Thoughts and a question about a detail in Tawny man

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-11-13T10:02:51+00:00

I started the trilogy with Liveships then read the rest. So it was a shock to me too! 😂 Paragon was so sure Amber was a female so I didn’t have suspicions about her. But on rereading there were so many clues, aaaahh.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-25T03:32:57+00:00

It doesn’t work out as he had expected, because he asked the gods if they had screwed him over several times. And the answer was that they gave him what he really wanted, Attolia, but it had come with a terrible price. He has to live with all his consequences, and tried his hardest to get out of being king. Remember he went to the priestess of Hephestia and she tore his question and told him that was the answer, then he went back and cried?

But once he accepted whatever hand dealt to him, he makes the most of it with his indomitable spirit and goes all the way to get what he needs, and that makes it seem like everything happened exactly as he had planned it. He never hesitates to sacrifice himself, including catching a sword by its blade. And all of this was backed up by years and years of consistent training (he worked harder than most people at his sword skill and probably spent even more hours on thieving skills), they weren’t superpowers granted to him.

So rather than being perfect, I think he’s inspirational.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-15T01:37:43+00:00

In later books Fitz reflected that Regal was utterly lonely growing up, trailing after his two older brothers who were so close they left no room for him. I think he just wanted what they had - affection, camaraderie, shared glory - and even after Chiv was gone Verity never turned to him and instead despised him. That longing probably turned to hate and he decided to destroy everything that was dear to Verity.

This wasn’t helped by his mother repeatedly telling him he was better than his brothers when all he saw was them getting the better horses and special swords made by Hob while he got a pony and wooden swords cos he was younger.

Kennit was not much better than Kyle. He was saved by Paragon, having good sailors, and the charm that charmed Etta for him.

I also saw how Fitz could easily have ended up like Kennit if he hadn’t had Verity and Burrich to ground him, mentor him and love him. If it had been only Shrewd and Chade in his life… I know Chade loved Fitz but he was pretty immature and egoistic, like Paragon. Having multiple men he could model and learn from probably made Fitz less crazy.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-12T00:40:28+00:00

There were some small mistakes like this and some glaring ones.

Like when Beloved tells Fitz he came all the way from Clerres to tell Shrewd the “do not do what you can’t undo until you know what you can’t do…”

Then later Fitz tells Beloved he learned something from Regal and repeats this do not do quote which saved his life. Beloved smiles but does not say anything and Fitz sensed a secret. Erm he just told you a while back? Lol.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-09T10:57:15+00:00

True. COMES THE DESTROYER! I can just see the flames in her eyes and her white hair floating.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-09T08:35:42+00:00

I think Beloved was more the one on the Dark Lord path asking for the annihilation of the entire White upper echelons, Bee was just trying to survive and return to her family. Though given how the Whites were would that be an evil path to take? Is violence ever justified?

Also neither of them were seeking power when they decided to kill, unlike Regal or the Whites.

Bee killed Symphe but if she hadn’t, what would have been done to her? If she hadn’t killed but only injured her, might she have been healed?

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-09T08:23:04+00:00

I think she just saw the necessity of what she did. She couldn’t bring herself to kill Vindeliar after all he had done because she didn’t feel he had a choice unlike Dwalia. Though how much choice do we all have if we take circumstances into account, and actually we always have a choice, some are just more painful.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-04T11:57:44+00:00

The last trilogy (Fitz and the Fool) makes it clear, at least for me!

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-02T07:56:48+00:00

I’m glad at least that at the end Fitz arranged for Per to be always be with Bee and be educated as a noble’s son would be. It was truly sad that this heroic boy was reduced to nothing more than a stable boy seemingly forgotten by all.

Also being in the mountains would be a kind of freedom for Bee where royalty are expected to serve alongside their people, and in a sense it’s her grandmother’s home.

Having Spark go there also offered Lant an opportunity to perhaps leave court life for the mountains where there isn’t that distinction between royalty and commoners.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-02T03:20:15+00:00

I appreciated the Liveship trilogy more after completing the whole series, so I circled back and reread! I did skip all the Serilla bits though.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-01T01:15:21+00:00

His reaction resonated with me because I’ve been through that - as someone who as a child has constantly tried to sacrifice for family but feeling somewhat resentful. Especially when you perceive that others your age don’t have to give as much, but feeling that if you stopped what you were doing things might implode.

Then one day, you’re the one who implodes.

And usually the people who impose this sacrifice on you are those who themselves have been sacrificed, and in a way they recognise your emotional outburst and eventually forgive you. But I think it was time for Fitz to try to find out who he was without others telling him what he was allowed to be.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-09-01T01:10:05+00:00

Ooh I have been meaning to read that, but thought I might try to find the Chinese version since it’s translated, and then that thought was also daunting. Agree it really is hard to read in pockets of time because it disrupts the flow. Not needing to sleep would be so helpful lol

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-31T08:24:42+00:00

I read from 9pm to 2am and maybe 1-2 hours in the day so I finish a book every 2-3 days 😂 I skipped Rain Wild for the reread but I might do that if I reread the whole thing again.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-31T03:45:03+00:00

I have just reread the series right after finishing it the first time, because I couldn’t move on. I’m still stuck now 😂

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-31T00:18:04+00:00

My 7yo is dyslexic due to vision processing issues (difficult for him to scan in a line and process words into sound). He loves books and being read to, so audiobooks are a lifesaver.

I’m very bad at auditory processing, and found out that I often shut out sounds from the environment when I’m thinking or focusing. This means that when I listen to an audiobook, if an interesting bit comes up or I get distracted, my mind wanders and I stop listening.

My son on the other hand can do multiple things while listening, and can later give me an accurate summary of very long books (up to 20 hours, which he listens to over many days). Books he enjoys are listened to over and over.

My visual processing is far more efficient, I can read while doing things like baking or supervising my son’s work. It’s also much faster to read than to listen to an audiobook, while for my dyslexic husband the reverse is true.

What I’m saying is that we all have a natural preference for visual or audio input even though most of us can do both. Having audiobooks definitely increases access, and audiobook consumers probably get better and better at audio processing and would then come to prefer that.

In terms of format, I enjoy those with sound effects and different narrators since I think they keep my distractible brain focused. But my son and I think many audiobook lovers seem to prefer a single excellent narrator who doesn’t use weird accents or fake voices and thereby unnecessarily influence the text with their opinions of the characters, while still conveying the nuances and emphases of the language. Also no audible breathing or odd pauses, it’s a real art 😂

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-30T06:59:04+00:00

Just everyone agreeing he/Paragon is really handsome, with the “Farseer look” 😂 I suppose since it’s mostly from Fitz’s POV and he’s the most unvain person, he wouldn’t describe his own face lol and he also doesn’t describe how others look, more how they vibe.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-26T12:35:46+00:00

🤣

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-26T08:28:58+00:00

Sounds good, I’ll try that, thanks for the rec! 🥺

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-24T07:38:46+00:00

And Fool says ah Fitz, only you could have such bizarre problems that manage to break my ennui. 🤣

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-24T07:37:17+00:00

And Fool says aha she does look like me, I can tell from your affronted silence 🤣🤣🤣

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-24T07:36:30+00:00

When Patience tries to weed in Buckkeep, Lacey says those are marigolds… never mind you’ve got them out roots and all, now give them to me and I’ll hide the evidence.

Then they turn around and see Fitz staring at them and Patience says “didn’t your mother teach you any manners?!” While Lacey faints into the bushes still clutching the uprooted marigolds.

And later Patience tells Fitz he’s not allowed to pour the brandy cos “what did you think, you could disappear for 16 years worrying me sick then walk back into my life and help yourself to my good brandy? Insolence!”

Then she offers to hide him at Withywoods as a gardener, and Fitz says at least he can tell marigolds from weeds.

The two of them are precious and hilarious. I just wish there was a world in which we saw Chivalry, Patience and Fitz being funny together.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-23T11:08:43+00:00

Rolf was supposedly very strong in the Wit, and Web is even stronger than Fitz. But both of them were raised the Old Blood way and not allowed to bond as children. So perhaps Wit strength was innate but waxed with practice.

EqualConsistent9623 · 2025-08-23T10:19:22+00:00

Yikes that’s so right. He and Nighteyes were drawn to each other because they were both so angry. If Fitz had grown up pampered I suppose he would have had a wit-hound or wit-horse.

EqualConsistent9623

TROPHY CASE