Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #650 in Books
• Published on: 1996-03-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Synopsis
A glorious classic fantasy combining the magic of Ursula Le Guin's The Wizard of Earthsea with the epic Mastery of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Now reissued in gorgeous new livery. Fitz is a royal bastard, cast out into the world with only his magical link with animals for solace and companionship. But When Fitz is adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and learn a new life; weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly. Meanwhile, raiders ravage the coasts, leaving people soulless. As Fitz grows towards manhood, he will have to face his first terrifying mission, a task that poses as much risk to himself as it does to his target: for Fitz is a threat to the throne ! but he may also be the key to the future of the kingdom.

Customer Reviews

Atmosphere, Character
The words in the subject seem to be Hobb's forte. She is unrivalled in the fantasy genre for both. She creates a completely believable quasi mediaeval world without resorting to mind numbing realism or conceited grittiness, and also manages to include enough beauty and magic for it to be intriguing to jaded Fantasy readers. The magic system could have been cliched - it is not. There are real costs and dilemmas attached to the two magics in the book. You will not find fireballs or lightning bolts here.

It is a dark tale with troughs of despair and strife warring against the brief peaks of happiness that the protagonist is allowed.

The events and situations we find in the book are both logical and poignant due to the expertly painted characters - if Fitz, the Assassin's Apprentice of the title, is in a dangerous situation, it really matters because Hobb has made the character matter to us. The same goes for secondary characters: even minor characters are written with a style and care that most novelists would not consider. This is not to say that one will find lengthy passages about the workday of a cook that Fitz happens to see occasionally, no, Hobb can delineate and sculpt an impression of a character with a few well chosen lines, lines that can linger long in the memory.

I have not mentioned the plot. This is not a summary, but an explanation of the 5 stars at the top of this review.

Fantasy writing GENIUS!!
The farseer trilogy starts with the assassins apprentice, you follow fitz on his journey in a fantastical land meeting heroes and villains alike. I absolutely love reading and re-reading this series as well as The Liveship Traders trilogy, The Tawny Man trilogy and the recent Soldier Son trilogy. Robin hobbs is a fantastic author, the places she writes about come to life and the heroes are believable without being untouchabley noble, almost godlike as some other trilogies portray their heroes. If you do decide to buy The Assassins Apprentice then get ready to raid your savings because you are gonna want to buy up the rest of her books!

Fantastic fantasy.
This is the book that converted me to the science fantasy genre, after having eschewed it for decades. I have since read all Robin Hobb's books, although the Farseer trilogy remains my favourite. I could never come at (and still can't) fantasy books that are just too fantastical (ie. set on some planet with tongue-twisting name, peopled by beings with more nutty names, and mutant dragons/lizards etc.). I found Hobb's books easier to read because her characters and plots are more "earthly", and thus (to me, anyway) more believable. This book was complex, engrossing and left you wanting more. Luckily, there is more!