First in the third of the interconnected trilogies by Robin Hobb, 'Fool's Errand' is set 15 years after the ending of the first trilogy, where Fitz, bastard son of one of the royal family, had succeeded in helping King Verity reanimate the dragon statues that ended the threat to the Six Duchies, but in the process lost just about everything that made his life worth living, with the exception of his wolf friend, NightEyes. 
 Their magical bond, called by tradition 'the Wit', had to be concealed throughout the first trilogy, as people in the Duchies view it much the same as 'witchcraft' was viewed in real-life historical times, and the worsening of this persecution forms a main strand of the new volume. When the story opens, Fitz has made a quiet life for himself under the name of Tom Badgerlock in a simple hut in the country, with a foundling boy Hap who has grown to be the son he never had, NightEyes, and some chickens. But his hardwon peace of mind begins to be disturbed: Hap is taken to the fair at Buckkeep, the place where Fitz was raised, by Starling the minstrel, and promptly decides he can't settle for a quiet country existence but instead wants to be apprenticed to a cabinet maker. Apprenticeships cost money and Fitz is hard pushed to find some, then Hap hires himself out for the harvest but comes home disillusioned with little to show. 
 Meanwhile, characters from Fitz's old life start turning up in abundance, first Chade his old mentor, trying to persuade him to come back and train Prince Dutiful in the use of the Skill, a magic that runs in the royal family. The Skill was a dangerous thing for Fitz in the past, as it has an addictive quality, but Fitz is the only one still alive with any experience of using it. Then Fitz's best friend and soul mate, the Fool, arrives, having taken on a new persona as a wealthy foreign noble, Lord Golden. Having matured into the 'Tawny Man' - he has lost the albino appearance of his youth - he is no longer recognised as the Fool by the folk at Buckkeep. The Fool tries to tempt Fitz back because he knows their unique bond as White Prophet and Catalyst will soon be required to bring the Six Duchies through another crisis. Fitz resists, using his responsibility for Hap's future as a shield. But then a messenger comes to escort him to Buckkeep because something terrible has happened and the royal family once again need him to be prepared to lay down his life and certainly his happiness and peace of mind for them. 
 I had a problem with the first trilogy because a lot of it was very padded, with characters standing around wringing their hands a lot of the time about what awful things were going to happen if they didn't do anything - and then they didn't and the awful things happened. I enjoyed the second trilogy about the LiveShip Traders much more, and interestingly certain events of that are name checked in this story, especially as the Fool appeared in that trilogy though in a very transformed guise. In this volume, we have a very slow build up starting with Fitz's country life in the first part of the story, but that still managed to hold my interest, and then we have the playing out of what is in effect a whodunnit (view spoiler)[ only not a murder, but a 'was the Prince kidnapped or killed and by which faction in the Duchies, given that many would benefit (hide spoiler)]. It then turns into a chase sequence, with high stakes indeed. 
 I had a nasty feeling that this volume would see (view spoiler)[ the breakup of the Fitz-NightEyes partnership (hide spoiler)] and so it proved. There were clues all along and the final parting is truly touching and sad especially as the character concerned was actually my favourite in the first trilogy, the one who didn't stand around 'wringing his hands'. The only aspect I didn't quite believe was where 'that character' became rather politically correct in the scene where Fitz is knocking around a young man who is actually a coldblooded murderer who killed a whole bunch of people from ambush with a bow, and who has just tried to kill them. But I will miss 'that character' a lot. The nature of that relationship is the special element that gave the first trilogy and also this volume a unique flavour.