I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I was reminded of several other books while I read it, but that's only because the author takes a familiar, timeless tale and makes it her own. This is the story of a young man with a great gift, but deprived of his family, who must now struggle to find his place in the world.
One thing I wished for was greater subtlety in the characters. It was very obvious who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. The pacing could also have been faster, though I kinda liked the leisurely pace at times.
I will certainly be looking into the rest of the Farseer universe.

A full review is now up in my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-review-assassins-apprentice-by.html