I recently finished the last of a nine-volume fantasy series by Robin Hobb, a trilogy of trilogies all set in the same medieval-like fantasy world, the Realm of the Elderlings. This is a tremendously popular milieu for fantasy writers and readers ever since Tolkien, so much so that there is an embarrassment of riches out there on the bookshelves. Also, let’s be honest, an embarrassment of junk that recycles the same two-dimensional tropes. Understanding the difficulty in finding truly valuable fantasy fiction, then, let me assure you that if you’re going to invest in a nine-volume series, this one is worth it.

The first trilogy is called the Farseer Trilogy (Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin’s Quest), and is written from the first-person viewpoint of a true royal bastard, the illegitimate firstborn of a king in waiting. Named FitzChivalry Farseer, he is both the true king and no king at all, sent by King Shrewd to the royal assassin to be trained for the “quiet work” of the king, to be used when diplomacy fails. Hobb’s writing and characterization are richly detailed and her plotting is compelling.

What adds to the intrigue is the “king’s magic,” the Skill that passes down the Farseer line and which Shrewd and his sons use to stay in power, magic that Fitz has inherited but cannot legitimately learn. Fitz also has the Wit, a connection with animals that is considered dangerous and foul and which he must hide. The king’s jester, the Fool, with a talent for prophecy, takes a particular interest in Fitz and his increasingly significant choices.

This first trilogy is powerfully melancholy, and the ending is one of unhappy, unrequited sacrifice and exile. This doesn’t make it a bad ending—it is demanded by the logic of the story—but one feels that Fitz deserves better, somehow, even though we don’t see how it could happen.

Fortunately, the Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool’s Errand, Golden Fool, and Fool’s Fate) resume Fitz’s story, fifteen years later, and takes its time developing Fitz’s extraordinary and exciting return to power and destiny. Best of all, when the last word is written, it is clear that Hobb planned the entire arc of her story and its characters from start to finish. This is not a revision of the prior story, but its completion. Ironically, I read the first trilogy when it was first published, in 1997, but didn’t read this final one until this year, twelve years later, so I had the odd experience of feeling like time in that fantasy world had passed at nearly the same rate as in my own.

In the middle of these two trilogies is another trilogy, the Liveship Traders Trilogy, which takes place in the same fictional world but barely touching the characters and culture of the other two, using multiple third-person viewpoints. It is written just as well as the other two, and provides some crucial clues to the overall mystery of that world, but I have to say that I didn’t enjoy it as thoroughly as the other books. So I find myself wanting to recommend the six books at either end, but I’m not sure what to name them. The FitzChivlary Farseer series, perhaps.

I may be prejudiced. I believe there is something special about the set of characters that Hobb created in those books: FitzChivalary, the Fool, Burrich the stablemaster, Chade the assassin, King Shrewd and his sons, and Buckkeep Castle itself. The story is important to me, somehow, developing themes that that I believe are especially true and relevant.

Part of this, I imagine, is identification. A skilled author can make the reader feel what it is like to be the viewpoint character, to move from inside the reader’s head to inside the character’s head. In the case of FitzChivalry, I hardly have to travel any distance at all. Your own mileage may vary.