Once again, I find myself too busy to write up a proper review--blame it on gainful employment or blame it on three young children, regardless, it's amazing that I can finish a book, never mind a review. But I do want to get some thoughts down. It'll be full of spoilers, because I'm just thinking out loud here. 
 (view spoiler)[The end of the first book revealed to us that all was not well in Withywoods after Fitz left, as Dwalia and her folk and her Chalcedeans came in killing people, destroying things, and abducting Bee and Shun. So we know this already when the book starts, but Fitz doesn't, which makes the opening several chapters of Fool's Quest a kind of delicious torture. Because basically, things go so right for Fitz here. I mean, despite inadvertently taking a huge risk with Riddle's life, he's fine; the Fool is getting better; and most significantly, Fitz is pulled out of the shadows and given the recognition and honor that he's deserved for so long. But this sweet turn of events is poisoned for the reader because we're just waiting in suspense for the drop of the blade that we know is hanging over Fitz. 
 And, of course, it does drop. Even then, we don't get non-stop action. This isn't that kind of book. It's faster paced and with higher stakes than the first book, but one thing Hobb does awfully well is to slow things down without slowing them down too much. She's a good writer, she holds your interest without high drama or battle scenes. 
 One of the themes of the novel, I suppose, is the way that so many characters have aged and changed. Fitz isn't what he used to be, though his heart is ever the same. He can't go charging off to fight the way he could when he was younger (even though that still doesn't always stop him). Chade's health and mind are fading fast. The Fool is broken and even the Skill can't restore him. Dutiful has grown from the brash young prince into a capable king (who, we are frequently reminded, has a lot more on his mind than the things that motivate Fitz). 
 On the other side of the ledger, we have a lot of characters who fall under the umbrella of "kids these days!" Lant, Per, Ash, Shun (eventually): Fitz can neither quite rely on any of them, nor will he take their education on himself to get them up to snuff. He's caught up in his own problems--one of which is, of course, that he did an inadequate job of raising and protecting Bee--and can't or won't devote any time to these youngsters. He's had good mentors, but Fitz doesn't want to be a good mentor. 
 Hobb tricked me a bit there when she brought in Fleeter--I thought she was going to bring in a new Wit companion for Fitz. Or maybe even the crow. But no: Fitz is Fitz, he can't find peace with anything he's lost and form new relationships. I guess that's fundamentally the part of his character that keeps him from mentoring anyone: he's bound tightly to the past by his regrets and never did really internalize Nighteyes' directives about living in the moment. 
 Speaking of Nighteyes, I wonder if we'll ever get clarification about the nature of Wolf-Father's presence in Bee's mind? 
 I appreciated at the end the way she finally brought the two halves of this world (The Six Duchies and the Rainwild/Kelsingra stories) together (particularly since I just read The Rainwild Chronicles this spring). When characters are protagonists in the story, we live with them in a different way, and I love the effect of seeing them afresh through the eyes of someone else, in this case another beloved protagonist. (hide spoiler)]