Thursday, September 08, 2011

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb

Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb

Completion Date: July 3, 2011
Reason for Reading: Love this author!
Filled with adventure and bloodshed, pageantry and piracy, mystery and menace, Assassin's Apprentice begins the story of a bastard of the royal house, a young man who is trained in the mystic arts of the assassin and who may become the savior of his kingdom.
A few years ago I was at the second hand bookstore talking to a man in the fantasy section. I have no idea who he was, but he was telling me about this fantastic author Robin Hobb. I had heard of her before, but never read her. At that moment, the second hand bookstore had nothing by her, so I went to the local bookstore chain to see if they had anything. This lead to me reading The Tawny Man trilogy. I knew the books happened in the future, but at the time it was the easiest books to get by her. When I sat down for the first time with the first book in that trilogy, I knew it was love. I was captivated from the very beginning by her excellent writing and knew I was going to have to read everything she had ever written.

I said that, but then I was a bad reader and only finished The Tawny Man trilogy this year. I knew I couldn't continue to put so much time between her books, so I immediately sat down with the book that started it all and the one that I am reviewing here today. This is the first book in the Farseer trilogy. The main characters from The Tawny Man trilogy are mostly all present, but they are a considerable amount younger than in the later series. For this fact, I am actually glad that I started with the older series first. I do read young adult-type books now, but a few years ago I hated them and I might not have appreciated this series because Fitz is so young. I now know the man that he is going to grow up to be, so I enjoyed reading about how he started out. There are a lot of things touched on in the later trilogy that I am going to get the chance to see up-close in this one. I am looking forward to the sequels! (Actually, I only haven't read the next book because I thought I owned it and I don't.)

Like I touched in the above paragraph, Fitz is the main character for this trilogy. The bastard son of one of the monarchs, he has not had an easy time of it. He had been living with his mother, but is suddenly thrust upon the court. No one is quite sure what to make of this young lad and he doesn't always have an easy time of it as a result. This book covers his early adventures. One of its saving graces is that while Fitz in the book is really young, it is actually the Fitz of the future that is writing the books. Just because I will read young narrators now doesn't mean that I always enjoy them, so I appreciated that they did it this way. It also shows Fitz coming into his powers, the early stages of some lasting friendships, and the start of his ultimate downfall. I didn't feel like I was missing out knowing what was going to happen, so I don't regret reading the trilogies backwards.

Based on what I have managed to read by Robin Hobb, I still maintain that she is one of my favourite fantasy authors. I look forward to another book by her hopefully before the year is out. If I don't stumble upon a copy of the next book second-hand, I plan to buy a copy for myself for my birthday next month.

If you haven't read Robin Hobb yet, you really should!!

The Farseer Trilogy:
Assassin's Apprentice
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Quest

15 comments:

  1. She's such a wonderful author, Robin Hobb. I've read the first three assassin books and want to start The Liveship Traders after RIP. It's so nice to have so many of her books still to read.

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  2. I've had this book on my Kindle forever--in fact, it's the first book I downloaded to my Kindle (it was available for free at the time). Based on your review, I really need to start reading it.

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  3. Loved The Liveship Traders and then, even more, The Farseer trilogy!

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  4. **Cath: I love Robin Hobb! I look forward to more from this trilogy...

    **Amy: I hope you enjoy it!

    **jenclair: I am looking forward to finishing it and then reading The Liveship Trilogy.

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  5. I simply must get me some Hobb..:D TY

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  6. I loved these books, the whole Farseer 'verse is great. I haven't read her latest trilogy in that 'verse yet but I *will* get to it. And I really must reread these ones too because I loved them so.

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  7. **animewookie: Yes, you should!

    **Fence: I love Hobb. I must read more from her. If I don't find it beforehand, I will buy Royal Assassin in October. :)

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  8. Anonymous11:58 AM

    Everyone seems to love Robin Hobb. I really need to read something by her.

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  9. **carolsnotebook: She is a great author. I hope you enjoy her if and when you read her!

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  10. I LOVE the Farseer Trilogy. Then I read the Tawny Man series and was equally in love. Such a wonderful, wonderful fantasy series. They are on my permanent fantasy shelf, which is saying something, since I reread very little fantasy (except for Charles and Tolkien). I'm so delighted you love her as much. I think I gave Assassin's Apprentice year one year for Christmas gifts, I loved the series so much. I just have the Liveship series to read, and I've started looking for book one in that series to read.

    One of the things i really like about the Farseer Trilogy, is how real the people seem - we know it's a fantasy world, and the people are so realistic, their reactions to everything - it is fascinating to see how she does it. The best part though, is the Fool, for me. He always makes me think of the Fool tarot card, brought to life. Oh, and Fitz, too. You have two excellent books ahead of you, too!

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  11. **Susan: There is another series that is in progress. I can't remember what it is called at the moment, though. I am looking forward to getting back to the Farseer trilogy!

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  12. Robin Hobb can do no wrong! So happy you're enjoying her too! Farseer trilogy were my first Hobb's and it was love at first read. I'm slowly working my way through Soldier Son trilogy.

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  13. **redhead - I have the Soldier Son trilogy on my TBR. I actually own everything except 1 or 2 or her newer ones and then, randomly, Royal Assassin.

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  14. I really really liked Jonathan Strange. Hope you enjoy it! I'm going to read Night Circus, too. Can't wait to get to it.

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  15. **Michelle: The Night Circus was really quite good. I will hopefully review it soon. I am enjoying Jonathan Strange so far. :)

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