The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

With unforgettable characters, a sweeping backdrop, and passionate storytelling, this is a fantasy debut to rival that of Robert Jordan. Filled with adventure and bloodshed, pageantry and piracy, mystery and menace, Assassin's Apprentice is the story of a royal house and the young man who is destined to chart its course through tempests of change. Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal household by his father's gruff stableman. An outcast whose existence has forced his father to abdicate his claim on the throne, Fitz is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in the young man's blood is a heritage of magic, the talent called the Skill, as well as another, even more mysterious ability.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts and leave behind the zombie-like husks of the townspeople to prowl the countryside, Fitz is growing toward manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission, a mission that poses as much a threat to himself as it does for his target---for Fitz is a threat to the throne...but he may also be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

©1999 Robin Hobb (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured...at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.” ( Kirkus)

Jumping right into book two!

The first book I've read (or listened to) by Robin Hobb! Fantasy is my preferred genre, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It managed to surprise and enchant me time and again, and Fitz has stolen my heart. I recommend this to anyone fond of fantasy, animals, and not too graphic descriptions of gore and horrors. Though there are many trials and much learning, it isn't with the grit and senseless feel of random death or disfigurement some current favorites of the genre write. I didn't feel on the precipice of losing a favorited character any moment, and grew fond of many in this built up world. A story of growth in all ways, an unfair world with a hero just starting to find how to move about in it.

The Farseer. Assassin's Apprentice

I could not stop listening to this wonderful tale. Robin Hobb is a master writer. There are three books in this tale , I can't wait to listen to them all.
Paul Boemer did a fine job of Naarration.
The story is full of colourful Carachters and intrigues. It is the tale of a young boy born into the world out of wedlock , and how he grows up into manhood, he is taught many skills , not the least of which is to become a Kings Assassin.

good story

good story, it started slow but about half way thought I was hooked. I'm definitely going to listen to the next one.

Great story, good performance

If you could sum up The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice in three words, what would they be?

powerful, dirty, unlikely

Assassin's Apprentice isn't for the faint of heart. It's a great start for a great series (leading into further stories once The Farseer trilogy ends), but the title gives away that the hero isn't a clean, easy hero. He has some difficult choices and some difficult times, but that makes his struggle all the more interesting.

What about Paul Boehmer???s performance did you like?

The narrator did a good job of making the story easy on the ears; occasionally his voice for some characters was too similar, but the vast majority of the time his voice yielded a good variety of sounds and captured the feel of the portrayed characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no; I didn't want to stop, as this story keeps my attention very well. But I also didn't want to keep going, because that would mean the story had ended. I could listen to it again, but it would never again be that first time of discovery.

Tragedy at its finest

This book is brilliantly written and reminds me very much of Game of Thrones. The book however is just not for me. It is an endless litany of tragic events that leave one depressed and hopeless over the future of the main character. Again I stress that the book is well written and the author is a master of their craft, but make sure you like tragedy or like me you will find yourself quitting the series in the middle of book two saying” I just can’t take another tragic moment in this characters life”.

Slow Start

Where does The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

This was one I almost abandoned a few chapters into the book. I stuck with it and found it very entertaining kept my attention. After finishing the first I thought back as to why I had struggled getting into the book.

I believe the narration was part of the issue. The narrator's pace, and pitch is much different than most of the books I have listened to lately. It may have to do with the first person perspective, but I come back to the rhythm of the read. Listen to the narrator first in the sample but do not let that deter you the book is worthy and I am purchasing the rest of the series.

Masterful Story Telling

Any additional comments?

I have been listening to books on a very regular basis for 2 years consuming about 100 per year. Believe me when I tell you the entire series is a masterpiece of story telling. All three books are seriously excellent with sweeping graphical descriptions and the ability to invoke very strong and deep emotions. The main character is likely to be with you for life. Enjoy.

Life Changing

This is the first of the Robin Hobb universe. This world became my favorite alternate-reality as well as my favorite books of all time.

I don’t love the narration . Actually have tried multiple times to listen to it, but it doesn’t work for me.
The story, the world, the writing - it is exciting and heartwarming.

Great Book! Definitely worth the read!

First and foremost, I have thoroughly enjoyed this novel. There are, however, some aspects that could turn some readers off. First of those is the fact that the story is told from a first person perspective. The main character, Fitz, is recalling his adventures as a young boy, and the whole story is written from his perspective. I personally have no problem with this at all, but I've spoken to several people who are turned off by this. The second thing that may turn some off is Robin Hobbs prose. Don't get me wrong, she writes absolutely beautiful prose, but for me, I would occasionally get lost in the prose and not get the gist of what was being said. It was much easier for me to digest as an audiobook than as a typical read.

Other than those two things, I can't see anything to complain about. The narration of the audiobook was great! The narrator did have a tendency to mispronounce a couple of words that really grinded on me. For example, the word "valet" has a silent "t" at the end, yet the narrator pronounced the word with a hard "t" over and over again. I know this is nitpicky, and it's the only criticism I can give of the narrator. Otherwise his interpretation of the prose was perfect and enthralling.

Audio mixing issues

The story isn’t bad however the audio mixing has too much range to listen to comfortably. When the characters whisper in the book the audio is so quiet you need to put it at max volume to hear, then a character will yell and blast your speakers. When characters yell you’ll need to put your volume at the lowest level. Always have your hand on the volume controls when listening to this book