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Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1)

by Robin Hobb (Goodreads Author)

4.13 · Rating Details · 149,296 Ratings · 5,373 Reviews

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. ...more

Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages

Published March 1996 by Voyager (first published April 1st 1995)

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Community Reviews

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Aug 23, 2016 Mark Lawrence rated it it was amazing

I haven't read a lot of fantasy in the last decade, so the fact I've read 12 of Robin Hobb's books in the last 5 years says a lot about how much I enjoy reading her work. The adventures of Fitz through three trilogies account for a big chunk of that reading.

Robin Hobb can write a first person story with rare skill. She shows you a world though Fitz's eyes and makes it matter, makes it vital. Some elements of Hobb's fantasy are fairly old school, but written with a modern style and a literary ski ...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Anni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: nerdy badasses

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 21, 2009 Felicia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: epic-fantasy

One of my all-time favorite series. I love it so much I have first edition hardbacks. Lovely, touching, dramatic. It has everything.

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Jan 03, 2016 Bookworm Sean rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I feel so sorry for Fitzchivalry because he had such a rough start to life. The boy is despised for the simple fact that he exists. He is a royal bastard, and his dishonourable conception means that his father’s name is forever sullied; that much so that he was forced to abdicate the throne; thus, half the royal Farseer court already hates Fitz because he is, supposedly, the reason why the popular Prince had to retire from court life. Poor, poor, Fitz, he was hated from the very beginning.

He w ...more

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Jul 19, 2016 Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ (of badger and SNAKE) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fave-ya-and-fantasy, favorite-male-leads, likeable-mc, knots-in-my-stomach, male-pov, fantasy, reread, dark, all-time-favorites

07/19 : 1.99$ today on kindle! I never do that, but that's FITZ. Be serious.

Funny that I thought I would be able to objectively review this favorite of mine. SERIOUSLY? I was way too conceited. Because the truth is...

Why?

Because I'm (way) too much involved in Fitz's story to analyze it. I mean, I could pretend, of course, but really? I found myself crying or being out of breath in anticipation so many times that I'm pretty sure my opinion is grandly biased.

Take this, for example : "And then ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Loederkoningin rated it really liked it

Shelves: sweet-nostalgia, terrific-covers, pampers-the-emo-within, high-fantasy, sweet-anticipation, blazing-intensity, war-and-military, political-intrigues, robin-hobb, bouts-of-fangirl-craziness, buddy-read, adventure, a-tsunami-of-angst, my-goddamn-emotions, binnengehaald

With the exciting news of a brand new series about Fitz & the Fool, The Fool's Assassin, in mind, we are buddy reading this series in December and continue with the Tawny Man trilogy.

Yup, I'm all set! (for some funky reason, I'd feel weird about reading Robin Hobb on my Kindle, so I got the entire series in English paperbacks too.:p

Buddy read with:
*Kat (joins for book 2)
*Damian
*Joshua
*Em
*Lee(first timer, wooot!)
*Erika, and I'm confident we'll catch up with...
*DayDreamer ;)

---------------- ...more

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Jul 08, 2016 Sean Gibson rated it really liked it

It hasn’t been that long since I cracked the virtual spine on a new fantasy series, but it has been a while since I began one that felt like this.

(Um, Sean? Can you maybe, I don’t know, define what “this” is, on account of the fact that empathetic internet is, as of yet, at least still a few years away?)

“This” is fully realized, well written and conceived, and faithful to some of the most tried and true fantasy tropes while simultaneously standing one very big one on its heads (namely, and I don It hasn’t been that long since I cracked the virtual spine on a new fantasy series, but it has been a while since I began one that felt like this.

(Um, Sean? Can you maybe, I don’t know, define what “this” is, on account of the fact that empathetic internet is, as of yet, at least still a few years away?)

“This” is fully realized, well written and conceived, and faithful to some of the most tried and true fantasy tropes while simultaneously standing one very big one on its heads (namely, and I don’t think I’m spoiling anything that’s not in the title of the book here, that our main character, Fitz, is being trained to be an assassin, a line of work that is not generally considered sympatico vis-à-vis being a heroic paragon of virtue).

As much as anything, this is a coming of age story, and it’s paced accordingly. You know how, growing up, your life is marked by milestones (first sleepover, staying home alone the first time, first kiss, driver’s license, first time you manage to kill a dracolich in a game of 2nd edition AD&D (an event that likely transpired long, long before your first kiss)) that break up an otherwise monotonous cycle of school, chores, hanging out with friends, exploring the wondrous things that can happen when you spend time alone with a bottle of Jurgens contemplating the shower scene in National Lampoon’s Vacation, etc.? That’s basically what reading The Assassin’s Apprentice is like, but that’s neither a critique nor an indicator that it’s in any way boring. Monotony generally implies boringness, but I would argue that all of those repetitive activities you undertook growing up incrementally formed your character (or, at least, chafed your most sensitive parts, depending on how frequently you indulged in thoughts of an in-her-prime Beverly D’Angelo). So it is for Fitz, and watching him undergo his journey—slow and painful though it can occasionally be—is a delight.

Hobb builds her world methodically, brick by brick; she manages to deftly balance driving the story forward while highlighting the unique features of the world, and never once do you feel as though you’re on world-building data dump overload. Her writing is a delight, and she conjures a feel reminiscent of some of the fantasy luminaries I enjoyed working my way through when I really started to get into reading fantasy late in high school (the two who come foremost to mind, in terms of making a tonal comparison, are David Eddings and Raymond Feist).

Would I have liked a little bit more action here and there, a little more with the swords and the heroics and magic fireballs? Sure. But, that’s true in real life as well. Who doesn’t love fireballs? Nonetheless, I’m more than sufficiently hooked to continue on, to see if Fitz can remain a sympathetic character as he moves from apprentice assassin to the master assassin, to explore more of this intriguing world, and to go dig out my old VHS copy of Vacation.

(And, hey—how can you not love a book that starts off with a man sleeping with animals in the first 10 pages? Just sleeping, people—no funny business. Get your minds out of the gutter, you filthy perverts.) ...more

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Mar 30, 2010 Kaion rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, unfinshed

I find a lot of fantasy authors are in love with the internalized conceptions of their worlds. This can lead to great nuanced detail supporting imaginative storytelling... but the flipside can be a creation that fails to translate that vision to the actual page, to the audience.

Assassin's Apprentice illustrates this point fairly well. Robin Hobb has clearly lovingly created the world of the Six Duchies, and this love is echoed through the tale's device: born a bastard son to the king's heir, Fit ...more

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Jan 19, 2017 Melanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, audible, read-in-2017

What unexpected, and much needed, joy this book brought me! I know this is a fantasy favorite among so many people I trust, but I never expected it to be as perfect as it was! Fitz and his journey was an absolute joy to read about, and I cannot wait to continue on with this world. Like, I need the next book now.

This story is a slow burn, that's for sure, but learning about the main protagonist, Fitz, and his back story made the slow pace still really enjoyable. Fitz is a bastard of the king in ...more

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Aug 26, 2014 Markus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2014

Buddy read with Alexa August 19th!

Wearily I regard the faltering trail of ink it has tracked down my page. I have seen that shape before, I think, but it was not ink then. A trickle of drying blood on the deck of a Red-Ship, and mine the hand that spilled it? Or was it a tendril of smoke rising black against a blue sky as I rode too late to warn a village of a Red-Ship raid? Or poison swirling and unfurling yellowly in a simple glass of water, poison I had handed someone, smiling all the while? Buddy read with Alexa August 19th!

Wearily I regard the faltering trail of ink it has tracked down my page. I have seen that shape before, I think, but it was not ink then. A trickle of drying blood on the deck of a Red-Ship, and mine the hand that spilled it? Or was it a tendril of smoke rising black against a blue sky as I rode too late to warn a village of a Red-Ship raid? Or poison swirling and unfurling yellowly in a simple glass of water, poison I had handed someone, smiling all the while? The artless curl of a strand of woman's hair left upon my pillow? Or the trail a man's heels left in the sand as we dragged the bodies from the smoldering tower at Sealbay? The track of a tear down a mother's cheek as she clutched her Forged infant to her despite his angry cries? Like Red-Ships, the memories come without warning, without mercy.

An angry old man arrives at the gates of Buckkeep, capital of the Kingdom of the Six Duchies, dragging his six-year old grandson along. Determined not to listen to his daughter’s desperate cries from behind them, the old man delivers the child to a guardsman, and demands that his father take care of him from now on. And the child’s father, he says to the perplexed guardsman, is Prince Chivalry Farseer, king-in-waiting and heir to the throne.

The boy who comes to be known as Fitz becomes something of a liability for the Farseer royal family upon his untimely arrival at Buckkeep. Chivalry, a man whose honour is everything to him, abdicates his position in the line of succession and thus causes an uproar in the Six Duchies. And Fitz himself, doomed to the life of a bastard, must put his life in the hands of King Shrewd. And he must decide between being put to death for no other reason than being who he is, and being turned into a lethal weapon for the king to use. An assassin…

Robin Hobb’s writing is one of the strengths of this novel. It is extraordinarily simple, and yet greatly satisfying. I also really enjoyed the book’s narrative, written from the point of view of Fitz as an old man describing the events of his youth. That kind of retrospective, nostalgic writing style is deeply reminiscent of one of my all-time favourite authors, Bernard Cornwell. And even though Cornwell in my opinion does it a lot better, Robin Hobb is also quite certainly a master of this art.

The setting is not particularly complex or innovative, but one could say that it, like so many other aspects of this novel, grows more and more interesting for each single chapter. The Kingdom of the Six Duchies is, like most other medieval fantasy settings, a feudal monarchy built by farmers and soldiers. Most of the story takes place in the capital city of Buckkeep, but some of the most interesting events occur in outlying villages or even in the bordering Mountain Kingdoms. The fact that Hobb reveals remarkably little of the other locations, cultures and nations of this world, also helps to make it seem more mysterious and fascinating.

The characters are a bit more difficult to talk about. Aside from Fitz himself, almost every single character is completely generic and more or less one-dimensional. In Chivalry, Verity and Regal we have three different versions of royal princes all so often found in medieval fantasy, and their father King Shrewd is most definitely a rather typical monarch. Most of Fitz’ teachers also fit the various stereotypes of fantasy. Despite all that, I should say that I really enjoyed reading about them. Within the confines of their roles, these characters were very well developed. Robin Hobb seems to have a way to make her readers care about what happens even to minor characters, not to mention the protagonist himself. And there are obviously also a few more interesting characters, like the Fool and the Lady Patience, who were the two characters of this book whom I enjoyed the most.

Speaking of patience, that is absolutely something one needs to read this book. When it comes to the composition and the progression of the story, Robin Hobb so far reminds me a lot of Robert Jordan, in the way that both authors apparently write books where nothing at all seems to be happening, and then they bombard the reader with tons of excitement and drama in the last five to ten chapters. One needs to get almost halfway through this book before the plot finally starts moving forward. But when it finally does that, it’s hardly even possible to put it down.

In the end, Assassin’s Apprentice was an enjoyable book to read. It is not among the best fantasy books I’ve ever read, but it was great fun reading, and it piqued my curiosity enough that I certainly want to read the rest of the books set in the Realms of the Elderlings, and get to explore this wonderful world further.
...more

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Jun 08, 2016 Samantha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorite-books

Even better the second time around!

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Aug 29, 2016 Kat Hooper rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I read THE FARSEER SAGA years ago and have since considered it one of my favorite fantasy epics. It’s one (along with THE LORD OF THE RINGS and MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN) that I often suggest to new fantasy readers. But after more than a decade of reading deeper and further into fantasy literature, I’ve often wondered how well this saga would now appeal to my more mature (I hope) palate. When Tantor Audio recently released THE FARSEER SAGA on audio, I was overjoyed and considered this to be my si I read THE FARSEER SAGA years ago and have since considered it one of my favorite fantasy epics. It’s one (along with THE LORD OF THE RINGS and MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN) that I often suggest to new fantasy readers. But after more than a decade of reading deeper and further into fantasy literature, I’ve often wondered how well this saga would now appeal to my more mature (I hope) palate. When Tantor Audio recently released THE FARSEER SAGA on audio, I was overjoyed and considered this to be my sign that it’s time to re-visit the six duchies.

When Assassin’s Apprentice arrived in the mail, I yanked out the CD that was currently in my computer, tossed it aside (sorry, Ray Bradbury) and stuck in the first Assassin’s Apprentice disc. My lips trembled as I mouthed the name of the narrator: Paul Boehmer… Never heard of him. Is he good enough to portray Fitz, one of my all-time favorite fantasy characters? And… my stomach twisted… will Fitz be the same boy I came to care so much for so many years ago?

Within minutes I was reabsorbed into the world of FitzChivalry Farseer, that insecure, lonely boy who has so much potential but, due to his illegitimate birth and his peculiar abilities with animals, never gets what he deserves. Fitz was just as I remembered and Paul Boehmer portrayed him (and all the other characters) beautifully. (Except that at one point he incorrectly used the word “prisoner” instead of “poisoner.”)

Robin Hobb’s prose was as nice as I remembered, too — straightforward and simple. It never calls attention to itself (and therefore away from the story). Her characters are engaging and nicely portrayed, though a couple of her villains are overdone. Her animal characters are especially notable and, though I’m not a dog lover, I can’t help but be emotionally connected to Fitz’s canine companions. My second read also gave me a greater appreciation for Hobb’s world-building as I encountered tidbits of information that are relevant to her later works (TAWNY MAN, LIVESHIP TRADERS, RAIN WILDS).
My only disappointment is that I don’t have the next book, Royal Assassin, in my hands yet. I’m not sure why I’m so eager to torture myself again with this story because I know what’s going to happen. Things don’t always go well for Fitz. His story is heart-wrenching, and I know I’ll be emotionally drained after I finish it. But I’m going to love every minute of it.

Read more Robin Hobb book reviews at Fantasy literature. ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Melissa ♥ Dog Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy-all

These were the lessons in my assassin's primer. And more. Sleight of hand and the art of moving stealthily. Where to strike a man to render him unconscious. Where to strike a man so that he dies without crying out. Where to stab a man so that he dies without too much blood welling out. I learned it all rapidly and well, thriving under Chade's approval of my quick mind.

If your looking for a big ole bloody and everything goes book, this is not it. This is just a great story about a boy that was bo ...more

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Dec 07, 2016 Alex Farrand rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, fantasy-and-scifi

Assassin's Apprentice lives up to its title. It is about a boy name Fitz who learns to become an assassin. It is also much more than just killing people. It is about this young boy coming of age and finding out who he is.

First off, I thought this book would be a little bit different. I think I took the "Assassin" part to heart, and forgot the "Apprentice". You don't just jump into your trade until you really master something. Also, it was very dense in the beginning. Robin was really building ev ...more

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Apr 02, 2012 seak rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio, 2012

This is another one of those, how-can-you-call-yourself-a-fantasy-fan-and-not-read series. I really am sorry I waited this long because I loved it and can't wait for more...good thing there are 10 more and counting set in the Realm of the Elderlings.

That's not to say I loved it from the beginning, however. I had a bit of a hard time getting into Assassin's Apprentice, but that could also be the fact that I had a hard time with the narrator at first. By the end, I actually found it quite fitting This is another one of those, how-can-you-call-yourself-a-fantasy-fan-and-not-read series. I really am sorry I waited this long because I loved it and can't wait for more...good thing there are 10 more and counting set in the Realm of the Elderlings.

That's not to say I loved it from the beginning, however. I had a bit of a hard time getting into Assassin's Apprentice, but that could also be the fact that I had a hard time with the narrator at first. By the end, I actually found it quite fitting.

Assassin's Apprentice is the first book in the Farseer Trilogy. The Farseer's are a ruling family in the land of the Six Duchies and the book is told from the perspective of Fitz Chivalry, the bastard of Prince Chivalry Farseer.

Everyone knows he's the bastard, his name even connotes such, but he has an uncanny resemblance to his father. Also, no one really knows what to do about the bastard until King Shrewd Farseer decides to put him to good use by putting him to work as the title of the book suggests.

As an assassin for the king, Fitz learns about herbs and languages, stealth and subterfuge. He's given tasks that test his skills such as stealing certain artifacts and then putting them back without being seen.

The setup of the book works really well to build up the world without slowing down the action too much. It's told essentially as Fitz Chivalry writing his memoirs. Each chapter begins with some information about the world, the politics, the peoples of or around the Six Duchies, among other things. Following this, the story resumes as if we're right there with Fitz as he is experiencing things.

In this way, the world becomes a rich tapestry you feel yourself a part of. The world expands while we continue to see the important role (and roles) that the bastard is beginning to play.

As I talk about this book now, Assassin's Apprentice wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be going into it. We learn a lot about the world, the history, the relationships and the assassin work is really just a small part.

Then again, the story is much more than I ever thought it would be. It's more than just assassins, it's a rich story with a huge history that's told impeccably. Hobb is a master at leading you to expect one thing while her real plans come out of left field...and yet are so obvious at the same time.

4 out of 5 Stars (Loved it!) ...more

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Feb 25, 2010 else fine rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: people tired of bad fantasy

Shelves: sfthatdoesntsuck, reread, read2010, sf-fantasy-general, genderbending

This series demonstrates what a truly gifted writer can do with the constraints and conventions of the fantasy genre. It has all the required elements - dragons, quests, magic, etc - but combined in a dark and unsettling way. Hobb's heroes, fated to attempt epic feats, falter and are left prematurely aged, scarred, and bitter; true love goes unrequited; her characters are morally and sexually ambiguous; and both dragons and magic are dirty, unglamorous, and hazardous to your health.

Though all o ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Damn Amazon and their clever marketing, Farseer Trilogy #1 (Kindle edition) priced at $0.99, Farseer Trilogy #2 at $7.99! Of course they know you are going to be hooked on the series by the end of book #1, you’d have to be a philistine not to be (just kidding, if you truly dislike it just ignore me). I don’t even read a lot of fantasy these days, I used to read two sci-fi books for every fantasy title nowadays the ratio is more like 10:1. It’s just a personal preference, I prefer spaceships to d ...more

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Feb 23, 2016 Amy (shoutame) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

What a fun read! I had heard so many great things about Robin Hobb and this didn't disappoint.

We follow the story of a young man named Fitz who is the bastard-born son of one of the royal family in a place known as the Six Duchies. As the title suggests Fitz becomes an assassin's apprentice and slowly begins to weave himself into the on-goings of the royal folk where he lives. What will Fitz have to endure? Will he make it as an assassin? You'll have to read to find out :)

I thought this was a re ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 helen the bookowl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a great story about Fitz who is the King's bastard. This first book in the Farseer Trilogy is an introduction to Fitz and his worries, life and struggles, but it is also the introduction to an amazing fantasy world that is going to expand beautifully in the upcoming books and series.
What stood out to me the most about this book was Fitz and his development as well as the dogs. I can't say too much more without spoiling anything, but the animals and their destiny in this novel were espec ...more

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Sep 07, 2015 Denisse rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Adult Fantasy Lovers

Recommended to Denisse by: All my GR crazy fantasy lovers friends

Shelves: crushes

4.5 A beautiful world with interesting magic. Hobb develops her plot very slowly but with strong determination. It is an introductory book, lots of world and character development, which might be the reason why the ending is a bit generic or usual if you are an active fantasy reader. But it works with its twists and betrayals; it is just not as original as all the development leading to it. With a very unique and bittersweet loneliness aura, the book gives birth to a bastard trained to be an ass ...more

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Aug 31, 2014 Kaora rated it it was amazing

Shelves: good-fantasy-series

Holy shit.

Hopefully this review is coherent. I did just finish this amazing book and its hard to put thoughts in order when your mind has just been blown.

I great up fatherless and motherless in a court where all recognized me as a catalyst. And a catalyst I became.

Assassin's Apprentice is the story of a bastard son of the Prince, who is given up by his mother to be raised in Buckkeep. There he becomes known as Fitz, and discovers that he is able to link to animals, a talent called the Wit. It al ...more

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Sep 05, 2016 Em rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, abuse-torture-rape, soldiers-warriors-military, magic, angst, dtr, hard-copy, buddy-read

A couple of months ago I discovered that Robin Hobb was continuing with this epic series and that The Fool's Assassin is going to be released in 2014. It was great to hear that other people were as pleased about the news as I was and thanks to Loederkoningin for setting up the Fitz & the Fool buddy group.

This is my third time of reading the series and I'm as excited reading it this time as I was the first time. I intended to read Assassin's Apprentice whilst reading another book, but after ...more

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Jul 02, 2015 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, coming-of-age

After reading maybe a few too many YA fantasies recently, it was a breath of fresh air to delve into the world of Fitz, the assassin's apprentice. It was complex and layered, the way I like my fantasies, and I suppose my reading generally.

Fitz, the bastard son of the crown prince with a peasant woman, is taken from his mother as a six year old boy and dropped into the royal household. This novel follows Fitz from his childhood, rejected by many and ignored by almost all others, to about age fif ...more

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Jan 21, 2017 A. Dawes rated it it was amazing

I hadn't read a meaty fantasy for a while when a friend recommended this. And I discovered both Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm in the process.

Young Fitz Farseer is a royal bastard (don't fantasy writers love royal bastards) and down-and-out (don't fantasy writers love them too). Yet he has the gift of the Wit, which can link him to the minds of animals, allowing him very close bonds with the animal kingdom. It's basically most pet lovers dream come true. Like most magic, the Wit has a tradeoff.

F ...more

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Sep 17, 2007 Lorena rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy

Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. I didn't care for this series at all. The bad guy is SO bad, stomping around twirling his virtual Snidely Whiplash mustache, sneering and jeering and (literally) kicking puppies, and yet the supposed "wise mentor" in the book keeps insisting mysteriously that there is more to him that meets the eye...well, guess what, there ISN'T, he's just as bad as he seems, and that pretty much saves you the trouble of reading the whole book right there.

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Dec 22, 2014 Lindsey Rey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2014

[4.5 Stars]

So excited to read the sequel!!!

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Jan 31, 2007 bp rated it it was amazing

And now, my extremely guilty pleasures. (The heat you feel radiating towards your face is actually me, white-hot with embarrassment)

Here's the truth: I used to crouch into subway corners, hunched over, pressed against the throng of rush hour bodies, lost in Robin Hobb's universe. I'd miss my stops.

I've read all of her Farseer trilogy, all of her Liveship books, all of her Tawny Man series. I broke my cardinal rule of sci-fi/fantasy reads and actually bought a 1st edition, hard cover of the las ...more

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Oct 05, 2014 Anthony Ryan rated it it was amazing

There are few fantasy works that can lay claim to the kind of game changing impact on an entire genre that greeted the publication of Robin Hobb's now classic first volume in the Farseer Trilogy. The use of first person narration adds greatly to the sense of place and allows for a remarkable connection with Fitz and his many trials and tribulations as acknowledged bastard and secret assassin to the royal Farseer line. Rich in intrigue, friendship and tragedy this really shouldn't be missed by an ...more

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Sep 06, 2016 Dawn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2010, favorites, read-in-2011, read-in-2014

April 2014: Re-reading preparation for Fool's Assassin release later this year. And yep... Still love it. 10,000,000 stars.

August 2011: I have now read this book three times. That’s right, three times! And you know the weird thing? I love it more each and every time I read it.

But there is a downfall to reading the series so often… I can’t separate the feelings I get from this book from the feelings I have for the series as a whole. A lot of the emotions I feel when I read this are triggered by ...more

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Mar 31, 2016 Ashley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, bildungsroman, espionage, murder-most-foul

I've been meaning to read this series for yearrrrrrs, and I finally got around to it. It was . . . not what I was expecting!

I mean, right away it's pretty hard not to notice it's in first person POV, which is still incredibly rare in epic fantasy, and I think dangerous because it's so hard to pull off. But I quickly adapted to it, and think it works well here. I still think a nice third person POV lends a storyteller quality that works absurdly well with epic fantasy, and it could have worked b I've been meaning to read this series for yearrrrrrs, and I finally got around to it. It was . . . not what I was expecting!

I mean, right away it's pretty hard not to notice it's in first person POV, which is still incredibly rare in epic fantasy, and I think dangerous because it's so hard to pull off. But I quickly adapted to it, and think it works well here. I still think a nice third person POV lends a storyteller quality that works absurdly well with epic fantasy, and it could have worked beautifully here as well, but this is Fitz telling us his life story as an old man, so it seems to me that it's appropriate, and since I haven't read the final two books yet, might have an additional purpose that I'm not yet aware of. First person also has the added benefit of being easier for the reader to self-identify with, this especially being the case here, since Fitz is . . . how do I say this without sounding like an a-hole . . . kind of an absent narrator? At least, emotionally. He's distant.

And, really, can you blame him?

So Fitz is born a bastard of the noble and upright King-in-waiting, Prince Chivalry Farseer, in the kingdom of the Six Duchies. Fitz's existence as a small child catalyzes a series of upheavals in the court, eventually leading to his father abdicating the throne, and his coming to live in the castle as a bastard, under the care of Chivalry's man, Burrich, whom Chivalry has left behind, leaving Burrich heartbroken and resentful. Burrich raises Fitz, who doesn't have a name until he's an adolescent (everyone just calls him boy, or "fitz," which just means son), and even when his name is officially Fitz, it's still always a reminder that he's never just *himself*, but always the bastard son of a prince everyone loved, whose prospects were ruined by Fitz's existence.

He has a lonely childhood, never really bonding with anyone emotionally, excepting two puppies he's able to magically communicate with, because he has what the characters in this world call the Wit, which is a magical ability to essentially empathize with animals (and to a certain extent people). But Burrich believes the Wit to be a taint, and forbids Fitz to practice it, essentially amputating the one form of true connection he has.

The book covers Fitz's life from the ages of six through about fifteen, and the poor kid goes through more in that span of time than most people do before they're thirty. He's gradually brought to the attention of the King, who decides to put him to use, and his resemblance to his father is never failed to be remarked upon, gaining him enemies and friends alike.

It was a bit slow going at first, definitely not a fast-paced thriller, but once you get about 1/3 of the way in, Hobb sucks you in emotionally. It took me like a week to get that far, and then I read the rest of the book in less than a day, before I'd even realized I'd done it. This book is cruel to your emotions. It gets you to care and then it SMASHES YOU IN THE FACE.

I'm definitely looking forward to finishing this trilogy, and reading more of Robin Hobb's books. I've only ever previously read a novella by her set in this world, and also a short story she wrote under the name of Megan Lindholm that was speculative, and set in a contemporary setting. I can't wait to see what she does with this series. (And yes, I've heard the last book is hard going for some people. I'm hoping that won't be the case for me.) ...more

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** I am shocked to find that some people think a 2 star 'I liked it' rating is a bad rating. What? I liked it. I LIKED it! That means I read the whole thing, to the last page, in spite of my life raining comets on me. It's a good book that survives the reading process with me. If a book is so-so, it ends up under the bed somewhere, or maybe under a stinky judo bag in the back of the van. So a 2 st ...more

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