Rudolf Steiner, Robin Hobb: Assassins Quest (Paperback, 1997, Bantam Books)
Paperback
English language
Published April 5, 1997 by Bantam Books.
From an extraordinary new voice in fantasy comes the stunning conclusion to the Farseer trilogy, as FitzChivalry confronts his destiny as the catalyst who holds the fate of the kingdom of the Six Duchies...and the world itself.King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz--or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest--perhaps to death. Only Verity's return--or the heir his princess carries--can save the Six Duchies.But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents …
From an extraordinary new voice in fantasy comes the stunning conclusion to the Farseer trilogy, as FitzChivalry confronts his destiny as the catalyst who holds the fate of the kingdom of the Six Duchies...and the world itself.King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz--or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest--perhaps to death. Only Verity's return--or the heir his princess carries--can save the Six Duchies.But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was....From the Paperback edition.
And breathe.
What and end to a series. The first book packed so much in plot wise it was non-stop. This one feels so much slower in comparison, but oh god, so good.
Unexpected tear in my eye as Fitz, Fool and Nighteyes work together to pull Skill and Wit into something wonderful.
And this is just the start...
Content warning mild spoilers, although not much more than can be gleaned from reading the chapter titles
Waking up from the dead, Fitz vows to kill Regal, the would-be king who had him arrested and tortured, and who has usurped the throne of the Six Duchies.
There's an overlong journey to the new capital of the Six Duchies, a visit with the Old Blood (aka others who can talk to animals like Fitz) that feels shoehorned in so that some of the later magic doesn't feel as rough around the edges, way too many heel turns by new characters, and finally many many chapters in the realm of the Elderlings where the characters have to figure out how Elderling magic works.
This book needed to be about half as long as it was.
Astonishing.
Le troisième tome de la saga connue en français sous le nom de l'Assassin Royal, qui clôture la première série.
I asked, quietly, "is there nothing private anymore?" "Only the things we keep from ourselves," she replied sadly
The Farseer Trilogy comes to a satisfying end, but there were moments where that end couldn't come soon enough. I enjoyed the book more than the previous two but there were times the read became more of a chore. I liked that there were peaks in the story early as Fitz makes his way North, but then what follows is a long stretch of tedium and depression.
The pace of the book reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where the search for Horcruxes is slow and tedious and you want your characters to pick up the pace but nothing happens. Just like in Deathly Hallows, you need that lull, your heroes have to question their purpose and find the strength to keep on going. Still, the mission …
I asked, quietly, "is there nothing private anymore?" "Only the things we keep from ourselves," she replied sadly
The Farseer Trilogy comes to a satisfying end, but there were moments where that end couldn't come soon enough. I enjoyed the book more than the previous two but there were times the read became more of a chore. I liked that there were peaks in the story early as Fitz makes his way North, but then what follows is a long stretch of tedium and depression.
The pace of the book reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where the search for Horcruxes is slow and tedious and you want your characters to pick up the pace but nothing happens. Just like in Deathly Hallows, you need that lull, your heroes have to question their purpose and find the strength to keep on going. Still, the mission North and time at the Rock Garden felt very stretched out and frustrating knowing that so few pages remained and nothing was resolved.
What I found enjoyable in Assassin's Quest was the emotional turmoil I felt through Fitz. He is betrayed, unable to trust, forever alone and even if the Burrich and Molly story was predictable it didn't make it any less gut-wrenching. The entire trilogy is with FitzChivalry and you develop that emotional connection, so in that regard it was nice to care about a character, even if you questioned his childish actions at every corner.
This book is four stars compared to the ones before it but I'm not sure that's enough for me to continue on with the other trilogies just yet. I need some time to decompress from being in Fitz's head for so long.
Wow, wow, wow. I just finished reading Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest back to back and it was a thrilling roller roaster ride. In this third book in the trilogy, Fitz gets up to his usual stuff; trouble. He gets into it, and a lot.
Robin Hobb has a way with words, and an uncanny way of grabbing hold of loose ends scattered around all three books and tidy them up nicely. This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. There are a few unanswered questions, though. And I hope to find some answers in one of the other trilogies set in this world. Oh, and speaking of the world.. Now that I've gotten very accustomed to this world, one that Hobb has built very meticulously, I'm not quite ready to leave. So for me, it's off to Bingtown, and the Liveship Traders.
Oh, and ferrets are awesome.
Feelings, feelings, feelings, feelings, feelings, feelings, feelings, dragons. The End.
I enjoyed reading it quite a bit. It was less stressfull than the previous volume of the trilogy because - this being the final book - I assumed less things would go wrong.
Sadly that is exactly what I am now critisizing. It's not that the heroes - yes plural - got an easy way out. But as is often the case with fantasy books towards the end even those that aren't strictly high fantasy become more and more fantastic, magic obviously being the magic ingredient that resolves all plotholes and all difficulties.
The book is not bad at all. I was just a bit underwhelmed by the end and confused. I'll probably still start on the other trilogies sometime soon :)
What I really liked btw is the development between Nighteyes and Fitz. That came out right.
