August '09 Discussion: Assassin's Apprentice (I have read)

[Robin]

Post here if you have read Assassin's Apprentice.

[DavidO]

Read it

[Random]

Picked up the series once the book was chosen and read the entire thing. :)

[Jason]

I read it late last year. Loved it so much I finished the series earlier this year.

[Arthur]

Re-read the entire trilogy in Jan-Feb 2009. Really loved it. One of the best fantasy series I have read.

[Joanna]

I've read The Farseer Trilogy and really enjoy these books.

[Janny]

Read this ages ago when it first came out, and went on to finish the trilogy. My copy will come down from the loft for a brush up reread before the discussion.

[Pamela]

Note to Reader: When entering FitzChilvary’s world, please come equipped with a large box of tissues and free from any depression. This series will remind you that your life is not so bad.

I loved the series.

[Elise]

Pamela wrote: "Note to Reader: When entering FitzChilvary’s world, please come equipped with a large box of tissues and free from any depression. This series will remind you that your life is not so bad.

I love..."

So true.

[Pamela]

Also, to really get the complete story of Fitz after reading Assassin's Apprentice ( Book One of The Farseer Trilogy), continue with Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest. Then jump over to The Tawny Man Trilogy and read Fool's Errand, Golden Fool and Fool's Fate. Grab two boxes of tissues for the second series :)

[Arthur]

I re-read The Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders, so I can enjoy The Tawny Man trilogy more. I am going to read it after I read Neverwhere.

[Arthur]

Pamela wrote: "Note to Reader: When entering FitzChilvary’s world, please come equipped with a large box of tissues and free from any depression. This series will remind you that your life is not so bad."

Did you read The First Law by Joe Abercrombie? The Farseer Trilogy is a fairy tale in comparison...:)

[Pamela]

Astra wrote: "Did you read The First Law by Joe Abercrombie? The Farseer Trilogy is a fairy tale in comparison...:) "

Yes, I have read the first law series from Abercrombie. Oddly enough I never found the tale sad, vicious yes, sad not so much. Goltoka was by far my favorite character, loved how he was written and talked about a tragic story! My heart did not hurt for him though, my teeth did. I enjoyed these books immensely.

Fitz on the other hand, we saw him grow up, we watched him evolve as a character over a 30 year span. Ahhhh Fitz, I feel I spent time with him in the house in the woods, I touched the carvings the Fool put on their couch post, I tried to figure out way to get the boy a good apprenticeship. The book grabs your hand and walks you through a life of…circumstance.

Also, after the Farseer Trilogy I could not take anymore of Fitz. How can one person take so much…shit and keep walking. In any event, the person who introduced me to the series said, “at the very least read The Tawny Man series you will not regret it”. It took three books for me not to regret it but in the end, I cried for the final time because I was happy. I did not feel I missed any of the story by skipping the Liveship Traders but because I did not read it, that statement could be a lie.

Brent Weeks, The Night Angel Trilogy.
The Way of the Shadows
Shadow’s Edge
Beyond the Shadows.

This may be my favorite series of all time. I recommend it whenever I can. Enjoy!

[Marc]

Sad and vicious? Why would anyone read a story like that?

[Jason]

The Farseer trilogy is indeed sad, as I found myself feeling depressed for Fritz many, many times. But I never cried. That's just me, though. :p

Joe Abercrombie's series is not really sad at all. Like Pamela said above, the series is vicious and brutal. But I found myself cringing or laughing much more than wanting to cry....

But then, The Farseer trilogy failed at making me cry. Perhaps I have no heart?

[Pamela]

Marc wrote: "Sad and vicious? Why would anyone read a story like that?"

Sad: I find most stories are threaded with a bit of sadness, especially fantasy. Fitz’s story just happens to deplete my tear ducts more than others.

Vicious: I have a soft spot for any book that has a man walk into battle with a smile on his face and an ax in his hand.

Why.. Because it Fantasy.

[Marc]

Pamela wrote: "Marc wrote: "Sad and vicious? Why would anyone read a story like that?"

Why.. Because it Fantasy. "

There's plenty of happy and hopeful fantasy out there. I have no taste for dark and grim when the world has plenty of dark and grim in it already. J.V. Jones was bad enough. I was thinking I might want to try Abercrombie, but not anymore.

[Pamela]

There's plenty of happy and hopeful fantasy out there. I have no taste for dark and grim when the world has plenty of dark and grim in it already. J.V. Jones was bad enough. I was thinking I might want to try Abercrombie, but not anymore.
"

Different strokes for different folks.

[Carolyn]

I've read the Asassin and the Fool trilogies, but not the Liveship trilogy. I 'got' the Fool trilogy fine without it, so I don't think it is necessary at all. Bonus, maybe, but not necessary.

[Lori]

The bonus is that you immediately know who the characters who arrive with the female dragon are. Plus the history of the dragon herself. It does make it sweeter and ties everything together. But I found the Farseer and Tawny Man series to be far superior, it's true.

When I finished the Farseer novels I had no idea there was a Tawny Man series that follows up. Imagine how distraught and depressed I was! Because I was so in love with Hobb I went ahead to read the Liveship, and when I was done with that was only when I discovered that the Tawny Man existed. I immediately went out to buy all 3, this was right before the Xmas holidays a few years ago, so was able to nothing but read and read. Ahhhh.

[Stefan]

I've read the entire series, most of it several times. The only ones I haven't had the chance to re-read are the Tawny Man books. I probably won't have a chance to re-read the book for the discussion, but most of it is burned pretty strongly into my memory so I should be able to chip in.

I usually recommend reading the Liveship books before the Tawny Man ones, because I think it's hard to understand the main story arc that covers the entire 9 books without learning more about the Liveships and what makes them tick.

In terms of which trilogy is better --- it's so hard to say! I think the Liveship books by themselves are stunningly good, but I think they pale a bit next to the Assassin books, mainly because Fitz is such an unforgettable character. I also think the Liveship books lack some of the coherence of the other books because they switch between different viewpoints, so you don't bond (no pun intended) as much with one character.
This 9 book trilogy of trilogies is one of the best completed fantasy series of the last few decades, in my opinion.

[Sean]

The "Assassin" trilogy was the first work by Ms. Hobb that I read...shortly after Hurricane Katrina, I think...and she quickly earned a place on my Favorite Authors shortlist on the strength of it. She truly has a deft hand at creating characters who are alienated from their surroundings, and making the reader feel the pain that they feel and that they cause.

[Josh]

I've read all 9 book by Hobb in this series. Bring it on!

[Denell]

I've finished the Farseer trilogy but I was quite annoyed reading about Fitz from such a young age. I also found Fitz very naive. Situations thats was clear to all characters in the book baffeld Fitz.

Even with the bits of annoyance I still found the world Robin Hobb created fascinating. I cant really pin point why I finished this 2000 odd pages, cause the plot would drag, the story could have been made much shorter.

[Elise]

Finished rereading it last week. I think I have an even better appreciation of it now since 6 years ago.

[Cecile]

Like I said in my short review, I read The Farseer Trilogy 2 or 3 times in French before I got it in English, and then I read it again along with the Tawny Man Trilogy. I will probably read it a few more times.

What I like about this series are the characters: Fitz is so vivid he just seems to step out of the books and take a life of his own, acting like a real person. And as he looks at them, the other characters come alive too. I found their story really compelling.

[Pamela]

Denell wrote: "I've finished the Farseer trilogy but I was quite annoyed reading about Fitz from such a young age. I also found Fitz very naive. Situations that's was clear to all characters in the book baffled Fi..."

Part of my enjoyment with this series was you did get to see one singular character developed over thirty years. You have to keep in mind (which I don't think Hobb let's you forget) is Fitz was raised in an unusual way with unusual abilities. Which clearly leaves him being naive in many areas because most of the people who had a hand in his upbringing wanted something from him therefore only taught him what they wanted him to know. I cannot think of one character who loved Fitz unconditionally....

[Jon]

Just finished this earlier today. Follow this link for my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Fox]

Finished.

[Jess]

I read the Farseer trilogy earlier this year - I loved the first one, the second was great, the third was good but dragged on a bit for me. I agree with you, Pamela - reading how Fitz develop overtime was quite interesting and enjoyable.

I've been wanting to start the Liveship/Tawny Man trilogies, but keep putting it off. I was told that I must read the Tawny Man set to complete the story - especially concerning Fitz and the Fool. For those who have read all 9 books, is pace of the later trilogies a bit faster, in comparison with The Assassin's Quest in particular?

[Random]

Jess wrote: "I read the Farseer trilogy earlier this year - I loved the first one, the second was great, the third was good but dragged on a bit for me. I agree with you, Pamela - reading how Fitz develop overt..."

I had the exact same reaction. I think the third book could have been improved with some tightening in the first half or so.

[Jason]

Just my opinion, but I felt that the third book of the Farseer trilogy was the best one. It was had the most action and character struggle out of all three books.

[Tracy]

I read this one a few weeks ago - haven't read the rest of them.

[Arthur]

Jess wrote: "I've been wanting to start the Liveship/Tawny Man trilogies, but keep putting it off. I was told that I must read the Tawny Man set to complete the story - especially concerning Fitz and the Fool. For those who have read all 9 books, is pace of the later trilogies a bit faster, in comparison with The Assassin's Quest in particular?t..."

I just finished Fool's Errand and Golden Fool.
If you are planning to read The Tawny Man trilogy, then you must read The Liveship Trilogy before it, because if you don't and you read Tawny Man then decide to go back to Liveship, you will be disappointed because there are many spoilers in Tawny Man from Liveship that would ruin Liveship story for you.
I believe Liveship pacing is better than Farseer.

[Strangerealms]

I really love the series The Farseer and The Tawny Man, I always suggest them to everyone, one can read them in that order and understand perfectly fine what happens in these books. They're among my favourite fantasy series.

In my case I suggest to people to finish first The Tawny Man before reading the Liveship Traders because the Liveship Traders is so awful and atrocious that one might in such a shock refuse to read The Tawny Man which is zillions of times better than the Liveship raders. I've been so extremely disapointed in Hobb that I've not touched any of her other books since and I'm grateful I had already read The Tawny Man at that moment otherwise I fear I might have never read the end of Fitz's story.

I've just recently finished buying both series and I definitively intend to never ever buy Liveship Traders. I'm grateful I borrowed the books first from the public library and I intend to continue with Hobb since I don't want to buy something bad l will regret.

[Melissa]

I wasn't active in this group last summer when this discussion was going on-but I have to agree with Strangerealms-

I picked up the first liveship book and got bored. Friends were reading the rest of the ship trilogy, but I wasn't into it. When I read the Assasins Apprentice, I was hooked in so deep I read all three and then the three Fool books.

Its interesting that people found the Ship books unsatisfying.

[Monica]

Hopefully this thread is still "active". I just finished Assassin's Apprentice. Yes, it is now 2015, and no I did not start it many years ago with the rest of the group ;-)

I'm wondering if anyone could shed light on something that bothered me in the story. (view spoiler)[Through his Wit, Fitz can sense his pup, Nosy. So why was his bond immediately severed when Burrich took the pup away? (Leaving us to believe that the pup had been killed.) Shouldn't Fitz still have been able to sense that the pup lived? At least for a time? Any explanations? (hide spoiler)]

[Kevin]

I think it had something to do with making a special connection...

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

Monica wrote: "Hopefully this thread is still "active". I just finished Assassin's Apprentice. Yes, it is now 2015, and no I did not start it many years ago with the rest of the group ;-)

I'm wonder..."

Most threads are as active as we make them.
;)

As for your question...I believe, and this could be a spoiler, but I'll not go into great detail, (view spoiler)[ I think Burrich had something to do with it. (hide spoiler)]
I could be remembering it wrong, but I think it was hinted at later.

[Monica]

Brenda ╰☆╮ wrote: "As for your question...I believe, and this could be a spoiler, but I'll not go into great detail, (view spoiler) I could be remembering it wrong, but I think it was hinted at later. "

Oh, thank you, Brenda...I didn't make the connection. That does make sense, given what is revealed later in the story.