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Echoes of Imara
Assassin's Charge
A cold-hearted assassin. A boy with a price on his head.
Rhisia Sen is one of the Empire’s highest paid assassins. Living a life of luxury, she chooses her contracts carefully, working to amass enough wealth so she can leave her bloody trade. She is offered a new contract on the outskirts of civilization, and almost refuses—until she sees the purse. It could be the last job she ever has to take.
But when she reaches the destination, she discovers her mark is a child.
The contract, and her reputation, demand she kill the boy—if she can banish his innocent face from her mind. But another assassin has been sent to kill her, and a notorious bounty hunter is on her trail. She doesn’t know why the boy is a target, or why her former employer wants her dead. Saving the child could be her only chance at survival.
Rhisia Sen is one of the Empire’s highest paid assassins. Living a life of luxury, she chooses her contracts carefully, working to amass enough wealth so she can leave her bloody trade. She is offered a new contract on the outskirts of civilization, and almost refuses—until she sees the purse. It could be the last job she ever has to take.
But when she reaches the destination, she discovers her mark is a child.
The contract, and her reputation, demand she kill the boy—if she can banish his innocent face from her mind. But another assassin has been sent to kill her, and a notorious bounty hunter is on her trail. She doesn’t know why the boy is a target, or why her former employer wants her dead. Saving the child could be her only chance at survival.
- GenresFantasy
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 10, 2016
15 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Claire Frank
8 books37 followersClaire is a fantasy author whose debut novel, To Whatever End, released in December 2014. She's a lifelong fan of both fantasy and sci-fi and loves being able to contribute to the awesomeness of the genre.
She writes classical fantasy with character driven stories, action, suspense and a lot of emotion. She loves exploring themes of love, loss, heartbreak, loyalty and redemption and walking with a character as they fail, rise and try again. Fantasy offers much more than an escape, but a beautiful landscape to explore what it means to be human.
Her follow up novel, the next in the Echoes of Imara series, will be released in May 2015.
She writes classical fantasy with character driven stories, action, suspense and a lot of emotion. She loves exploring themes of love, loss, heartbreak, loyalty and redemption and walking with a character as they fail, rise and try again. Fantasy offers much more than an escape, but a beautiful landscape to explore what it means to be human.
Her follow up novel, the next in the Echoes of Imara series, will be released in May 2015.
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August 28, 2016
https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/08/28/...
In order to choose one finalist from the pool of 30 books in our SPFBO batch this year, The BiblioSanctum had decided to read partials (approximately five chapters or 20-25% of each entry) to help narrow down our choice and determine a handful of five or six titles that we would want to put forward to the next phase. When I picked up Claire Frank’s Assassin’s Charge though, I didn’t need five chapters to know it was special. I was hooked after only the first few pages, gripped by the author’s smoothly polished and enticing writing style, but more importantly, I knew right away this was a book I wanted to spend more time with because I found myself irresistibly drawn by its enigmatic heroine.
Rhisia Sen is the best at what she does. Known throughout the land as the Reaper’s Bride, she is one of the most notorious and highest paid assassins in the Empire. She’s efficient and disciplined, and the caution she takes while choosing her contracts is a way to guarantee that she will never miss a mark. That kind of dependability is what earned Rhis her success and reputation.
However, all that is about to come crashing down around her. For her latest job, Rhis is only given the name of her target—Asher—as well as where she’ll find him, in a village located in a far-flung corner of the empire. It is a lucrative contract, which originated from the palace, and Rhis has reason to suspect that it came all the way from the Emperor himself. Still, believing this to be an assassination order like any other, Rhis sets off on a long journey across the ocean only to arrive at the designated rural village and discover that this assignment is like nothing she has ever gotten before. Asher turns out to a dark haired, silver-eyed foreigner who lives on a farm. And he is also just a little boy.
Even the most hardened assassins have a line they will not cross, and for Rhis, she draws it at killing a child. This was NOT what she signed up for, and why would the Emperor order a hit on a harmless farmboy anyway? But before she can wrap her head around these bizarre circumstances, Rhis discovers to her horror that she has become a target of the Empire herself. Clearly, someone doesn’t want any loose ends, and now Rhis’ only shot at survival is to take Asher on the run and hopefully convince a few of her old allies to help the two of them stay alive.
From this point onwards it’s a non-stop race around the Empire to avoid Imperial guards, Guild magicians, and even a merciless metal-armed bounty hunter. As enemy forces chase our protagonists across oceans and over mountain ranges, the pacing of this novel never lets up. And even though this cat-and-mouse pattern of events will continue to repeat itself over the course of the story, Claire Frank does a fine job keeping things interesting with plenty of action and mystery. Like, who is Asher and why is he so important? I confess, at first I thought I had the answers all figured out, but as it turned out, I underestimated the story’s potential. While it’s true that for the most part, Assassin’s Charge is an uncomplicated action and adventure oriented novel, I was still delighted to discover it had a few surprises tucked up its sleeves.
But of course, my favorite thing about this book is what drew me in the first place: the characters. Rhis is a wonderful protagonist, complex and well-written. I found her personality and mannerisms very genuine, and in particular her obsession with routine and counting really resonated with me because I experience a similar compulsion, and I remember when the moment of understanding hit me during the beginning chapters when Rhis first showed this behavior. Though she comes off as harsh and aloof in the intro, Rhis has a good heart within her and that gradually becomes apparent as the story unfolds. I liked how that the transformation felt natural, as opposed to a swift and abrupt change in her personality. Her relationship with Asher is similarly written in a way that feels just right, with wariness eventually giving way to trust. And let’s face it: a lot of times, fictional partnerships where one of the characters is a child can potentially be really annoying, depending on said child’s personality and maturity levels in the book. Thankfully, I found Asher very likeable. He reads realistically like a young boy, but he also makes a great team with Rhis.
As for criticisms, there’s the aforementioned issue with the repetitive nature of the story, and I think it’s more noticeable because the action and suspenseful scenes are spaced so closely together. There’s also a romance between Rhis and her old smuggling buddy Rickson (who’s like a roguish, charming piratey kind of character) which I thought was sweet, but could be better developed. Even though the two have known each other for a while, their relationship seemed to go from a spark to a wildfire in almost no time at all. Finally, I thought the ending was left rather open-ended. A couple major conflicts were resolved somewhat conveniently, and even then there were some important questions I felt weren’t answered in full. I’m not sure if Frank intends a follow-up novel about these characters, but I think this was meant to be a stand alone and yet I do get a sense of unfinished business.
I also wouldn’t have minded more world-building and detail about all the exotic places we visit in the book; given the characters’ travel times, I imagine this must be a huge world. However, it wasn’t until after I finished reading this that I learned Assassin’s Charge is actually a separate tale that takes place in world that Frank had already established in a series called Echoes of Imara, so perhaps more background information and history can be found there. What’s certain for now is that I’ve just added those books to my reading list, because Claire Frank is definitely an author that I would read again. I really enjoyed Assassin’s Charge so thank you SPFBO for putting this book on my radar.
In order to choose one finalist from the pool of 30 books in our SPFBO batch this year, The BiblioSanctum had decided to read partials (approximately five chapters or 20-25% of each entry) to help narrow down our choice and determine a handful of five or six titles that we would want to put forward to the next phase. When I picked up Claire Frank’s Assassin’s Charge though, I didn’t need five chapters to know it was special. I was hooked after only the first few pages, gripped by the author’s smoothly polished and enticing writing style, but more importantly, I knew right away this was a book I wanted to spend more time with because I found myself irresistibly drawn by its enigmatic heroine.
Rhisia Sen is the best at what she does. Known throughout the land as the Reaper’s Bride, she is one of the most notorious and highest paid assassins in the Empire. She’s efficient and disciplined, and the caution she takes while choosing her contracts is a way to guarantee that she will never miss a mark. That kind of dependability is what earned Rhis her success and reputation.
However, all that is about to come crashing down around her. For her latest job, Rhis is only given the name of her target—Asher—as well as where she’ll find him, in a village located in a far-flung corner of the empire. It is a lucrative contract, which originated from the palace, and Rhis has reason to suspect that it came all the way from the Emperor himself. Still, believing this to be an assassination order like any other, Rhis sets off on a long journey across the ocean only to arrive at the designated rural village and discover that this assignment is like nothing she has ever gotten before. Asher turns out to a dark haired, silver-eyed foreigner who lives on a farm. And he is also just a little boy.
Even the most hardened assassins have a line they will not cross, and for Rhis, she draws it at killing a child. This was NOT what she signed up for, and why would the Emperor order a hit on a harmless farmboy anyway? But before she can wrap her head around these bizarre circumstances, Rhis discovers to her horror that she has become a target of the Empire herself. Clearly, someone doesn’t want any loose ends, and now Rhis’ only shot at survival is to take Asher on the run and hopefully convince a few of her old allies to help the two of them stay alive.
From this point onwards it’s a non-stop race around the Empire to avoid Imperial guards, Guild magicians, and even a merciless metal-armed bounty hunter. As enemy forces chase our protagonists across oceans and over mountain ranges, the pacing of this novel never lets up. And even though this cat-and-mouse pattern of events will continue to repeat itself over the course of the story, Claire Frank does a fine job keeping things interesting with plenty of action and mystery. Like, who is Asher and why is he so important? I confess, at first I thought I had the answers all figured out, but as it turned out, I underestimated the story’s potential. While it’s true that for the most part, Assassin’s Charge is an uncomplicated action and adventure oriented novel, I was still delighted to discover it had a few surprises tucked up its sleeves.
But of course, my favorite thing about this book is what drew me in the first place: the characters. Rhis is a wonderful protagonist, complex and well-written. I found her personality and mannerisms very genuine, and in particular her obsession with routine and counting really resonated with me because I experience a similar compulsion, and I remember when the moment of understanding hit me during the beginning chapters when Rhis first showed this behavior. Though she comes off as harsh and aloof in the intro, Rhis has a good heart within her and that gradually becomes apparent as the story unfolds. I liked how that the transformation felt natural, as opposed to a swift and abrupt change in her personality. Her relationship with Asher is similarly written in a way that feels just right, with wariness eventually giving way to trust. And let’s face it: a lot of times, fictional partnerships where one of the characters is a child can potentially be really annoying, depending on said child’s personality and maturity levels in the book. Thankfully, I found Asher very likeable. He reads realistically like a young boy, but he also makes a great team with Rhis.
As for criticisms, there’s the aforementioned issue with the repetitive nature of the story, and I think it’s more noticeable because the action and suspenseful scenes are spaced so closely together. There’s also a romance between Rhis and her old smuggling buddy Rickson (who’s like a roguish, charming piratey kind of character) which I thought was sweet, but could be better developed. Even though the two have known each other for a while, their relationship seemed to go from a spark to a wildfire in almost no time at all. Finally, I thought the ending was left rather open-ended. A couple major conflicts were resolved somewhat conveniently, and even then there were some important questions I felt weren’t answered in full. I’m not sure if Frank intends a follow-up novel about these characters, but I think this was meant to be a stand alone and yet I do get a sense of unfinished business.
I also wouldn’t have minded more world-building and detail about all the exotic places we visit in the book; given the characters’ travel times, I imagine this must be a huge world. However, it wasn’t until after I finished reading this that I learned Assassin’s Charge is actually a separate tale that takes place in world that Frank had already established in a series called Echoes of Imara, so perhaps more background information and history can be found there. What’s certain for now is that I’ve just added those books to my reading list, because Claire Frank is definitely an author that I would read again. I really enjoyed Assassin’s Charge so thank you SPFBO for putting this book on my radar.
Read
November 2, 2016I haven't read this book (yet), but it is one of the 10 finalists in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. That's 10 out of 300 hopefuls!
Read about the competition here
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
See ratings and reviews of all the finalists here:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
Read about the competition here
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
See ratings and reviews of all the finalists here:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
November 14, 2016
It’s a novelty these days to find an assassin character who visibly fulfils that role, both in practice and in temperament. Rhisia Sen is a paid killer for the Attalon Empire, so well-paid for her work that she can almost afford to retire. But when she’s offered an outrageous amount of money for a kill, she can’t resist just one more job. But if something seems too good to be true, it usually is, and this is the job where Rhis finds out just how far she will go to fulfil a contract, and where she’ll draw the line.
This book drew me in right from the first chapter, where we see Rhis on a mission, and realise how skilled she is, and how cold-blooded an assassin needs to be. But her next job is a little different, and when she finds out that she has to kill a child, she goes on the run with him rather than comply, and finds herself the target of a contract in her turn. From then on, it’s a race to escape the various assassins sent to hunt them down, to find out why the boy, Asher, is so special and to reach a place of safety for the boy and Rhis herself.
The first part of the book works really well. The initial kill, the glimpse of Rhis’s luxurious lifestyle, the long trek through the backlands of the Empire and then the confrontation with Asher and his family — all these elements are utterly absorbing.
However, once Rhis commits herself to saving Asher, the story becomes more episodic. There’s a lot of hopping about here and there — to find a ship to escape on, to rescue the boy after he runs away, a visit to the Atheneum (a giant library) for information, a side trek into the mountains to find out more about Asher’s history, and so on. And at each stage, there was someone or other leaping out of the scenery trying to kill our heroes, and Rhis has to find ingenious ways to defeat them. This isn’t uninteresting in itself, and the author is superb at describing fights, but it did become a little repetitive after a while. And the love interest felt rather perfunctory to me.
More concerningly, both Rhis and the boy behaved stupidly at times. The boy’s antics were perhaps understandable, given his age and sheltered upbringing, but several times Rhis, the supremely skilled assassin, was taken by surprise and found herself at a disadvantage, which had me shaking my head in disbelief.
On the positive side, I loved the way both the boy and Rhis changed over the course of the story. Asher learned some harsh lessons about life and death and protecting your friends. Rhis softened considerably and learned to trust someone other than herself. And the ending took me by surprise, and finally showed Rhis’s intelligence and creativity.
For those who’ve read the Echoes of Imara series, this book offers a fascinating glimpse of another part of the same world, but it’s not at all necessary to have read those books first. A good, action-packed read, with some excellent characterisation in Rhis and the boy, and the mysteriously creepy Athon. Recommended, and you don’t just have to take my word for it, since this book is a finalist in Mark Lawrence’s competition for indie books, the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 2016. Four stars.
This book drew me in right from the first chapter, where we see Rhis on a mission, and realise how skilled she is, and how cold-blooded an assassin needs to be. But her next job is a little different, and when she finds out that she has to kill a child, she goes on the run with him rather than comply, and finds herself the target of a contract in her turn. From then on, it’s a race to escape the various assassins sent to hunt them down, to find out why the boy, Asher, is so special and to reach a place of safety for the boy and Rhis herself.
The first part of the book works really well. The initial kill, the glimpse of Rhis’s luxurious lifestyle, the long trek through the backlands of the Empire and then the confrontation with Asher and his family — all these elements are utterly absorbing.
However, once Rhis commits herself to saving Asher, the story becomes more episodic. There’s a lot of hopping about here and there — to find a ship to escape on, to rescue the boy after he runs away, a visit to the Atheneum (a giant library) for information, a side trek into the mountains to find out more about Asher’s history, and so on. And at each stage, there was someone or other leaping out of the scenery trying to kill our heroes, and Rhis has to find ingenious ways to defeat them. This isn’t uninteresting in itself, and the author is superb at describing fights, but it did become a little repetitive after a while. And the love interest felt rather perfunctory to me.
More concerningly, both Rhis and the boy behaved stupidly at times. The boy’s antics were perhaps understandable, given his age and sheltered upbringing, but several times Rhis, the supremely skilled assassin, was taken by surprise and found herself at a disadvantage, which had me shaking my head in disbelief.
On the positive side, I loved the way both the boy and Rhis changed over the course of the story. Asher learned some harsh lessons about life and death and protecting your friends. Rhis softened considerably and learned to trust someone other than herself. And the ending took me by surprise, and finally showed Rhis’s intelligence and creativity.
For those who’ve read the Echoes of Imara series, this book offers a fascinating glimpse of another part of the same world, but it’s not at all necessary to have read those books first. A good, action-packed read, with some excellent characterisation in Rhis and the boy, and the mysteriously creepy Athon. Recommended, and you don’t just have to take my word for it, since this book is a finalist in Mark Lawrence’s competition for indie books, the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 2016. Four stars.
June 6, 2017
Read by Kat for SPFBO contest. Read our SPFBO reviews here: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
March 17, 2021
Read as part of the r/fantasy Book Bingo Challenge 2020 for the "Self-published book" category. Hard Mode for this square is a book with fewer than 50 ratings on Goodreads.
I would say, alongside the climate fiction square, that this was one of the hardest on my bingo card to source (more on the climate fiction square in an upcoming review). When you are like me and you decide that hard mode isn't hard enough and you need to make sure your authors are all women or trans/non-binary, then you've really got your work cut out for you. In my case, it meant relying a lot on the SPFBO or Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, because my exposure to self-pub is really limited. In my case, I have so many ARCs and other books to read (I've paused three works currently on my 'Reading in progress' tab just to finish bingo) and more generally some of the works I've seen promoted on the r/fantasy subreddit don't especially interest me - particularly things like progression fantasy. The other side of this is that a lot of the authors who do self-promotion on the sub are male, so trying to find a work to fit my narrow criteria was a bit of a headache. If this square pops up again on the 2021 card, I actually have already thought of a book I'd read for it, but I will say nothing further because I don't want the ratings to shoot up!
Assassin's Charge is a novel that feels like a paint-by-numbers exercise. I'm no stranger to trope-filled works and sometimes that's exactly what you need, but in the case of this novel, it feels almost too much like Frank decided what tropes she wanted to use and did so without really attempting to subvert or comment on them. The story follows Rhisia Sen, an assassin who won't turn a job down. She's efficient and she's gone uncaught for years. This latest bounty could very well be her last, as the reward on offer is more than she could ever amass in a lifetime. But when her target turns out to be a farm boy (no, really), she finds that even she has lines she won't cross. But with her contract unfulfilled, Rhis finds herself on the run from other assassins and a bounty hunter who always hunts his marks. Saving Asher's life may well be her only chance at saving her own.
I'll give Frank this: in Rhis, she's created a genuinely unlikeable assassin. Too often in fantasy novels, we get introduced to assassins who we're told are efficient, cold-blooded killers but who never show any of that prowess. Rhis is not like that: the novel opens with her fulfilling a contract and throughout the book, she's not really shy about murdering other people, particularly by poisoning them and leaving them to die in agony. She's not really someone who seems all that kind-hearted either, but it turns out that killing children might be a step too far even for her. Again, I really don't mind an unlikeable character and I didn't mind having Rhis murder people. But I didn't quite buy how she's able to weasel out of every single situation, to the point where it felt like she had plot armour on and that nothing could actually touch her. In some cases, it bordered on the downright improbable and I had to do a lot of suspension of disbelief to keep going. This also means that the great emotional arc we're meant to go on just doesn't work for me - I didn't seriously believe that Rhis had changed in any way except that the plot demands that I believe it. It's a flawed premise and I never felt there was a moment where she genuinely reconsidered her choice of profession or reflected on the murders she's committed.
The prose is okay, but nothing to write home about. There aren't really any clever turns of phrases or witty moments, but on the other hand it's not riddled with typos or inconsistencies either. The problem is that the plot just sort of meanders around, with Rhis and Asher going on quests that don't really lead anywhere. The worldbuilding is sparse (I got a feeling it's intended to be almost Mediterranean in setting) and although there are hints at more interesting places elsewhere, the plot doesn't take us there and we're only ever told about them. The figure of the Emperor is reminiscent of Warhammer 40K (the God King) and again I didn't quite understand whether he's meant to be seen as an immortal figure or whether the Emperor dies and is replaced, but everything is done with divine right in mind. The secret behind Asher's birthplace also remains largely that and the big question (why does the Emperor want this child dead?) is not really answered - unless the answer is the one that the characters come to, in which case it's a really weak one. With the novel intended to be a standalone, I found it quite annoying to leave that particular thread hanging.
The romance between Rhis and Rickson (and you try to keep those names clear in your head!) is rushed and again, feels like it's added in because "handsome swashbuckling pirate gets the girl" is some sort of trope that Frank feels the need to include in her book. I didn't really get the sense that there was any chemistry between the two so why include it? What's the actual point? Again, it feels like Frank thinks a book needs a romance in it, so there it is. I didn't actually mind Rickson as a character (I definitely have a soft spot for pirates) but I do mind his inclusion as someone to... humanise Rhis maybe? Give her something to care about that isn't just her I suppose?
Beyond that, the ends are neatly tied up, to an almost comical degree and I just felt like Rhis didn't really change or grow. Oh, the narrative tells you she did, but it doesn't feel earned in any way, shape or form. I was really disappointed by that because I love good character arcs and again, I really didn't mind starting with an unsympathetic character (I think for example Jude in The Cruel Prince is a great example of an unlikable character with a brilliant arc) but nothing about Rhis feels memorable. And I think that's probably the worst part: in about 6 months' time, I won't remember much about this novel at all.
Do I recommend Assassin's Charge? I really can't say I do. It's an okay novel if you have a couple of days you want to spend reading it. Does it put me off the idea of self-published novels? Absolutely not. I just need to decide whether Kindle Unlimited is worth keeping now...
I would say, alongside the climate fiction square, that this was one of the hardest on my bingo card to source (more on the climate fiction square in an upcoming review). When you are like me and you decide that hard mode isn't hard enough and you need to make sure your authors are all women or trans/non-binary, then you've really got your work cut out for you. In my case, it meant relying a lot on the SPFBO or Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, because my exposure to self-pub is really limited. In my case, I have so many ARCs and other books to read (I've paused three works currently on my 'Reading in progress' tab just to finish bingo) and more generally some of the works I've seen promoted on the r/fantasy subreddit don't especially interest me - particularly things like progression fantasy. The other side of this is that a lot of the authors who do self-promotion on the sub are male, so trying to find a work to fit my narrow criteria was a bit of a headache. If this square pops up again on the 2021 card, I actually have already thought of a book I'd read for it, but I will say nothing further because I don't want the ratings to shoot up!
Assassin's Charge is a novel that feels like a paint-by-numbers exercise. I'm no stranger to trope-filled works and sometimes that's exactly what you need, but in the case of this novel, it feels almost too much like Frank decided what tropes she wanted to use and did so without really attempting to subvert or comment on them. The story follows Rhisia Sen, an assassin who won't turn a job down. She's efficient and she's gone uncaught for years. This latest bounty could very well be her last, as the reward on offer is more than she could ever amass in a lifetime. But when her target turns out to be a farm boy (no, really), she finds that even she has lines she won't cross. But with her contract unfulfilled, Rhis finds herself on the run from other assassins and a bounty hunter who always hunts his marks. Saving Asher's life may well be her only chance at saving her own.
I'll give Frank this: in Rhis, she's created a genuinely unlikeable assassin. Too often in fantasy novels, we get introduced to assassins who we're told are efficient, cold-blooded killers but who never show any of that prowess. Rhis is not like that: the novel opens with her fulfilling a contract and throughout the book, she's not really shy about murdering other people, particularly by poisoning them and leaving them to die in agony. She's not really someone who seems all that kind-hearted either, but it turns out that killing children might be a step too far even for her. Again, I really don't mind an unlikeable character and I didn't mind having Rhis murder people. But I didn't quite buy how she's able to weasel out of every single situation, to the point where it felt like she had plot armour on and that nothing could actually touch her. In some cases, it bordered on the downright improbable and I had to do a lot of suspension of disbelief to keep going. This also means that the great emotional arc we're meant to go on just doesn't work for me - I didn't seriously believe that Rhis had changed in any way except that the plot demands that I believe it. It's a flawed premise and I never felt there was a moment where she genuinely reconsidered her choice of profession or reflected on the murders she's committed.
The prose is okay, but nothing to write home about. There aren't really any clever turns of phrases or witty moments, but on the other hand it's not riddled with typos or inconsistencies either. The problem is that the plot just sort of meanders around, with Rhis and Asher going on quests that don't really lead anywhere. The worldbuilding is sparse (I got a feeling it's intended to be almost Mediterranean in setting) and although there are hints at more interesting places elsewhere, the plot doesn't take us there and we're only ever told about them. The figure of the Emperor is reminiscent of Warhammer 40K (the God King) and again I didn't quite understand whether he's meant to be seen as an immortal figure or whether the Emperor dies and is replaced, but everything is done with divine right in mind. The secret behind Asher's birthplace also remains largely that and the big question (why does the Emperor want this child dead?) is not really answered - unless the answer is the one that the characters come to, in which case it's a really weak one. With the novel intended to be a standalone, I found it quite annoying to leave that particular thread hanging.
The romance between Rhis and Rickson (and you try to keep those names clear in your head!) is rushed and again, feels like it's added in because "handsome swashbuckling pirate gets the girl" is some sort of trope that Frank feels the need to include in her book. I didn't really get the sense that there was any chemistry between the two so why include it? What's the actual point? Again, it feels like Frank thinks a book needs a romance in it, so there it is. I didn't actually mind Rickson as a character (I definitely have a soft spot for pirates) but I do mind his inclusion as someone to... humanise Rhis maybe? Give her something to care about that isn't just her I suppose?
Beyond that, the ends are neatly tied up, to an almost comical degree and I just felt like Rhis didn't really change or grow. Oh, the narrative tells you she did, but it doesn't feel earned in any way, shape or form. I was really disappointed by that because I love good character arcs and again, I really didn't mind starting with an unsympathetic character (I think for example Jude in The Cruel Prince is a great example of an unlikable character with a brilliant arc) but nothing about Rhis feels memorable. And I think that's probably the worst part: in about 6 months' time, I won't remember much about this novel at all.
Do I recommend Assassin's Charge? I really can't say I do. It's an okay novel if you have a couple of days you want to spend reading it. Does it put me off the idea of self-published novels? Absolutely not. I just need to decide whether Kindle Unlimited is worth keeping now...
December 1, 2019
Rhisia Sen, better known as Rhis, is an assassin. She’s not picky about who she kills, so long as she gets paid. When she’s offered a job with an extremely high payment, one that could let her retire comfortably, she takes the chance. Until she realises that her mark is only a young boy, and that she’s reached her limit: she can’t bring herself to kill a child. So she takes the boy with her to protect him from the people who want to kill her (probably the Emperor himself, but definitely someone within the Emperor’s palace), and in so doing she has to dodge others chasing the boy, chasing her in order to kill her, and generally making her moment of compassion prove very costly indeed.
Assassin’s Charge is definitely a quick-moving book, jumping from event to event pretty smoothly and pulling the reader along with a very strong, “What happens next?” feel to it. From the early scenes where we get introduced to Rhis’s profession, to her flight with Asher, to her multiple attempts to escape pursuit and gain her freedom, the whole thing is fairly fast-paced and it makes for a quick and engaging read.
But the book does have its weaknesses, and they’re both complaints I had through the whole novel. The first is that absolutely no conclusive reason is ever given for Asher’s contract. The Emperor wants him dead. The best reasons anyone can come up with is because he might possibly be descended from a race of people that the Emperor couldn’t conquer. Maybe. There’s a lot about Asher that has no explanation, and there are a lot of hints at some larger scheme, but nothing ever actually comes of it. It was extremely frustrating, and it felt a lot like there was no reason for it. Like the only purpose to someone wanting Asher dead was to lead Rhis on this grand adventure from city to city, trying to protect him. And that felt very flimsy.
My second complaint is that it was very hard to pin Rhis down as a character. From the first dozen chapters, she feels very solid in my mind, and I know who she is and how she feels when reading her. She does her job with cool efficiency, likes her comforts, doesn’t take crap from people. Then she has her crisis on conscience and refuses to kill Asher, coming up with this plan that I still don’t fully understand the logic behind that involves taking Asher with her as leverage to get the contract against her cancelled. As she spends more time with Asher, and with Rickson later on, she changes from someone who’s done years of assassinating with a relatively clear conscience and who doesn’t mind blackmailing people into someone who feels bad that her servants might not make enough money (which is something she previously and explicitly stated she doesn’t care about), and gets teary-eyed over reunions with people she hasn’t seen for a few weeks.
And I’m not saying that people can’t ever change in response to circumstance. They absolutely can, and do. But Rhis’s transformation seemed reminiscent of numerous other stories I’ve read and seen where children awaken some sort of “caring” ability in people. Often this is done as some attempt to state that being around kids makes people want to be parents, and thankfully this didn’t seem to be the case here, but it seems like the catalyst for Rhis getting in touch with her sensitive and emotional side does seem to be protecting the kid she has little reason to protect. It does from, “I draw the line at killing kids,” to, “I have to protect this boy no matter what, and along the way I’m going to develop relationships I previously didn’t want, and go out of my way to solve a mystery that really has nothing to do with me.” The driving force behind the plot stemmed from Rhis’s desire to do these things, but there’s nothing that really shows how she developed the desire. I think it’s just meant to be taken as a given that being in someone’s presence for long enough will make you care about them, but that isn’t true for everyone, and it doesn’t seem to mesh with the Rhis we see at the beginning of the novel.
The world in which this all took place seemed fairly fleshed out and developed, though, and that was nice to see. It wasn’t all a hue voyage of discovery, either, since Rhis has been quite a few places in her time and so wasn’t about to gape at the marvels of some new city. As such, new places weren’t given grand and overblown descriptions, though the detail given is certainly enough to get a basic mental image. I felt like this was a story that took place within a world, rather than a story that partly existed only to show off the worldbuilding skills of the author, if that distinction makes any sense. The worldbuilding was there, absolutely, but it was a backdrop to the story at hand, making it seem all the more real.
Assassin’s Charge is a novel I definitely have mixed feelings about. It’s not a bad novel. The author’s writing skill is evident, and Frank knows how to write something that will keep readers turning the pages. But for all that, I’d say its biggest weakness is that despite it being a fast-paced adventure, it lacks real motivation for any of that fast-paced adventure to play out, and the motivations it does give don’t really stand up well to being poked at. It works well so long as you don’t question anything, and just take what you’re told at face value. It’s a quick fun read on the surface, and really, it doesn’t have to be any more than that, though I do prefer my novels to have a bit more depth to them, and I think that’s why this didn’t resonate so well with me.
(Received for review as part of the SPFBO.)
Assassin’s Charge is definitely a quick-moving book, jumping from event to event pretty smoothly and pulling the reader along with a very strong, “What happens next?” feel to it. From the early scenes where we get introduced to Rhis’s profession, to her flight with Asher, to her multiple attempts to escape pursuit and gain her freedom, the whole thing is fairly fast-paced and it makes for a quick and engaging read.
But the book does have its weaknesses, and they’re both complaints I had through the whole novel. The first is that absolutely no conclusive reason is ever given for Asher’s contract. The Emperor wants him dead. The best reasons anyone can come up with is because he might possibly be descended from a race of people that the Emperor couldn’t conquer. Maybe. There’s a lot about Asher that has no explanation, and there are a lot of hints at some larger scheme, but nothing ever actually comes of it. It was extremely frustrating, and it felt a lot like there was no reason for it. Like the only purpose to someone wanting Asher dead was to lead Rhis on this grand adventure from city to city, trying to protect him. And that felt very flimsy.
My second complaint is that it was very hard to pin Rhis down as a character. From the first dozen chapters, she feels very solid in my mind, and I know who she is and how she feels when reading her. She does her job with cool efficiency, likes her comforts, doesn’t take crap from people. Then she has her crisis on conscience and refuses to kill Asher, coming up with this plan that I still don’t fully understand the logic behind that involves taking Asher with her as leverage to get the contract against her cancelled. As she spends more time with Asher, and with Rickson later on, she changes from someone who’s done years of assassinating with a relatively clear conscience and who doesn’t mind blackmailing people into someone who feels bad that her servants might not make enough money (which is something she previously and explicitly stated she doesn’t care about), and gets teary-eyed over reunions with people she hasn’t seen for a few weeks.
And I’m not saying that people can’t ever change in response to circumstance. They absolutely can, and do. But Rhis’s transformation seemed reminiscent of numerous other stories I’ve read and seen where children awaken some sort of “caring” ability in people. Often this is done as some attempt to state that being around kids makes people want to be parents, and thankfully this didn’t seem to be the case here, but it seems like the catalyst for Rhis getting in touch with her sensitive and emotional side does seem to be protecting the kid she has little reason to protect. It does from, “I draw the line at killing kids,” to, “I have to protect this boy no matter what, and along the way I’m going to develop relationships I previously didn’t want, and go out of my way to solve a mystery that really has nothing to do with me.” The driving force behind the plot stemmed from Rhis’s desire to do these things, but there’s nothing that really shows how she developed the desire. I think it’s just meant to be taken as a given that being in someone’s presence for long enough will make you care about them, but that isn’t true for everyone, and it doesn’t seem to mesh with the Rhis we see at the beginning of the novel.
The world in which this all took place seemed fairly fleshed out and developed, though, and that was nice to see. It wasn’t all a hue voyage of discovery, either, since Rhis has been quite a few places in her time and so wasn’t about to gape at the marvels of some new city. As such, new places weren’t given grand and overblown descriptions, though the detail given is certainly enough to get a basic mental image. I felt like this was a story that took place within a world, rather than a story that partly existed only to show off the worldbuilding skills of the author, if that distinction makes any sense. The worldbuilding was there, absolutely, but it was a backdrop to the story at hand, making it seem all the more real.
Assassin’s Charge is a novel I definitely have mixed feelings about. It’s not a bad novel. The author’s writing skill is evident, and Frank knows how to write something that will keep readers turning the pages. But for all that, I’d say its biggest weakness is that despite it being a fast-paced adventure, it lacks real motivation for any of that fast-paced adventure to play out, and the motivations it does give don’t really stand up well to being poked at. It works well so long as you don’t question anything, and just take what you’re told at face value. It’s a quick fun read on the surface, and really, it doesn’t have to be any more than that, though I do prefer my novels to have a bit more depth to them, and I think that’s why this didn’t resonate so well with me.
(Received for review as part of the SPFBO.)
May 26, 2016
I truly loved this book! It was engaging from the very beginning, clear through the end. Rhis is a character I'd love to read further adventures about. Claire Frank wove a wonderful tale of swashbuckling adventure, danger, romance, love and loyalty. It should be required reading for any fantasy reader. I'm giving it a solid 10.
May 25, 2022
This was a fun, fast-paced book, really quite enjoyable overall. A small cast of fleshed-out characters who had quirks and issues, some of which related to the story and some that didn’t. Having never read the author’s other works, I still felt like this book gave a perfect dip into the world, showing hints of the larger story going on.
The basic premise is an assassin named Rhis is hired to take down a target, only to discover it’s a child. She realizes that is the line that she won’t cross and refuses to finish the job, which is fortunate, since the patron who hired her to kill the child then subsequently puts out a hit on Rhis as well. So Rhis and the child Asher set off on a quest to try and remove the targets on their heads, while along the way also trying to uncover the child’s past and why exactly he had a target on him in the first place.
While the story does a decent job of hand-waving justification for all of the above, it does stumble in a few places under scrutiny. For instance, the entire premise of an assassin having trouble killing a child should have come as a surprise to no one, and not informing said assassin ahead of time before sending them out seems like a gross oversight. Still, the passion of the characters and the pace of the story help to smooth over any of these flaws.
I also highly appreciated the fact that Rhis clearly suffers from some level of OCD, having to perform rituals before completing basic tasks like opening doors or going to sleep. None of it was plot related, merely just adding another dimension to a character that might otherwise easily be categorized as too standoffish. These character were all imperfect, and seeing that even through little examples was a nice touch.
The basic premise is an assassin named Rhis is hired to take down a target, only to discover it’s a child. She realizes that is the line that she won’t cross and refuses to finish the job, which is fortunate, since the patron who hired her to kill the child then subsequently puts out a hit on Rhis as well. So Rhis and the child Asher set off on a quest to try and remove the targets on their heads, while along the way also trying to uncover the child’s past and why exactly he had a target on him in the first place.
While the story does a decent job of hand-waving justification for all of the above, it does stumble in a few places under scrutiny. For instance, the entire premise of an assassin having trouble killing a child should have come as a surprise to no one, and not informing said assassin ahead of time before sending them out seems like a gross oversight. Still, the passion of the characters and the pace of the story help to smooth over any of these flaws.
I also highly appreciated the fact that Rhis clearly suffers from some level of OCD, having to perform rituals before completing basic tasks like opening doors or going to sleep. None of it was plot related, merely just adding another dimension to a character that might otherwise easily be categorized as too standoffish. These character were all imperfect, and seeing that even through little examples was a nice touch.
January 10, 2021
A journey packed with action
As the name of the book says, this book has plenty of action and insights of an assassins life. The charachters, at least the main ones are pretty well done. The book is not perfect, but it's very enjoyable.
As the name of the book says, this book has plenty of action and insights of an assassins life. The charachters, at least the main ones are pretty well done. The book is not perfect, but it's very enjoyable.
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