Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) in 2017 Reading Challenge

Dec 17, 2022 susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

So, I entered the Realm of the Elderlings series knowing only that:
- It’s about a prince’s bastard who is trained by the royal family to be an assassin
- It ended recently with like, 16 books
- Everybody who loves these, LOVES these

And guess what? I LOVED this too.

I had actually read Robin Hobb before this, in a short story set in the same Six Duchies universe, Blue Boots, and was so impressed with how vividly she drew the world of a kitchen girl that I knew I had to read more from her one day.

H So, I entered the Realm of the Elderlings series knowing only that:
- It’s about a prince’s bastard who is trained by the royal family to be an assassin
- It ended recently with like, 16 books
- Everybody who loves these, LOVES these

And guess what? I LOVED this too.

I had actually read Robin Hobb before this, in a short story set in the same Six Duchies universe, Blue Boots, and was so impressed with how vividly she drew the world of a kitchen girl that I knew I had to read more from her one day.

High fantasy like this is my ultimate comfort reading – imagine my delight when it had a courtly intrigue focus, rather than boys’ own adventure. And not only that, it’s character driven and relationship focused, and fully explored all the messy, heartwrenching, wonderful relationships that Fitz builds.

First off, I honestly thought this would be lighter and – not YA, but appropriate for fantasy obsessed teenagers of the 90s to read as well. I really expected it to be a better version of Magician lol. It had all the same trappings – parentless, misfit child finds his place as an apprentice for the court’s highly niche master, goes on fantasy adventure. But no, it’s actually a lot darker in its depiction of Fitz as an outcast in a noble house, showing in great detail how his status affects his life, upbringing, and place in the world.

The world itself is more low fantasy than I expected, much more grounded and well-realised than a lot of other 90s fantasy I’ve read. Gone are the Kingdoms of Dwarves and Woodland Elves, or the broad one-to-one ethnic equivalent Foreign Kingdoms – we actually have logical geographic considerations, like a history of sea-faring raiders turning to agriculture. But where we do have magic, it’s honestly, excellently chilling and appropriately mysterious. The older I’ve gotten the more I bounce off the highly complicated Rulebook Fantasy that got more popular in the 2000’s and prefer this, where the Gods and the Fae are fleetingly understood. I’ve never read anything so despairing like the Forged.

I’ve bounced off other fantasy books because it didn’t prioritise exploring characters’ relationships – especially prickly family dynamics, especially in highly stratified speculative societies, with all the concerns of propriety and status. I’m so used to writers prioritising plot and worldbuilding that they would ignore the character development and drama potential of a character like Patience – the wife of the bastard’s father, who struggled with fertility and was the one who compelled her husband to denounce the bastard. But Hobb didn’t, and not only that, but wrote her to be an independent, unique character with complexity, melancholy and warmth in her relationship with Fitz. That was when I knew I was in for something good with this series.

Unfortunately I’m writing this having already finished the second book, trying to recall my impressions from December perfectly, but it still stands – I can’t wait to see where this series goes.
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May 01, 2022 Cat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

March 2024 reread: I definitely forgot everything that happened in this middle of this book, but I really enjoyed the reread!

Original review: I did not expect to like this book so much! The older that Fitz got, the more involved I became in the story and I just didn't want to stop reading. ...more

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Jun 01, 2020 Jai Rahim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, 2020-challenge-240-bks

First time reading this author/series recommended on bookTube. I enjoyed this first book which is a coming-of-age story with elements of magic, political intrigue and adventure thrown in. Will be reading book 2, Royal Assassin later this year.

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