Royal Assassin

The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 29 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Young Fitz, the illegitimate son of the noble Prince Chivalry, is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has had him tutored him in the dark arts of the assassin. He has barely survived his first, soul-shattering mission, and when he returns to the court, he is thrown headfirst into the tumult of royal life.

With the king near death, and Fitz's only ally off on a seemingly hopeless quest, the throne itself is threatened.

Meanwhile, the treacherous Red Ship Raiders have renewed their attacks on the Six Duchies, slaughtering the inhabitants of entire seaside towns. In this time of great peril, it soon becomes clear that the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz's hands - and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

©1999 Robin Hobb (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Hobb manages to create a kingdom that looks like a fairy tale but feels like the real world---which makes it almost impossible not to become immersed in Hobb's fantasy epic.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Great story. Great reader

I was hooked on this until I finished. Biggest props go to the reader who had distinct enough tones for each character that I could tell who was talking the major of the time with out it being said

sad melancholy story

I followed it keenly but I wish it wasn't so sad to read n finish the damned thing.

Robin Hobb amazing as always!

I've always enjoyed Robin Hobb's novels! From Liveship Traders to The Farseer books, I was very excited to be able to listen to the Farseer Trilogy many years after reading them. Paul Boehmer is an excellent narrator, has a wonderful timbre to his voice and does the voices fairly good justice. Needless to say, I am starting Assassin's Quest immediately!

Plot is interesting, Main character not so much

I like these books and I will read the third. The world is unique and fantastic. The second book moves faster than the first, which I struggled with a bit. All in all it’s fun.
That said, I have felt in both books that the main character lacks any interesting character traits. He is bland. And seems to be largely someone that things happen to, rather than affects things himself. He does gain more agency as the story progresses. But never gains any… characteristic. Like a personality that makes him, him. He’s devoted to the king, loves molly, wants respect from the stable master (who is full of personality!), and… well that’s about it - his traits are defined by his devotion to others. Maybe that’s the story the author wants to tell. But I felt no humanity in it. Gave me nothing to connect to. And in the end, it bored me as a reader.

So fun to start again!

I really enjoyed this, especially after reading all the Fitz and Fool and Liveship trader books over the course of a decade. I plan on getting the dragon series after going through the Liveship books this time too. Robin Hobb writes so well that I hadn’t really felt the need to go back and reread/listen when a new book came out, but with this first one, I remembered and understood some of the later book references better, which filled me with emotion! I love it. I think her writing is somewhat comparable to Brandon Sanderson’s, with the engrossing character development. Both of who are on my top five favorite authors list - which also includes, Brian Stavely, Brent Weeks and Anthony Ryan ;)

epic

very well written, and very well told. the audible version is incredible. a very good bargain

Enthrallling

A thorough and complete immersion into the world of the Six Dutchies; the series is worth a listen.

Enjoyed it before, loved it now

I have read the whole trilogy before (a few times) and enjoyed the books. I definitely loved listening to the first two books of this series and hope that the third one also gets picked up by Audible. Fitz is so endearing to the listener that you cannot help but get lost in the story.

A Must Have Audio Experience!!!!

Robin Hobb has created a complex world that integrates everything one hopes for in a fantasy novel: strong characters and story full of depth and believability despite the elements of impossibility. I have both read and listened to this series. Each experience has left me thankful for having done so.

The narration is outstanding!!! I can not emphasize the importance of this fact. Boehmer flavors each character and the story as a whole into something unique. One of the sad facts of the audio genre is that a bad narration can destroy a good book. The best narrators become one with the stories themselves, so much so that one can't conceive the part having been done without the other.

great

great book. do it very great story. kind if like name of the wind. but better