Official Synopsis from Amazon: Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.
As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.
Review: Loved. Loved. Loved this! An excellent, clean, fantasy novel with complex characters.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb is the start to The Farseer Trilogy, and is also the place to start if you are interested in reading Robin Hobb’s books. Telling the story of Fitz, a wonderful, complex character, Assassin’s Apprentice has magic, intrigue, animals, and some serious world building.
Fitz is the illegitimate son of Chivalry, the eldest son of King Shrewd. Fitz is taken in by the stablemaster, Burrich, and Fitz learns how to care for the horses and dogs. Chivalry is killed early on, and Fitz comes to the attention of the King, and the King starts him on assassin training.
The assassin training was intriguing and thoughtful, taking into account the many different ways to kill someone (quickly, slowly, etc) and also how to think of perhaps different ways to achieve a goal without killing someone. Chade, the man who teaches Fitz in the art of assassination, is a fascinating character. He’s mysterious and knowledgeable, but perhaps also a bit manipulative.
Fitz himself is a great character. He is thoughtful and kind, and besides having the Skill; he also can use the Wit, an ancient magic where he can communicate with animals and sense people. I’m not so sure I understand exactly what the Wit and the Skill are, but that doesn’t really matter here. It’s magic and I love it.
One of the relationships I really loved was the one between Fitz and the stablemaster who takes him in, Burrich. There was tension and reality to their scenes together. They don’t always get along, and there are questionable decisions by each character along the way, but I really enjoyed reading their interaction.
Another fascinating character is that of the Fool. I’ve always had an interest in fools in literature, there is always more going on there than people think, and I think the Fool was done with perfection here.
What about the female characters you say? Well there are great female characters as well! I loved Patience, Chivalry’s wife, and Molly, a girl in town who befriends Fitz. There are many great characters here, and I have a feeling that the more Robin Hobb books I read, the more wonderful characters I will meet. I could go on and on about different characters in this book!
One of the aspects of Assassin’s Apprentice that I loved is that it is written in a way (somewhat similar to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire) where the story is slowly building in the background, and you don’t really realize it until someone says something that references another scene, and I found myself flipping back and re-reading sections with my newfound knowledge. This was somewhat annoying to do on the Kindle. And this kind of tying things together doesn’t feel forced here, instead it feels natural and fitting.
There is a lot of world-building here, and some may find the descriptions too detailed and too slow. They didn’t bother me. Books like this I’m inclined to give a bit of leeway to in terms of building the worlds they are set in, and I’m not in a hurry to race to the end. I don’t mind learning about the world, or reading descriptions of the towns and way of life. This helps me get a feel for setting, so I welcome it in fantasy novels.
And did I mention this book was clean? There is a bit of violence, but nothing too graphic. I don’t recall any sex or any language.
I can’t wait to read more of Robin Hobb’s works involving Fitz. He’s a great character, and OH! THAT ENDING!
Bottom Line: Wonderful and magical, with complex characters. A must-read for any fan of fantasy.
Links to Assassin’s Apprentice on Amazon and Goodreads
You also might like to read:
- George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, which starts with A Game of Thrones links to Amazon and Goodreads
- Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle, which begins with A Wizard of Earthsea. Read my review HERE and also links to Amazon and Goodreads
luvtoread 
Great review but no mention of Nighteyes. 😦 I love this series and Robin Hobb in general, I’d say this is perhaps the best in the trilogy (meeting the characters for the first time, etc) but your in for a great trilogy with this. 🙂
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Thanks! And oh dear – I don’t know the name Nighteyes! Maybe he’ll be in the next book? Is he a human or animal? I’m excited to read her other works – I really enjoyed this setting and Fitz.
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Oh, it’s been a while since I read Hobb, I really thought Nighteyes was in Assassins Apprentice, he’s a great character when you do meet him but apologies for the spoiler, my mistake.
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Oh ok! No worries – no spoiler here 🙂 He’s got a great name whomever he is!! Hope to start on book two soon.
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Nice review! I thought I had this on my TBR for months until I looked at Goodreads and it wasn’t marked off. Just added it. 🙂 I’m glad you loved it. Everyone who likes fantasy seems to recommend this book. I guess I better take a look at Amazon. 🙂
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Thank you! Yeah, this book & author seems to be on everyone’s list who reads fantasy. Figured it was about time I read it! And you’re in luck – I think it’s only $1.99 for the Kindle version. Book 2 isn’t as cheap though, bummer.
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No way! Thanks for the heads up! I’m going to check out Amazon now. I like to get as many books as I can when they’re on sale. 🙂 I’m such a book addict.
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Yeahhhh, I’m definitely going to have to read some of Robin Hobb’s books now. I’m a sucker for a great fantasy series!
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This one was really wonderful – I’m really looking forward to getting in deeper with the world and the characters!
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Great review! 🙂 Except for the reference to Martin’s style, I was never able to finish A Game of Thrones, haha!
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Thanks! You might not like this one then. They are similar, but I didn’t have any issue in following the characters and remembering connections like I did with A Game of Thrones. That was what the hardest thing was for me in that series. But I do love that series so much!
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I love this series so much. 15 books in the series so far and a new one scheduled for next year. Love it! “We are pack!”
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I can see why the books are so popular – Robin Hobb has really done an amazing job with the world and the characters. And oh my! I’ve got a bunch of reading to do in time for the new book! 🙂
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Great review. Loving the character names – Prince Chivalry, wife Patience.
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Thanks! 🙂 There are more great names in the book, too. There is Prince Regal (hah!) and also Prince Verity, and there are other characters mentioned with names like Hasty, Graciousness, Taker, Ruler, Solicity, Tactic, Vision, and Bounty. Ha ha – I had them all written down because I thought the names were so unique! There was a short section about why they are named what they are, trying to have the person live up to the name.
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Great review! I’m going to show it to my fiancé too, he just finished reading this series not too long ago. He’s reading her book “Fool’s Fate” now. 🙂
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Thank you! Ooh – I saw all the ones with Fool in the title, and am really hoping they involve the same Fool that is in this book. I really enjoyed reading his character!
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I’m adding this to my list, just because of the character’s names. Imagine having your future determined because of your name.
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Seriously! I do hope you enjoy the book 🙂
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I’ll let you know 🙂
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Great review. Congrats!
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Thank you! Now to get to the rest of Robin Hobb’s books!! 🙂
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Robin Hobb looked like Robin Hood at first glance. 😀
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Ha ha!! Yes it does 🙂 🙂
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You would definitely be a Mercedes Lackey fan. Start with the Magic series (Magic’s Pawn, Magic’s Price, Magic’s Promise). If you want a really cool look at a fool character, you MUST read Christopher Moore’s book Fool. It’s funny and spoofs on Shakespeare plays and is hard to put down!
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Oh wow – thank you for the recommendations! They all sound amazing and I’ve added them all to my TBR 🙂 And I haven’t heard of either of these authors before! Love getting recommendations – thank you.
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You’re welcome. Be careful with Lackey…she has a LOT of books, and you might fall down the rabbit hole 😉
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Yes – I noticed she had a bunch of books listed on Amazon and the covers were calling my name! I think I must wait to finish all of Robin Hobb’s books first. I have a terrible habit of starting series and taking forever to finish them. One of my goals this year was to finish up on some series I’ve been reading for years, and I haven’t picked up one of them yet!
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Do you own then, or is it a personal goal?
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Both. I’m a sucker for mysteries and library book sales, and when it’s 50 cents a book, I can’t resist. So I have a huge stack of books to read, plus numerous lists on Amazon of books I don’t have yet, but want to read. So my series I have some of, but perhaps not all of each series. With the Robin Hobb books, I’ve only got this one and then I just bought book two. I’m trying to not go overboard! But if I were at a library sale and saw a big stack of Robin Hobb or Mercedes Lackey I’d buy them up.
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Lately I’ve been good about not getting too many new books. When someone writes a review of a book that sounds great, I check the library. If it’s not there, I don’t add it to my TBR shelf.
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That’s really smart! I have a list on Amazon that I’ll add to, and then I generally only look at that when I’m looking for something to read and nothing I own sounds appealing. I don’t actually purchase that many new books – my new purchases are usually reserved for authors I love, series I’m caught up with and the newest book has just released, or books for book club & Hype or Like. I go back and forth with the library. Sometimes that’s all I use, other times I can go months without using it!
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