and it contrasts sharply with the remarkably brief chapter it follows. I have to wonder, in fact, if it might not have been better divided into two chapters, given the pivot of Bee in the cabin; she suddenly shifts from contemplation to flight as the attack on the Paragon gets underway. I can understand, in terms of structure, that that might not be advisable; the novel prior had largely worked to alternate chapters of narrative perspective. (That it does has some resonances that frustrate interpretations of the narrative’s relation, as I’ve gestured towards previously. If it is the case that the Farseer novels are Fitz’s papers written between the end of that series and the Tawny Man novels, and the Tawny Man novels are written between that series’ ending and the beginning of the Fitz and the Fool novels, when are the recollections and notes that comprise the Fitz and the Fool novels written, and by whom? The perspective of rereading and the foreshadowing at work even for a new reader suggest that the obvious answer is not the correct one.) Adding another Bee-centered chapter would disrupt that rhythm, even as it would also move the narrative toward being more Bee’s than Fitz’s, and that might not be the worst movement to make, given context.

And, to return for a bit to affective reading: I feel for Bee. Poor kid. As the father of a daughter, and one of whom I am quite proud, I know that the day will come when I leave her, whether I want it to be the case or not. I know that she will not be able to know me the way Bee knows her father; we are close at present (she will be a teenager relatively soon; I have some idea what’s coming), but even with that closeness, we do not share thoughts and emotions the way the Skill allows. I hope nonetheless to be and to have been such a father as will make my absence a sorrow to her, even as I want her not to mourn much at my passing–but I would not begrudge her satisfaction at the fall of those she believes undo me, if that should be what happens. It’s fantasy, for the most part, of course, but even in fantasy, there are things for which to strive in “real life.”

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Information about the Pocked Man legend in the Six Duchies prefaces “Touch.” The chapter begins with Fitz regaining consciousness as the Fool seeks him out, bearing Bee. The two confer about their situation, and Fitz assesses Bee’s condition through the Skill, finding her only stunned. He and the Fool fare far worse, and Fitz constrains the Fool to accept Skilled healing and to take Bee and flee. He and Nighteyes confer internally as he does so, and when that work is done, he starts to sink into welcome oblivion.

The prefatory comments of the present chapter call back to much earlier portions of the Realm of the Elderlings corpus, notably the early incidence of Forgings, Regal’s depredations on Buckkeep, and the death of Shrewd. The clear implication is that one or another of the members of Fitz’s group is being made parallel to that figure, and Fitz and Bee are the most likely candidates for being so (and in that order). The present chapter does not do much to reinforce that implication for them, however. Both are scarred, certainly, and Fitz has gotten to enjoy another encounter with Chade’s exploding powders, the very things that made him an image of the Pocked Man. Both Fitz and his younger daughter have been death-bringers in Clerres, but that has not been new to the present chapter. Why the image appears again when it does, then, does not swiftly become clear.

As I think on it, perhaps it serves as a counterpoint to Fitz’s brief prayer to Eda, made over the head of his younger daughter. It’s still uncommon for him to voice religious feeling, and Fitz remarks upon as much in the text, so the occurrence is marked. Given the repeated assertions that Eda and El coexist, there is some sense in presenting a figure tied to El in a chapter that features a rare prayer to Eda in its five-page span…but it still strikes me oddly.

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Complaints from Chade regarding the slow progress of research into the memory cubes retrieved from Aslevjal open “Surprises.” As the chapter, proper, begins, Fitz steels himself against the task presenting itself to him, Nighteyes offering wry comments within as Fitz make preparations to draw off and dissuade pursuit of Bee. Per and Spark join him, to his annoyance, and Spark makes some adjustments to his plans before helping Per to help Fitz away. Pursuit finds them and begins to engage but is caught in the trap Fitz and Spark had set up.

Fitz is slowly brought back to Bee, with whom he confers again as efforts to effect escape form Clerres continue. She glosses her treatment, and Fitz conveys what news he can before he dozes off. He wakes to find himself in communion with Bee and appreciative of her strength in the Skill. Work to effect escape continues, and there is more conversation among Fitz, Bee, and the Fool, turning to prophecies and Catalysts. Bee is attacked by a released prisoner, and the prisoner is killed, to Prilkop’s sorrow. Kill totals are wryly calculated, and Fitz finds himself unable to assist the escape efforts.

At length, an opening is made into a secret tunnel, and Perseverance and Bee proceed therein. Work to widen the opening continues, and Spark joins those moving ahead. As the opening is widened further, Fitz sends the rest ahead. The Fool rejoins him, and the pair proceed, only to be told that their situation worsens. Fitz determines to proceed onward, and he is spurred by an explosion behind him.

As often happens, the prefatory materials attract some attention. It is remarked at a number of points in the Tawny Man and Fitz and the Fool trilogies that Chade had been reckless in his study of the Skill once it was made open to him, in part because he had been denied it due to his bastardy, in part out of a desire to mitigate the damage age and his particular lifestyle had done to his body, and in part because he was prone to obsession, particularly as regarded the acquisition of knowledge. The second part is perhaps the most germane to the circumstances of the chapter; Fitz comments that his body is sapping its strength to heal his wounds, repeating a process that has been at work in him since he had been ineptly healed decades before. (Chade had soon after attempted such healing on himself, if with less error due to calmer circumstances.) There is a useful warning against rushing headlong into knowledge not fully explored in the example, even as Chade’s complaints betray an eagerness to thus rush–but he is not wrong that those with greater experience and breadth of knowledge might do better to accurately classify and identify materials than apprentices, who are by their very nature less informed than they might be. There is a tension in place, to be sure, and one that memory suggests Hobb treats elsewhere; I remember Fitz noting that not all knowledge should be written due to the perils of misunderstanding and misuse. I suppose it’s something of another scholarly someday, yet another in a growing litany of them.

I do find Fitz’s comments about his life as the Fool’s Catalyst a bit amusing. The quip that “Sometimes [the Fool] is very sure a dream will come true….And then I make it not true” (642) did get a laugh out of me as I sat at my desk rereading and typing. It’s an oversimplification of events, of course–Fitz often enough acts in such ways as ensure the Fool’s visions come to pass–but I can recognize a father’s attempt at levity with his daughter for what it is easily enough, and I appreciate it.

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A brief excerpt from Bee’s dream journals precedes “Confrontations.” The chapter opens with Bee exulting in the presence of her father and Perseverance, only to have her joy turn as Fitz bundles her up to take her to Vindeliar. She begins to persuade him that he is being ensorcelled and breaks form his grasp, taking his knife from his belt and, with the assistance of Perseverance, driving it into Vindeliar. Bee begins to succumb to Vindeliar’s magics, but Perseverance does not, and presses the attack on Vindeliar with particular vigor, killing him.

As Vindeliar dies, Fitz returns to himself and begins an assault on others of the Servants and their forces present in the room. Bee seizes on the opportunity to kill more of the Servants, joining the fight to some effect. Perseverance continues to protect her, and Fitz continues to fight, although he begins to incur injury. Capra and Fellowdy soon flee, their guards accompanying them, and Bee, Fitz, and the rest confer about events. Prilkop, who had been held near Vindeliar, is released, and Beloved attempts to make contact with Bee that she refuses. Both of the older White Prophets are taken aback by Bee’s actions, identifying her as the foretold Destroyer.

Plans for how to escape are discussed in haste, and Spark makes formal introduction of herself to Bee. Prilkop discusses the secret tunnel through which the Fool had been carried out of Clerres before, and Perseverance reports from reconnaissance that a search is ongoing. Fitz issues directives to the group and, setting his hand on Bee’s head, reflexively conveys to her his feelings about his life and hers. Nighteyes returns to Fitz from Bee and is changed by it in ways that Bee remarks, and Fitz sends the rest on ahead, although Per returns to him as the others flee.

The present chapter makes clear again that Perseverance is resistant to the Skill and to similar magics. I recall from long reading that Burrich was similarly resistant. I perceive in their common profession something of a subtle pun. Both of them work with horses, primarily (although both also find themselves devoted to Farseers)…as stablemen; insofar as both are resistant to the Skill and its uses, they are both stable men, as well. How intentional such a joke is, I cannot be sure, and intentionality is a poor judge of literary effect in any event; it is there, it amuses me, and that is enough of a reason for me to point it out.

Admittedly, the chapter itself does not admit of much humor. It does, however, follow up on some of the questions and implications of the previous chapter: Nighteyes as Wolf-Father is more than merely some echo that had lingered in Fitz from decades of a deep, magical bond. I am reminded of some old conference-work I’ve done, and I have to wonder if, like some of my other, more formal, work on Hobb, it might be worth revisiting the piece and expanding upon it with materials not available at the time I did the earlier writing. It might well be thought that I ought not to rack up many more scholarly somedays, given how many of them already wait for attention I do not know if I will ever offer, but, well, there are reasons I persisted in academe as long as I did. There are things about it I find congenial, even years away from it, even knowing that I have precious little if any place in it anymore.

Even if academe has no place for me (and, to be honest, if I have no real place for it in my life, however I might still dabble in paper-writing for myself and how much I can help others with their own work), I can still manage to come up with an idea or two and follow them out until they either make sense or get proven wrong. And I’m happy to help people do that with the works they love–because it really is love that got me into this and that has kept me doing it all this time.

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