Book Review: Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Summary

Assassin’s Apprentice focuses on Fitz – the teenage, bastard son of Prince Chivalry. When the news of Fitz’s existence spreads across the Six Duchies, Prince Chivalry, shamed by this, goes into abdication. Raised in the castle stables with his only friends being the king’s fool and a group of poor children from the town, he discovers that he has an unusual affinity with animals.

To be useful to the crown, Fitz is trained as an assassin; and to use the traditional magic of the Farseer family known as the Skill. Trouble shows within the kingdom as his tutor, allied with another political faction, is determined to discredit and even kill him. For the sake of the kingdom; Fitz must survive.

Overview

I saw this book previously in the book store and had read the summary on the back and thought it sounded exciting. As it had been on my wish list for so long I decided to get it and see if I would enjoy it like I thought I would. Unfortunately, I didn’t. That’s not to say that I think this is a bad book; in fact, I think this is a good book. The summary written on that back of the book painted an image in my mind containing more action instead of the political intrigue that was delivered. The book could have been half the size and still preset the same story. However, I understand that this was Robin Hobb’s first novel (as Robin Hobb) and she was building a whole world – one which spans sixteen novels. That being said, the way the characters are written in this book is outstanding.

Cons

As I said before, this book could have been half the size and still told the same story. Hobb spent a lot of time focusing on points that were not important to the story or could have been shortened to one or two sentences. It seemed as though there were a lot of words used to say absolutely nothing. The book is a slow burn. The beginning of the book starts as Fitz is being dropped off at the castle doors and goes through his childhood for the first three chapters and I believe that these could have been left out.

World building was a big part of this book. That isn’t a bad thing but I found that in trying to paint a picture of what is happening in the world it seemed that the same scenario was repeated a few times concerning the Red Ship Raiders.

Reading the summary on the back of the book, I expected more action. This has a fair amount of political intrigue. Not nearly as much as something like A Song of Ice and Fire but it’s there. The only real action was at the very end of the book and by that point it felt rushed and completely out of left field. I’m not sure if Hobb was trying to create a shock twist but it wasn’t surprising and it didn’t build to it well. The pacing seemed a bit confused by this point as it had been very slow previously.

Pros

One thing Hobb does a fantastic job of in this novel is the characters. This is the strongest aspect of the novel. The characters are so well written and crafted and you can tell that she had put a lot of work in to making them feel like real people. Fit’z relationship with Burrich is unique in the fact that Fitz sees Burrich as a father figure and loves him but at the same time hates him. Burrich, on the other hand, loves Fitz but also fears him and this creates a lot of interesting moments between the two.

I mentioned previously about world building. The world that Hobb is trying to create starts to feel huge and real with what she is describing. One example of this that I was genuinely interested in is when Fitz is learning about different plants to make paper from – which ones hold the ink better and which is better quality. I think this interested me the most because I have seen the way that papyrus paper is made and it intrigues me.

The climax of the book where most of the action takes place was exciting to read. I found it a lot more exciting than the rest of the book. The pacing felt spot on for this section and I did not want to put that book down. The ending to the book is great and it does leave me wanting to read the next in the trilogy: Royal Assassin.

Conclusion

Sometimes this book felt like a bit of a chore to get through, however, most of it was interesting to read. I strongly believe that the main aim of this book was to set the foundation for a huge world to be realised in the future titles. I will definitely be reading the next book in the Farseer trilogy – Royal Assassin, and will be posting a review afterwards. If you are a fan of fantasy with politics as a focal point then I definitely recommend this book. Someone looking for more action may want to pass on it but I would still recommend it as the action that is presented is rewarding.