Assassins Apprentice

Assassins Apprentice

The bastard sons of kings play a noble role in fantasy: not only were King Arthur and Modred by-blows, but it is often suggested that Merlin himself came to power from the “wrong side of the bed.” While Hobb’s offering has a few too many illegitimate heirs backstabbing around, this is still a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne. Fitz, who is often called the “Boy” or the “Bastard,” was begotten by good Prince Chivalry upon some “peasant” woman. At age six, he is given over to the safekeeping of the prince’s man, Burrich. Fitz’s impolitic existence causes the prince to abdicate his claim to the throne, and he and his wife leave the court, and the boy, behind. Fitz has inherited the “Skill,” a mind-bending talent, and also has the ability to meld his thoughts with those of nonhuman creatures and to mentally “repel” physical advances. When Fitz finally comes to King Shrewd’s attention, he is given over to the Royal Assassin’s tutelage and trained to carry out the king’s devious plans. The novel’s conceit-that it offers Fitz’s memoirs from childhood through adolescence-allows for several sequels. A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies and Arthurian romances.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A Delight To Read
I enjoyed Robin Hood’s writing so much I read the entire series. On my iPhone. I have always liked Science Fiction but found the Fantasy field a poor second cousin. But this book entranced me. I am grateful I discovered this author and will continue to enjoy her work. It is true that later works would have benefitted from editing but I realize that many fans prefer to stay in the author’s world as long as possible.

5 Stars Delighted
First book I’ve read by this author and I really liked it. Kind of reminded me of Jennifer Falon’s series. Now I’m going to have to buy the rest.

4 Stars Feels like I’m onto something here …
Oh dear !

I really have wasted a lot of time, haven’t I ?

Let me explain.

I read the first two tomes of “A Song of Ice and Fire” from G.R.R. Martin, and unlike most fantasy lovers, loathed it ! Almost with a passion. Something that had only happened with Jordan’s later “Wheel of Time” novels.

On enquiring on Robin Hobb’s series a little later on, someone I spoke with in a bookshop stated the two authors works were very similar. That put me off Robin Hobb for quite a few years.

Nonetheless, very recently, I picked up Assassin’s Apprentice, lack of what I thought better fantasy works I hadn’t read available on the library shelves, and wondered how far I’d be able to get into the book without shutting it for ever.

How I was wrong !

Unlike the previous author(s), words aren’t wasted, characters are valued, the plot is consistent, and even if it seems like things are at their darkest, there is always hope.

Whatsmore, Robin Hobb’s wordsmithing is just as good, if not better than that of Martin’s. I didn’t have to plough through a mess of descriptions for no reason whatsoever.

Of course, I don’t usually write comments here, but this was just such a surprise I felt I had to.

Thank you.

5 Stars A Engrossing Very Realistic Book
This is an engrossing, very realistic book. The protagonist’s story revolver around his maturation from a six-year old boy to teenager. The book gives a very realistic description of the difficulties in making it to and through the teenage years. He doesn’t miraculously figure things out the way some other authors depict their heroes. In fact, he isn’t exactly a heroic figure. He makes many mistakes as the story unfolds. His actions are not what the normal author writes for their hero.

The self-doubt and emotional upheaval the author puts him through reminds me of my years as a teenager at a remove of 34-years. He is put through struggles that you don’t think that he’ll survive. The suspense involving the seaborne raiders had me tempted to read the end of the book to see how it ends.

I have the Kindle version and have really enjoyed reading it on my Kindle 1.

1 Star Waste of time and money – don’t bother
This has all the makings of being a great series, but the execution is terrible and this is being nice.

I struggled to get through the book and by the end wondered why I bothered.

It just leaves me feeling empty and I certainly will not read the rest of the series.

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