Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2)
by Robin Hobbpublished
March 3rd 1997
(first published 1996)
by Voyager
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binding
Paperback, 768 pages
isbn
0006480101
(isbn13: 9780006480105)
description
Young Fitz, the illegitimate son of the noble Prince Chivalry, is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has had him tutored him i...more
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When I was in undergrad, I remember at some point seeing Alaron wandering around reading a book called Royal Assassin. The cover depicted a man standing on top of a mountain, head thrown back, arms spread wide, raising a sword towards the sky. Next to him, a wolf sat, it’s head thrown back in a long howl.
In other words, it looked like the cover of a thousand fantasy novels, all of them miserable pieces of garbage. And while Alaron has good taste in books, I never had any reason to believe th...more
In other words, it looked like the cover of a thousand fantasy novels, all of them miserable pieces of garbage. And while Alaron has good taste in books, I never had any reason to believe th...more
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Read in November, 2003
Robin Hobb, Royal Assassin (Bantam, 1996)
There should be a law against ending books like this, especially when they're the second part of a trilogy. Imagine what it must have been like for the poor souls who read this on the day of release, and then had to wait another year to find out what happened next.
Royal Assassin continues the story of Fitz, son of an abdicated prince, assassin for the king, user of magic both human and bestial. It also continues the building of the world of the Six Du...more
There should be a law against ending books like this, especially when they're the second part of a trilogy. Imagine what it must have been like for the poor souls who read this on the day of release, and then had to wait another year to find out what happened next.
Royal Assassin continues the story of Fitz, son of an abdicated prince, assassin for the king, user of magic both human and bestial. It also continues the building of the world of the Six Du...more
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Read in January, 2008
When I began reading Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb, her second book in The Farseer Trilogy, I could not seem to get into the story, perhaps due to a slow beginning, but probably more likely due to a preoccupied mind, filled with a thousand other things. So don't let the fact that it took me several months to read Royal Assassin deceive you, for by the end of the book, I was reluctant to put it down, and that's the sign of a good story. Furthermore, upon finishing it, one of my initial thoughts ...more
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Read in September, 2007
I really, really enjoyed the first book and for the most part this is a really good sequel. The story is rich and detailed and full of all sorts of political intrigue and behind the scene pulling of the strings by those with power and those who want power, which I love in Fantasy novels.
My main problems with the book is that although the plot was still well done and kept me reading the motives for the main characters are pretty much set down right at the beginning. Unless there's a massive dra...more
My main problems with the book is that although the plot was still well done and kept me reading the motives for the main characters are pretty much set down right at the beginning. Unless there's a massive dra...more
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Read in January, 2003
recommended to Julie by:
Bryonrecommends it for: EVERYONE
I'm not sure I can say enough to convey my love for these books. Starting with Assassin's Apprentice, they tell the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard pseudo-prince of the Farseer line (with a detour to Bingtown in the Ship books, but read them anyway - it's important). One thing I love about these books is how people are named after personality traits: Chivalry, Verity, Shrewd, Regal, Patience, Modesty.... etc. After a while you completely forget they aren't just names. :)
Robin Hobb's w...more
Robin Hobb's w...more
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Read in January, 2007
This book chronicles the continuing adventures of FitzChivalry and the disintegration of the kingdom and royal family in which he lives. There were a couple of strong female characters that added spice to the story. My favorite was Kettricken, wife of the King-in-Waiting (or crown prince). She probably has the most spine of any character in the novel, a fact that I greatly appreciated. The main character, on the other hand, seems to be plagued by a lack of clarity that is distracting. This bleed...more
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Read in June, 2000
I'm beginning to wonder if I should ever venture into a series again because it seems I lose interest far too easily and end up moving on to something else. I made it to 450 pages with about 200 to go and despite reading reviews and searching the internet for reasons to stick with it (there were lots), I was antsy for another story. I also managed to stumble onto a plot spoiler which pretty much ended my
interest. Sigh. Also, it didn't help that I've been so busy with work the past month that I...more
interest. Sigh. Also, it didn't help that I've been so busy with work the past month that I...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommended to Nicole by:
Demirecommends it for: fantasy fans
I found this book to be just as engaging as the first one - even more so! I loved the political machinations in it.
The one thing - and I didn't realize this until I got all the way through the book - is that this is set in a medieval millieu, and yet there is no religion. None! No church, no priests (or imams, or what-have-you), no people occasionally praying - it's as if they're an entirely atheistic world. While I find it interesting, I think it's also a big hole in the story. Even if the ...more
The one thing - and I didn't realize this until I got all the way through the book - is that this is set in a medieval millieu, and yet there is no religion. None! No church, no priests (or imams, or what-have-you), no people occasionally praying - it's as if they're an entirely atheistic world. While I find it interesting, I think it's also a big hole in the story. Even if the ...more
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Read in October, 2007
This book continues the thread of Assassin's Apprentice. Only now does the story's villain emerge, as does the hero's love interest. The war, which began in the previous book, intensifies now into something desperate, yet the kingdom, finding itself far more distracted by the political intrigue of an ambitious noble, is unable to fully place itself on a war footing. The hero finds himself caught between his duty to his superiors, the jealousy of his rivals and a wartime enemy whose motive...more
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Read in March, 2008
Many a reviewer is right: This series just gets better with each book. Nearing the close of the story, I thought this second book in the Farseer trilogy would not be able to pull of an ending as (bitter)sweet as the first, but author Hobb proved me wrong on that count. With a cliff-hanger-like ending that this one provided, I’m chomping at the bit for book three to resolve all the loose plot-threads, both thick and thin. (And lucky for fantasy curmudgeons like myself, Hobb already has two othe...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to stephen by:
Colin Riggs
Book 2 of a trilogy:
This one was much better than the first, both in creative descriptiveness and in pacing. I felt a greater interest in each of the characters, and was surprised in the directions that the story travelled (in opposition to convention). Don't read if you like things to go smoothly for the protagonist, or if you get too emotionally connected. The book definitely "got" to me, and was similar to Deerskin in tone.
This one was much better than the first, both in creative descriptiveness and in pacing. I felt a greater interest in each of the characters, and was surprised in the directions that the story travelled (in opposition to convention). Don't read if you like things to go smoothly for the protagonist, or if you get too emotionally connected. The book definitely "got" to me, and was similar to Deerskin in tone.
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Read in January, 2005
I found this to be every bit as good as the first - it set me on a quest to find more by the author. She has become one of my favorites. I get whatever she has published as soon as it is out.
A fresh perspective on a fantasy world with great detail and a hero supported by a cast that you can like. The characters are well supported without being boring in excess details. They hold up throughout the entire trilogy. Each book is rather long, but I remained fully engaged to the very end of ea...more
A fresh perspective on a fantasy world with great detail and a hero supported by a cast that you can like. The characters are well supported without being boring in excess details. They hold up throughout the entire trilogy. Each book is rather long, but I remained fully engaged to the very end of ea...more
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A classic fantasy series with a plot that is both epic and heart wrenching. This one has it all, betrayal, love, hate, war, drama, and just about everything else. Fitz is the anti-hero that you want to love, with enough flaws to make him real and painful. The other characters of the novels are surprising and real as well with an awesome amount of character development and a story with an ending that you'll never forget I'd say this is one of fantasy's ultimate pieces of literature.
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This book sucked me in and wouldn't let me go. Yes, I was irritated at how the situation only got worse and worse and the ending...agh! But it was deep, it was thrilling, and it made me care immensely for the characters. (Though I wouldn't have minded a handful choking on their own blood.)
Either way, highly recommended. Though I would suggest you leave plenty of time to read the last 100 pages or so in one go. It's just too painful to let it sit until you finish it.
Either way, highly recommended. Though I would suggest you leave plenty of time to read the last 100 pages or so in one go. It's just too painful to let it sit until you finish it.
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Read in May, 2008
Pretty standard fantasy. Supernatural threat to kingdom plus internal politics told from the point of view of assassin/bastard. Reading this made me realize I dislike the passive reactionary hero (the one who waits for things to go bad and then scrambles to do something about them, rather than trying to prevent bad things from happening in the first place), but it's rather important to the story that this is the role the main character is relegated to.
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Read in February, 2008
All I can say is WOW! This is fast becoming one of my favorite series and favorite authors. The unique magic type system is amazing, I could not put this book down! One word of warning, most authors are sympathetic to the "hero" or main character in the book. Robin Hobb is not sympathetic, things happen in this book that are totally unexpected and it was a different view into the fantasy gengre and I have to say it was rather refreshing.
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Read in January, 2004
This is the book where the Farseer Trilogy really begins to pick up the pace, with Hobb throwing up all the obstacles for Fitz which the first book promised there would be. The setting is still your standard high fantasy faux medieval Europe, but it feels of a much better class than normal because of the standard of her characterisation work; even her villains are a step above the chin-stroking-evil category.
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Read in January, 2007
Let me preface by saying I typically do not like fantasy fiction and yet I enjoyed the first in this trilogy. That said, this second book had a good plot and some amazing characters, but was incredibly repetitive ... to the point that I put it down for days, read something entirely unrelated and then returned to it. Perhaps a good editor would have shored this up to be as good or better than the first.
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Read in August, 2003
The only reason this isn't as highly rated as the first book is that it didn't grab me quite as much. It's still amazing fantasy, and the writing is very good -- when Fitz gets hurt, you wince right along with him. The characters are realistic and sometimes frustrating, in exactly that way that real people are. I love Fitz dearly, but sometimes I'd like to punch him in the nose.
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