435 pages
English language
Published Nov. 7, 1996
Assassin's Apprentice is a fantasy novel by American writer Robin Hobb, the first book in The Farseer Trilogy. It was Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden's first book under this pseudonym, and was published in 1995. The book was written under the working title Chivalry’s Bastard.The novel covers the early life of FitzChivalry, a royal bastard living in Buckkeep Castle as he begins his training as an assassin and successfully safeguards the throne from his over-ambitious uncle Regal, almost at the cost of his life. The stories of characters found in the Farseer Trilogy continue in the Tawny Man Trilogy and the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy. Other series, The Liveship Traders and The Rain Wild Chronicles, are set in the same world and in the same timeframe, with some crossover.
I found the story intriguing and well written. The narrator had a soothing voice and managed to capture the different characters in the story well.
Robin Hobb was working hard in the 90s
DNF. The writing was painfully childish, repetitive, predictable, and unimaginative to me. 29 pages felt like forever.
Years ago now, I was also attempting this series. I remember finding the first book okay but the second book was such struggle I never actually got so far as to ever starting on the third. And yet it's such an incredibly popular series that now years later I felt like I ought to try again.
So I did. My experience so far has been much the same. The first book was okay. The second book rather a struggle.
Oh lord is it long. And detailed. And unnecessarily long. And unnecessarily detailed. I often felt like Fitz' days were meticulously described from morning to night, and the thing is, he rarely actually does anything. Most of the time he's just sitting there having things happen to him, but not really ever doing anything himself to try and help his own situation or anybody else's situation. And somehow at the same …
Years ago now, I was also attempting this series. I remember finding the first book okay but the second book was such struggle I never actually got so far as to ever starting on the third. And yet it's such an incredibly popular series that now years later I felt like I ought to try again.
So I did. My experience so far has been much the same. The first book was okay. The second book rather a struggle.
Oh lord is it long. And detailed. And unnecessarily long. And unnecessarily detailed. I often felt like Fitz' days were meticulously described from morning to night, and the thing is, he rarely actually does anything. Most of the time he's just sitting there having things happen to him, but not really ever doing anything himself to try and help his own situation or anybody else's situation. And somehow at the same time he manages to find so many things to occupy himself with that I don't understand how he isn't half mad from sleep deprivation.
And then there's Molly. I could totally live without Molly. She feels shoe-horned in and the whole big angsty romance feels less and less like a romance when all they ever seem to do is have sex all night or argue about nothing at all or her blaming him for everything bad that has ever happened since the dawn of time, and why won't you just marry me? This last bit in particular irritated me time and time again, as she completely failed to even try to understand or accept that due to Fitz' somewhat unique parentage he was not free to do so however much he might wish things to be different. It made me like her less and less as the text plodded on.
To be honest, none of the characters are particularly likable, really. I'm pressing on with the third book because I've got it already (Wasn't quite an omnibus edition, but it was a similar sort of offer), so I might as well. I just hope some sort of salvation can come out of this mess.
Astonishing.
Excellent fantasy novel that runs counter to most epics' ambience.
I initially bounced off of Assassin's Apprentice and pushed myself through the book. Although I ultimately enjoyed it, it never really clicked with me.
Royal Assassin however, clicked hard. I think the time Hobb spent building the characters in the first book really paid dividends here. I plowed through the second half of the book in a day and half.
Slow start, but picked up very quickly once I got a bit in. Ending was a little abrupt, but clearly setting up the trilogy. The funky character names were odd to start, but grew on me. The prose was excellent.
Don't do what you can't undo until you've considered what you can't do once you've done it.
An assassin with a conscience.
From the reviews I expected "Assassin's Apprentice" to be better, but instead it was just okay. The story slowly builds, the characters are introduced and FitzChivalry is trying to make his way in the life he's been given. The pace of the book is what you'd expect for an introduction to the Six Duchies. You assume that the only threat is the Red Ship Raiders, but then the story takes a sudden detour and things escalate quickly.
The last part of the story was excellent, I would have had a different rating if this pace started sooner or had peaks of it throughout. However, it's a slow burn. You need time to get used to the narration style. Then at the end you find yourself fully in the …
Don't do what you can't undo until you've considered what you can't do once you've done it.
An assassin with a conscience.
From the reviews I expected "Assassin's Apprentice" to be better, but instead it was just okay. The story slowly builds, the characters are introduced and FitzChivalry is trying to make his way in the life he's been given. The pace of the book is what you'd expect for an introduction to the Six Duchies. You assume that the only threat is the Red Ship Raiders, but then the story takes a sudden detour and things escalate quickly.
The last part of the story was excellent, I would have had a different rating if this pace started sooner or had peaks of it throughout. However, it's a slow burn. You need time to get used to the narration style. Then at the end you find yourself fully in the world Hobb's created and realize that the pace of the book was fine, the world was introduced correctly, and now you're invested and want to finish the trilogy.
3 stars.
[Buddy-read with Giovanna and Sibil]
I liked the content of this book: the plot, the characters, the setting,... everything, but the writing. It was far too descriptive, imo, and somehow deprived me of the pleasure of reading, making the narration slow and boring. I found myself skipping the lines looking for dialogues or interesting events, because overall I didn't enjoy it very much. I think this is in part due to the fact that the narrator was telling his memories and not actually taking part in the events. But I must confess that the situation got better through the second part.
Two nice persons gave me the power to go on and they were Giovanna and Sibil, and also Lys. I know that she has been looking after us from afar :D
I would have thrown the book out the window without you.
I just hope that Hobb's …
3 stars.
[Buddy-read with Giovanna and Sibil]
I liked the content of this book: the plot, the characters, the setting,... everything, but the writing. It was far too descriptive, imo, and somehow deprived me of the pleasure of reading, making the narration slow and boring. I found myself skipping the lines looking for dialogues or interesting events, because overall I didn't enjoy it very much. I think this is in part due to the fact that the narrator was telling his memories and not actually taking part in the events. But I must confess that the situation got better through the second part.
Two nice persons gave me the power to go on and they were Giovanna and Sibil, and also Lys. I know that she has been looking after us from afar :D
I would have thrown the book out the window without you.
I just hope that Hobb's recent books aren't so descriptive/boring. In any case, I'm sure I will read the next installment to follow Fitz'story, but not in the immediate future.
Pretty good world-building. The twists and turns are pretty obvious, except maybe for the end, which is kept vague (which I liked). I am tempted to continue with the series.
I enjoyed reading the book and finished it very quickly. It is well-written, with an interesting premise and a lot of intrigue. I like the characters and enjoy the story telling from Fitz' perspective.
A little simple and the plot was contrived in places but it was decent enough that I'm moving on to the sequel.
I want to note that I'm rating this book in relation to other books in this particular genre (pulp-fiction fantasy.) The story of this book grew on me throughout the book, and I really respect that the author attempted to always be honest with his characters. They never made an action or decision that didn't ring true to who they were portrayed to be. The only downside to that is that it is usually simple to judge motives and predict future plot. But I'm fine with that for a good story.
I look forward to the follow up story. Great language and adequate setting.
