Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Robin Hobb started her writing career with Assassin's Apprentice, the first novel in the Farseer Trilogy, but by the time Assassin's Apprentice came out, she had been writing under the name Megan Lindholm for a decade already. The Farseer Trilogy is one series in a larger world, the entirety of which is called The Realm of the Elderlings and includes sixteen full novels as well as a prequel novella. Assassin's Apprentice has great reviews on both Goodreads and Amazon and George R. R. Martin called Robin Hobb's books "diamonds in a sea of zircons", which I think means he liked it. It deals with animal cruelty and death (animals and humans), bullying, child abuse, emotional abuse, infidelity, suicidal thoughts, torture, violence, blood, grief, murder, abandonment, war, and injury.

Fitz was born the bastard son of a prince - the heir to the throne to be exact. And his father, literally named Chivalry, is known to be the epitome of honor and justice, so it wasn't exactly a great look when Chivalry's son born outside of his marriage was dropped off to his brother with no warning. Fitz is taken to the capital and mostly forgotten about by his family. His father abdicates the throne and retreats to the country with his wife without ever meeting his son, one of his uncles hates him, one of his uncles doesn't hate him but mostly forgets he exists unless Fitz is standing in front of him, and his grandfather doesn't have anything to do with him - at least until Fitz is able to be useful to him. At that point, his grandfather has Fitz trained in secret as an assassin. But as raiders devastate coastal town after coastal town, using a new weapon that the king does not understand and cannot counter, it may be that Fitz and his very unconventional education is exactly who the country needs.

The first thing to know about this book is that the main character starts the story at six years old and the whole book spans about a decade, so try not to judge Fitz too harshly. That being said, as you read you can just tell that Robin Hobb is a tricky author and you need to pay attention to everything. I cannot wait to see where this series goes. Robin Hobb's writing is wonderful, descriptive without being too detailed. The plot keeps you engaged, even if the main character is not the wisest of people yet. And though the pacing was a little slow, I didn't find the book difficult to get through. The characters are not super well developed, but it feels like the secondary characters are shallow because Fitz does not know them well right now and I hope to see them fill out as Fitz gets older, it fits quite well with the story.

I'm giving Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb 4 stars out of 5. I'm very excited to continue with the Farseer Trilogy, and I can't wait to see what Robin Hobb has in store in the sequel, Royal Assassin. For a summary of Assassin's Apprentice, please see our series summary page for the Farseer Trilogy.

For more from the author, check out her website at https://www.robinhobb.com/

Pairs well with a gooseberry tart and a hand dipped candle.