Robin Hobb is an excellent author, and I highly recommend any book that she has written. Fool's Errand is the first book in the Tawny Man Trilogy, which is the third trilogy in a nine book series. The first trilogy is the Farseer Trilogy, and the second is the Liveship Traders Trilogy. You can get through Fool's Errand with only minor references to the other books, so it still makes sense, but in order to read the next one, Golden Fool, it's much better to have read the other books first. Fool's Errand is the first Robin Hobb book I ever picked up, and I now keep picking up her books again and again.