Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) in Fantasy Buddy Reads

Jan 17, 2022 Caitlin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-kindle, fic-fantasy, owned-bookshelf

Assassin’s Apprentice is the coming of age story of young Fitz, the bastard son of a noble prince who is dropped off at the keep by a grandfather who doesn’t want to have to pay for his upkeep anymore. Raised by the stablemaster, Fitz eventually catches the attention of the king, as shrewd as his name, who has Fitz start training as an assassin to make himself useful and put him under the control of the royal family. As the coasts become more dangerous due to the raiders who start harassing all Assassin’s Apprentice is the coming of age story of young Fitz, the bastard son of a noble prince who is dropped off at the keep by a grandfather who doesn’t want to have to pay for his upkeep anymore. Raised by the stablemaster, Fitz eventually catches the attention of the king, as shrewd as his name, who has Fitz start training as an assassin to make himself useful and put him under the control of the royal family. As the coasts become more dangerous due to the raiders who start harassing all ships and coastal villages, more and more responsibility is placed on Fitz’ young shoulders and the fate of the country may end up landing in his lap.

This absolutely blew me away. I avoided the Farseer trilogy for a long time because I kept hearing about how slow-paced, character-driven and emotional the story was. And all of those things are certainly true about Assassin’s Apprentice. But despite that, I fell in love from the very beginning with the way that Hobb writes Fitz’ story and this ended up landing in my list of all-time favorites and to date is the only book to which I have given a perfect score in my rating system. Which honestly was a shock since “slow-paced” is usually something I stay far away from.

Assassin’s Apprentice picks up with Fitz when he is a mere six years old and he’s basically dropped on the keep’s doorstep. Hobb has a talent for a very lush writing style that immerses the reader completely in the world with Fitz. She reveals details about the world slowly so that it never feels like you’re having info dumped on your head that you’re supposed to care about but don’t. You learn along with Fitz as he struggles as an outcast and finding his place given both his parentage and the magic that he is forbidden to use (but is one of his few sources of comfort). The action in the plot is primarily in the back half and even then, it’s more political intrigue than action-packed.

The characters around Fitz are fully realized people, with all of the flaws inherent in that. There are people who care about and for Fitz but they make mistakes and don’t always understand, and sometimes that leads to painful situations. I felt all of the emotions about so many characters outside of Fitz during this book. But that helped to contribute to the feel of the Six Duchies being a lived in world and not just a backdrop.

I’m solidly in book hangover territory now because I have no idea what to follow this book up with since I’m reading along with a group and the next Farseer book isn’t for another few weeks. I’ll probably have to pick up Murderbot for something completely different because this set a new standard for something I didn’t know I could love: slow-paced, character-driven fantasy that makes you feel all the highs and all the lows.

CAWPILE Rating
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Characters: 10/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Plot: 10/10
Intrigue: 10/10
Logic: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 10/10 = 5 stars ...more

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Jun 11, 2018 Justine (Milkz) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fantasy, own

Most prisons are of our own making. A man makes his own freedom, too.

Oh my goodness! Can someone become a total fangirl after 60 pages? Because I’m pretty sure I became a Robin Hobb fangirl after reading just 60 pages of Assassin’s Apprentice.

This story features Fitz, the bastard son of the king-in-waiting. When his grandfather sends him to the Farseer army base at Moonseye, Fitz’ father, Chivalry, is so ashamed that he abdicates and goes into exile. Eventually, King Shrewd recognize ...more

5 likes · Like · see review