Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jun 20, 2009 Jamie Collins rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I liked the writing very much, and on the strength of the writing I've already started on the second book of the trilogy. But there was something implausible about the plot and lacking in the characterizations that kept pulling me out of this story. Fitz's experiences seemed unrealistic, and I got the sense that there were only about three people running this entire Kingdom. Particularly the author nearly lost me when Fitz began his training for the Skill. Something that important was so blatant ...more

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Sep 30, 2007 John rated it it was amazing

Do I really not have a review of this on here? Criminal.

According to Goodreads, this is my 2nd read, though I think it's at least my third. I've read all the sequels, both the ones that center on Fitz and the expanded universe of the Bingtown Traders and the Rain Wilders. And every time I re-read one of these novels, I'm more and more impressed.

I remember reading the third Fitz and the Fool trilogy and being brought to tears, and I thought about how many hundreds or thousands of pages had gone Do I really not have a review of this on here? Criminal.

According to Goodreads, this is my 2nd read, though I think it's at least my third. I've read all the sequels, both the ones that center on Fitz and the expanded universe of the Bingtown Traders and the Rain Wilders. And every time I re-read one of these novels, I'm more and more impressed.

I remember reading the third Fitz and the Fool trilogy and being brought to tears, and I thought about how many hundreds or thousands of pages had gone into setting up that beautiful and/or heartbreaking moment. But as I was revisiting Assassin's Apprentice for the first time in many years, I felt the exact same thing, which I think is a testament to how well these novels are constructed. There are these moments that are all the more poignant because I know what's happening a thousand or more pages from now, it's like this dramatic irony. Was it all planned out this early? Maybe, maybe not. But it's there, either put there intentionally or mined for all it was worth later. And it's amazing.

I will admit that I'd forgotten some of the details and how early or late some of those things happened. Nighteyes is so central that I'd forgotten entirely that he isn't in this book at all. It was also interesting to see these characters through another lens. Because the narrative is filtered through Fitz, who starts as a very young child and ends up a teenager, I'm not sure I'd ever appropriately calibrated the ages of Burrich and Verity and Chade (or Regal for that matter), and I felt how relatively young all of them are at this point far more clearly this time around, perhaps became I'm older than all of them except (I think) Chade (which wasn't the case the first time I read it).

Anyway, I'm babbling a bit. But I'm considering it a happy coincidence that I couldn't find anything in the library's audiobook system that caught my fancy, because it was a real treat to revisit this novel. The only unhappy coincidence is that there's a wait for book 2 or 3. ...more

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Oct 08, 2008 Peter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, favorites

This was an incredibly enjoyable read. It is a little bit 'by the numbers' fantasy in that (at least so far) the good are good and the bad are bad. There is some disagreement, though, among the 'good' as to what is and isn't good--so it's not totally simplistic. The writing style is very quick and the characters, although often common fantasy types, are well drawn and interesting. Fitz's connection to animals is surprisingly touching as well, since I don't consider myself a person that is overly ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Joey Manley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Enjoyed this, and the whole series, a lot more than I expected to. Strong plotting, great characterization, world-building that is both thorough and unobtrusive (a rare combination), and, maybe most unusually for the genre, a powerful, flexible command of language, on a sentence by sentence level, to the point that it is what we might call "literary." I mean, she's no James Joyce or anything, but she could certainly give John Irving a run for his money.

When I say "the whole series" I mean the fi ...more

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Dec 10, 2007 Lasairfiona rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: havereadin2008, iown, scottlikes

Good book. The idea is interesting though the writing is sometimes lacking. Hobb has portions where she tells instead of shows and it comes across as lazy writing. Well, it comes off that way because it is lazy writing but it does move the story along. Just move through those parts quickly so you can still hold onto the feeling of being in the story.

Some of the story nearly brought tears to my eyes (even though I am not a dog person) though other parts seemed contrived. The later training the ma ...more

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May 27, 2010 Bryan457 rated it did not like it

Shelves: spies-n-special-agents, hate-it, do-not-reread, fantasy, assassins

I like superheroes, our protagonist is not one.
I like assassinations, I don't recall any here.
I like magic, very little here.
I like assassination & magic training, so so.
I like fun books, this was depressing.
I like happy endings, not here.
I like the protagonist to triumph, not here.
...more

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Dec 15, 2010 Cassie rated it really liked it

I liked this book a lot. The main character is interesting, though I would wish him to be a bit more proactive. Still, he's a young character, so I'm very much looking forward to the sequels. ...more

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Jun 06, 2008 Rhiannon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

pleasantly surprised!! i was expecting a little kid's book.. instead i found a suck-your-soul-out-til-the-story's-done book, haha! i couldnt put it down, finished it in 2 days! i cant wait to read the next one! ...more

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