issue 29 // volume 43

An emotional farewell
to Fitz and friends

> ‘Assassin's Fate’ book review

Caroline Ho
Arts Editor

kkk

he Fitz and the Fool trilogy comes

to a long-awaited, breathtaking,
tear-inducing, and emotionally-
draining conclusion with its final
book, which came out this May.

Assassin's Fate is the third
novel in Robin Hobb’s Fitz and the
Fool trilogy, which is in turn the
third trilogy featuring the titular
characters of FitzChivalry Farseer
and the Fool. All of Hobb’s books
are absolutely masterful in their
character-writing; the author
introduces us to protagonists who are
almost unbearably sympathetic and
puts them in the most physically and
emotionally tormenting situations,
but somehow manages to make her
heroes agonizingly relatable instead
of pathetically pitiful. You'd have to
be a pretty heartless reader not to be
moved at least a little bit by Hobb’s
novels; as I am very easily moved, I
will admit to having cried multiple
times throughout this book—at
both tragic and ecstatic scenes.

Book two of the trilogy, Fool's
Quest, leaves off with Fitz believing his
daughter Bee to be dead. In Assassin’s
Fate, Fitz and his oldest friend, the
Fool, vow to journey to the distant city
of Cleres to take vengeance on Bee’s
killers. But Bee in fact lives, a prisoner

 

of the corrupt and cult-like Servants
who are also taking her to Cleres. The
novel follows both father and daughter
along two well-paced plotlines,

both moving toward an ultimate
convergence and confrontation.

Not many high fantasy novels
are written in the first person, and
very few from multiple first-person
perspectives. Assassin’s Fate balances
smoothly and effectively between the
viewpoints of Fitz and his daughter.
The former is well into his adult
years while the latter is a young child,
and their voices are appropriately
distinct, equipped with realistically
sympathetic flaws and strengths.

The novel is a heavy read in
more ways than one. The hardcover
is over 800 pages, and it’s also
incredibly weighty emotionally.
Personally, I found that the story
did not drag even a tiny bit at any
point throughout the book. Fitz’s
sections enraptured me considerably
more than Bee's, partly because the
readers’ have had six more books to
build up emotional attachment to
Fitz’s character. But Bee also goes
through remarkable—yet believable—
character development that made
me cheer her on almost as much.

The only possible weak point
of this book also happens to be my
favourite thing about it. Hobb draws
not only on her previous two trilogies
about Fitz—the Farseer and Tawny
Man trilogies—but also on her other
two series set in the same realm,

the Liveship Traders trilogy and the
Rain Wild Chronicles quartet. Most
of the protagonists from those two
series make notable, plot-relevant
appearances. As a long-time fan of
every one of Hobb’s books—actually,
Liveship Traders is probably my
favourite of her series—it’s such a
delight to see where these characters
have ended up years later, and it’s also
demonstrative of Hobb’s masterful
worldbuilding to witness how all her
storylines connect so organically.
However, to anyone who hasn't read,
or isn’t as fond of, the author's other
books, parts of Assassin’s Fate might
feel too much like fan service.

That being said, for a reader who
has diligently and avidly followed
this lengthy saga, this book is the
ultimate reward. I can't reveal if any
major characters die, but I can promise
that Assassin's Fate takes all of the
emotional depth of previous novels
and compounds the sensation into
one wholly engrossing rollercoaster of
feeling that spans the entire novel.

Hobb hasn’t announced any
plans to write any more series in the
same world or featuring the same
characters, but that doesn’t mean there
won't be more in the future—after the
conclusion of the Tawny Man trilogy
in 2004, Fitz’s story seemed to be
over, and that clearly wasn't the case.

For now, Assassin’s Fate
stands as an epically, beautifully,
painfully poignant ending toa
long and fantastic set of series.

The return of Lorde in the music scene

> Young superstar continues to slay

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

here’s never before been a

musician quite like Lorde.

She wrote, recorded, and
released a triple platinum
album by the age of 16,
becoming a household name
almost over night. She’s
headlined Coachella, won
multiple Grammys, and
was called the future of
music by none other
than David Bowie.

After Pure
Heroine’s
release,
Lorde
quietly
disappeared
for a few years.
Except for some
collaborations and
occasional award show
appearances, Lorde did
not perform or release any
new music until 2017. She
spent her time finishing high
school and slowly but surely writing

   
    
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  

and recording a new album.
In 2017, Lorde released her
first original song in three and a
half years, and it was as if she never
left. “Green Light” was featured in
commercials and became stuck in
our heads instantly. The release was
accompanied by the announcement
of her sophomore album Melodrama,
marking a more mature
direction
for the
20-year-old.
Lorde went
on to headline
Coachella

performance dates
for the first time
in three years,
and release
two more
singles:
the tear-
jerking
“Liability,” and the extremely
party-focused “Perfect Places.”
Despite being an A-list
international musician, Lorde is still
just like you and me. She’s a normal

(again), announce

teenager with normal experiences

and interests, who also happens to be
world-famous. Her lyrics often reflect
her anxiety about the celebrity world,
and discuss the memories and feelings
of growing up. While Pure Heroine

is a reflection of her teenaged self,
Melodrama’s lyrics promise to be of
young adult experiences—like taking
someone home after a night out.

She’s no longer a teenager, but
she’s still representing her unique
brand. Her music is a genre of its
own—electronic, dream pop, with
some jazz and alternative pop all
mixed in one. There’s no one like
Lorde working today. No artist has
the accomplishments or style she has.
Our girl is back, and she’s promised
that the songs on Melodrama are
the best she’s ever written.

Lorde is just getting started as
she explores new musical depths and
the reality of superstar adulthood.
Casual and die-hard fans alike are
rediscovering what makes Lorde so
distinct and amazing. We crave a
different kind of buzz, and Lorde takes
us to those perfect places. (What the
heck are perfect places, anyway?)

arts // no. 7

YouTube Music
Video Classics:

Recent
Discoveries

> The best of the rest

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

hroughout the year, there were a lot of music
videos that had a lot of people talking. While
there were some videos that I may have talked
about in earlier editions of this column, with
the amount of great videos out there I did not
have time to talk about all of them. Here are
some music videos that I discovered this year.

Calvin Harris - My Way

Recorded when Calvin Harris was dating Taylor
Swift and released after he broke up with her,
he addresses the breakup with the song and its
music video. We see Harris in a server building
wearing virtual reality eyewear, and he is put

in a Westworld type farm. As the music video
progresses, the things around him, including a
woman, shift. In the second half of the video,
we see a group of women in his barn dancing
with laser lights. You'll see things that cause the
video to look like it is buffering, but you do not
need to refresh your web browser. Harris looks
kind of like Ryan Gosling in this music video.

Y bit.ly/OPCalvinHarris

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic

Bruno Mars and his backup singers/dancers have

a night out in Las Vegas in the music video of the
first hit single from his recent album 24K Magic.
Directed by The Young Astronauts (a Canadian
group of directors), we see Mars and company

go to parties, including a party in the Bellagio
resort. They also dance in the streets of the city
and drive along the Las Vegas Strip. The dances

in the music video are 1980s-style dances, just

like the style of 24K Magic, which has a 1980s
sound. We even see Mars riding a Sea-Doo in the
fountain of the Bellagio, which would only be
topped by Drake prancing in the fountain when he
performed in the Billboard Music Awards this year.

Ly bit.ly/OPBrunoMars

Maren Morris — 80s Mercedes

As the line goes in the hit single from Maren
Morris’s Grammy-winning first album Hero: “I’m a
‘gos baby in my 80s Mercedes.” In the music video,
we see Maren drive her Mercedes-Benz 380SL,
including a road trip and a night out. The forest that
Morris drives in looks like the forest that Llewyn
drives through in Inside Llewyn Davis. I wonder how
the singer is able to lie down in the front of the car
and have the car still moving without her driving it.

Ly bit .ly/OPMarenMorris

The Strumbellas - Spirits

The Canada-born Strumbellas are considered as the
next Arcade Fire, and they had a very controversial
line in this song with, “I got guns in my head and
they won't go.” The music video of the hit single
from the band’s first album Hope involves them
going to a funeral of an unknown person with
unusual people surrounding them. They then doa
parade in the streets while moving the coffin of the
person. This parade tries to top off the parade in
the music video of the Arcade Fire song Rebellion.

Ly bit .ly/OPTheStrumbellas