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

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A chapter titled “Pink Sugar Cake” follows, beginning with part of an in-milieu treatise on teaching the Skill. It turns to Fitz, as Badgerlock, repairing to Verity’s tower, where Dutiful awaits him with the materials requested for Thick–and more, besides. Badgerlock commends the Prince’s generosity but notes some problems with the specifics, with which the Prince does not argue. They confer about the Piebald situation before parting, Badgerlock leaving an admonishment for Dutiful to go about his business as best he can before he himself takes the goods to Chade’s hidden chamber to await Thick.

Thick is waiting for him in the room and is surprised that Badgerlock has provided what was promised, if with noted help from Dutiful. Badgerlock gently plies Thick for more information, taking the opportunity provided by a bath and rough tailoring to do so. He finds himself on the receiving end of Thick’s Skill along the way, unintentionally but not the less powerfully, but he learns much as he tends to his student.

At length, Thick resolves to depart, and Fitz forebears to press further for fear of overplaying his hand. After Thick leaves, Fitz ruminates on what he has learned from him and considers what his course of action will be. His need to think becomes restlessness, and he finds his way to sword practice. In practice, his returned skill in a fight is noted, and determines to go into Buckkeep Town to see Hap, to buy more goods for Thick, and perhaps to scout around a bit.

As I reread the chapter, and as I sat down to write this part of my rereading noted, something happened to me again that used to happen quite often when I was writing more formal papers on Hobb’s novels but that has not happened in a while. I started reading, not plumbing the text for details to fuel insights, but reading for the joy of it. And I looked up to find that nearly an hour had passed, and I was several chapters ahead of where I thought I would be, refreshed despite the hour.

It’s the kind of thing that determined what my plan B would be when I fell back into it, the kind of thing that prompted me to pursue a career engaged with the written word. And it’s the kind of thing it’s good to be reminded of, from time to time.

I’d be happy to put my talents to work for you; let me know what all you need written, and we’ll talk!

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

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The subsequent chapter, “Explosions,” begins with a spy’s report to Chade about the Outisland delegation’s return from Buckkeep before turning to Fitz’s sleepless review of information left available by his old mentor. Chade joins him not long after, singed and deafened by the result of one of his experiments gone awry. The two confer haltingly until the late hour compels both to rest.

Fitz resumes his role as Badgerlock and goes about morning chores before resuming Skill instruction for Dutiful and Thick. Before the latter enters, Dutiful spies the figurine the two had retrieved from the beach to which they had escaped from the Piebalds, identifying it as Elliania as she would become. They puzzle over events together before Thick joins them, and instruction begins. As it proceeds, some of Thick’s history emerges; he had been put to work as a cut-purse by his mother and her companions, the latter of whom abandoned Thick after his mother died. That Thick has been unwittingly employed as an informant by Piebalds in Buckkeep Town also emerges, as well as the specific targeting of Badgerlock and Golden.

Thick is dismissed, and Badgerlock and Dutiful confer about what they have learned–which includes the presence of Laudwine in Buckkeep Town. Badgerlock warns Dutiful against going out for the next few days, urging him to use a crass excuse for it: “A headache sounds like a ploy. A boil on your ass doesn’t.” Badgerlock urges Dutiful to aid in acquiring some things Thick had noted wanting, and they part to go about their needed tasks.

For Badgerlock, those tasks involve making a clandestine report to Chade. Along the way, he manages to confirm his suspicion that Rosemary is Chade’s present apprentice, as she seems to have suffered similar injuries to Chade’s own. Soon after, Badgerlock returns to Golden’s chambers with accoutrements for them to eat; Chade greets them there, rebuking them both for their folly in being at odds at the moments and receiving Fitz’s report. Chade notes that direct action is politically untenable, as Kettricken will be meeting with a secretive delegation of the Old Blood soon, and he advises Fitz to monitor things but to not intervene. The Fool offers Chade some assistance with his appearance and, as the meeting breaks up, Fitz muses ruefully on his strained relationships.

I note with some interest Fitz’s refusal to dose himself with elfbark early in the chapter. I’ve noted his addiction repeatedly in the rereading series already, so many times that it boots little to cite examples; I don’t think, however, I’ve noted the interaction of his addictions–to his magic and to more “normal” drugs–although my work in the substance use treatment center showed me that many who experience addiction to one thing also experience it with others. That is, few who have a chemical dependency have it with only one chemical, in my experience. More interesting, though, is that Fitz rejects the chemical not because of its health effects, but because of its interpersonal effects–and that does seem to mirror what I saw from many clients; the degradation of their own bodies did not push them to seek treatment so much as the degradation of their social connections, whether shown by running afoul of legal authorities (law enforcement or family protective services) or by the intervention of their families and friends. Just an observation, really, at this point.

I’d be happy to put my talents to work for you; let me know what all you need written, and we’ll talk!

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

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The following chapter, “Fathers,” begins with a brief in-milieu commentary about trans-oceanic trade to Jamaillia before taking up some days after Fitz’s meeting with Kettricken. Lord Golden resumes his social schedule, but the Fool remains absent from Fitz. Badgerlock begins to teach Dutiful and Thick the Skill, meeting some resistance from the Prince, who feels himself affronted. Thick is somewhat more tractable, but a tense exchange ensues, nonetheless. At the end of it, an accord is reached, Dutiful and Thick agreeing to Badgerlock’s tutelage.

A summons from Chade calls Badgerlock away, and Fitz stalks through the hidden passages of Buckkeep to answer it. He finds a meeting in progress between Swift, a son of Burrich who has answered the summons Kettricken issued for the Witted, since Burrich’s antipathy towards the Wit is well known. Burrich arrives shortly after, and Swift is dismissed while he, Chade, and Kettricken confer. Burrich refuses permission for his son to enter the Queen’s service, preferring instead to do what he can to work him into enough discipline to resist use of the Wit; he cites Fitz, whom he believes long and ignominously dead due to having recovered his pin from Shrewd, as an example of what the Wit can do. As Burrich departs, Chade calls to Fitz to note the option to meet again with the man who had raised him.

Fitz declines, but goes out into Buckkeep Town, checking on Jinna–who is absent–and Hap–who is at work where he should be. He goes to the Stuck Pig again, and he is again confronted by Svanja’s father, Rorh Hartshorn. A melee ensues and is broken up by the City Guard–as Hap watches, sorrowing over the ruination of his prospects with Svanja. The youth berates his foster-father, and Fitz recognizes his own youthful impetuousness regarding Molly. Hap calms and apologizes, and Badgerlock sends him off warmly, returning to Buckkeep Castle–and passing Burrich and Swift along the way. He finds the Fool still enwrapped in his role as Lord Golden, and he retires for the evening.

Sleeping, he is again contacted by Nettle, whom he calms with news of Burrich’s return and Swift’s. Thick also reaches out to him, backhandedly thanking him for quieting Nettle’s upset. And another voice speaks to him strangely through the Skill, unsettling him utterly.

From the vantage of rereading, I know well what that last voice is, and it is one that has been encountered before in the rereading series. I’ll not offer more on the matter for the moment; I’ve been told that there are first-time readers who are looking at my summaries and commentaries, which flatters me (hi, folks!) and warns me against doing too much in the way of spoilers. I make no promises save that I’ll try not to make too many mistakes in that line. (And happy reading to you new folks!)

From that same vantage, as well as simply from narrative structures and patterns, it’s clear that Burrich and Swift will both be making other appearances in the text, as will Nettle. It’s a regular family reunion brewing, really…

I’d be happy to put my talents to work for you; let me know what all you need written, and we’ll talk!

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

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The next chapter, “Quarrel,” opens with an in-milieu commentary on what might be called tourist attractions in the Out Islands. The text pivots thence to Fitz ruminating on Thick and on his own comments to Chade not long before. At length, he recalls having received intelligence, which he begins to review. As he does, he finds confirmation that his true identity is known, and by those he can least afford to have know it; he mulls over the implications of it and of the ensuing events.

Fitz determines to discuss matters openly with Chade and with the Fool, and he goes off to sleep–poorly, against Nettle’s dream-driven Skill-work. The next morning, he rises and collects Lord Golden’s breakfast in his guise as Badgerlock, and is bidden take a small flower arrangement along with the tray. Returning to the chamber, he asks the Fool for a whistle for Thick before confronting him about the performance of Amber with Jek. It does not go well for either of them, leaving each of them emotionally wounded by the other. The problem is exacerbated by the Fool’s illness, and Fitz chews sullenly over his old words and older recriminations for the next several days as the Fool keeps to himself and the Bingtown delegation departs.

Kettricken occasions comment by riding out to interrupt an execution, redeeming the accused and imposing a stiff injunction against the offending community. Controversy surrounding treatment of the Witted emerges as she issues a call for a Witted delegation to attend to her. And, after an exchange with Chade, Fitz is admitted to attend upon her, as well. They confer about Nettle, their conversation prickly but ending in amity.

I note with some satisfaction that the concern I voice in commenting on the previous chapter, that promises made to Fitz seem to be up for renegotiation, is addressed in the present chapter. I note, too, that the tensions among characters are not brought up and dismissed, even as Fitz makes changes to his behavior (or starts to do so). It’s not so easy to set aside years of practice, particularly when those years are angry ones full of impetuous decisions that end up causing no small harm. It’s something that, like Fitz, I learned (insofar as I have learned it; I’m not a good student in all subjects) far later than ought to have been the case.

There’s a reason “to teach and to delight” have long been called the ends of literature…

I should note, too, before I forget, that many of the works treated in the Fedwren Project speak explicitly to the Fool’s performance across gender roles, the very thing for which Fitz unsuccessfully tries to upbraid the other. That the attempt is unsuccessful says something worth considering, I think…

I’d be happy to put my talents to work for you; let me know what all you need written, and we’ll talk!

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

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The succeeding chapter, “Scrolls,” begins with part of an in-milieu folk tale before marking the departure of the Outislanders from Buckkeep. Fitz rehearses some of the fallout from the challenges Elliania and Dutiful had put to one another, as well as arrangements for Dutiful’s coming trip to the Outislands and his itinerary therein. He notes that many Six Duchies nobles also began to depart, but that the Bingtown delegation did not. This includes Jek, around whom Fitz continues to be markedly uncomfortable.

Fitz also notes that Laurel is gone. Chade has precious little information to offer, only noting that the Queen gave her permission to go out and agreed to keep the nature of the errand a secret. Rumor reports that Laudwine is returning to power among the Pieblads, and Fitz mulls over developments with Dutiful and Thick, both. He also notes his certainty of a Wit-using spy in Buckkeep (other than himself), one that had possibly compromised Chade’s hidden chambers. When Chade and Thick arrive in those chambers, Fitz is distracted from his intent to discuss that concern by Chade’s own worries. And Kettricken’s command that a dedicated search for Skill-users be conducted, which includes Nettle.

Fitz balks at the idea and muses on his insufficiencies. He manages to get Chade to agree to request of Kettricken that she leave Nettle out of things, albeit begrudgingly. And he does report his suspicion of the Wit-using spy, providing evidence to support the conjecture. Chade notes worsening affairs among the Bresingas at Galekeep, positing that the Piebalds are using the estate to regroup and reorganize. The old assassin provides some additional documents to Fitz and leaves Thick in his care. Fitz finds himself comparing his attitude towards Thick to Galen‘s toward himself, and he begins to soften towards him. He finds himself empathizing with Thick more and more, seeing himself in the other.

A couple of things stand out to me as I reread the chapter this time. One is that Nettle is strangely back in play as a bargaining item among the Farseers. If memory serves, Fitz had already successfully secured agreement, and more than once, that Nettle would not be roped into service to the Farseer throne, particularly with the Skill; that matters have shifted to require another negotiation…I’m not sure if it was an authorial / editorial nodding-off (quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus–aut Robin) or a retraction from Kettricken or what. Still, it invites attention, and not necessarily good attention, either.

The other is the strange position Fitz takes with Thick. It is not until he begins to see himself in Thick that he begins to treat him kindly, really. I know that much of the appeal of the Fitz-centric novels–of the Elderlings novels, generally–is that their protagonists are flawed, and Fitz does have reason to dislike Thick; he is something of an ass to him. But it still smacks of…problems that Fitz does not react well until he can begin to equate Thick to himself. After all, a person shouldn’t need to experience mistreatment to believe it happens, or to know that it’s wrong…

Let’s start out the new year right!

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

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The following chapter, “Challenges,” opens with translated in-milieu commentary about mapmaking in the Outislands. It moves to Fitz’s departure from Jinna on amicable but tentative terms with her. He glosses the passage of several days and the events, noting the continued avoidance of the Bingtown delegation by the Narcheska and her uncle. Fitz and Chade confer about the implications of the strained relations among the three parties, as well as about Fitz’s tense relationship with Starling. They also talk of Dutiful’s suspended Skill lessons–Selden’s presence makes them perilous–and the Narcheska’s afflictions by tattoo and Henja.

Fitz additionally chews over the strain in his feelings towards the Fool, Chade commenting aspersively on them; they also talk briefly of Hap, Fitz recalling Hap coming to him. They part to prepare for their evening’s work, Chade acting as councilor and Fitz as spy in the tunnels. He observes as Elliania and Peottre make a delayed entrance and the Narcheska voices doubts about the betrothal. She issues a challenge, and Dutiful erupts into acceptance of it before he can be halted, whether by Kettricken’s words or Fitz’s Skill-command–the latter of which he sets aside. Dutiful issues one, in turn, which Elliania accepts; if he is to slay the dragon Icefyre, she must accompany him to see it done–or to affirm there is no dragon to slay. In a generally approving tumult, the betrothal is formalized, and a toast is drunk to the intended couple.

The present chapter is near to the middle of the book, and the present novel is the second in the trilogy; it’s as near to the center of the series as could be desired. For those taught with Freytag’s pyramid in mind, it is a “natural” place for the climactic action to occur–and the mutual challenges and acceptances would seem to fit that rubric. While this is not the inciting incident of the plot–not even as presented in the novels, let alone within the broader context in which the events depicted exist–it is a cause of much of the action to come, as well as marking off the end of what is primarily explication (in the “main” plot, at least, or the one concerned with the fates of peoples and nations). Hobb does demonstrate a tendency to make such moves in her work; I’ve noted it before, here, here, here, and here, if not elsewhere. It’s not to be wondered at, then, that she does it again.

And as far as ways to make that climax happen go, teenagers are great. Ill-considered emotional outbursts come off as authentic, verisimilitudinous, from hormone-riddled people whose brains remain in development, after all…

Care to help me close out 2021 well?

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

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The next chapter, “Jek,” opens with an in-milieu translated commentary regarding the violent removal by Tintaglia of Chalcedean forces from Bingtown Harbor. It pivots, then, to Fitz returning wearily to his assigned chambers from his audience with Chade and Kettricken, rehearsing how it had gone–which was not entirely well for him.

When he returns to the chamber, Fitz finds Jek present, which disconcerts him. After an increasingly tense exchange, during which Fitz introduces himself as Tom Badgerlock, the Fool-as-Golden returns, recognizing Jek immediately and leading to some awkwardness all around. Badgerlock is dismissed, but Fitz spies out the reunion of the two and muses bitterly on the performative aspects of the Fool’s identity. Jek reports events down the Cursed Shores and in the Pirate Isles, noting what is said of Kennit’s child and of Althea and Brashen Trell.

Fitz fumes at the revelation, withdrawing and rebuking himself as he stalks through the hidden corridors of Buckkeep Castle. He spies out the Narcheska, finding her assailed magically via intricate tattoos of dragons and Peottre doing what he can to ease the girl’s sufferings. Fitz ascends to Chade’s tower room, grumbles about the lack of attention paid it by Thick, and writes out a report for the old assassin.

Descending, Badgerlock goes out into the common areas, where he is confronted by Selden. The Vestrit youth plies him for information, which questioning Badgerlock deflects through his servant’s manner. It is a near thing, though, and he stalks off in some haste, thinking about what will happen and purposing to see about Hap. Along the way, Starling confronts him, and an angry exchange ensues that leaves Fitz hollow. He proceeds to drink too much, and he goes to Jinna to apologize to her. At length, and after rebuking him for his many follies, she accepts the apology, and they return to some accord.

A couple things pop out to me in the present chapter. One is a bit of internal inconsistency that annoys; Althea’s sister is repeatedly identified as Malta–her niece–rather than as Keffria. It’s a small bit of editing mishap that might’ve been corrected in subsequent printings–I hope it has been–but I can only read the copy of the novel I have…

The other is something about which several of the entries in the Fedwren Project concern themselves: the Fool’s performed gender-fluidity. I’ll note here, as I have in many other situations, that those who have applied themselves to that study have done so with far greater insight and skill than is mine to employ, certainly at this point in my life, when I am so far away from academe as I am. I’ll note, too, that many people deal with similar situations, if not presented as forcefully as with the Fool. How many of us, as children, were shocked to learn that our teachers existed outside the classroom when we ran into them at the grocery store or the gas station? How many of us, upon finding out that our parents are people, felt they had failed us? How many of us, seeing our children grow away from us, are stunned by the realization that they are separate little people?

Something to consider.

Care to help me ring in another new year? I’d really appreciate it!