The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice Audiobook By Robin Hobb cover art

The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

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The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

By: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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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 Epic Fantasy Fantasy Essentials Action & Adventure Assassin Royalty Fantasy Epic Suspenseful Fiction Arthurian

Critic reviews

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

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Rich Character Development • Immersive World-building • Complex Political Intrigue • Emotional Depth • Engaging Performance

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I don't know what to say about this book. It was not fast paced nor very exciting most of the time. The setting was pretty typical of the fantasy genre and the world building wasn't the greatest that I've read. This book feels like a set up to a trilogy where we are learning the background story of a few chars. It's essentially a story about a bastard boy, his mentors, and his dogs.

So why the 5 stars? I just loved this book. I was invested in the chars and cared about what happened to them. The friendships and bonds felt so real. The one downside is the one dimensional aspect of the "evil" characters. I was able to get past this easily, though because the story itself is strong. This is one of the books where you just enjoy the journey the author puts in front of you. I downloaded the second book within seconds of finishing this. Not because of some contrived cliffhanger but because I just couldn't wait to see where the story would take me.

Great Book

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You might love this book if you like lots of character development and dialogue. I thought I liked character development, but after this book, I guess I realize that I don't.

This book was well written in my opinion. The story was good and the characters were believable. The world was developed. But for me, there was not enough tension in the plot. The character development was not enough to hold my interest. I was interested enough to keep listening, but I will not get the second book.

Well written, but too slow for me

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I really liked this first book and performance. Well conceived universe that was somewhat contained in size and scope. The main character spends much of book 1 as a child/youth. The unfortunate BUT is books 2 and 3 become unbearably inconsistent and leave you wanting to slap the main character half the time for being so dense and stupid.

Good start to trilogy, but

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I'm just finishing the first book, and it's great. It has the same narrator as Brent Weeks Night Angel Trilogy, who does an amazing job. I became a huge fan of Robin Hobb years ago with the Farseer trilogy and now it's an audio book, awesome!

Great series

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This is a solid high (but not epic) fantasy that has garnered quite a following, and not without good reason. It is very well developed and written. I wouldn't say there are a lot of new ideas here; the magic system is pretty subdued and the plot is all political intrigue. The biggest thing for me to get used to was the naming system; characters are named after traits they are desired to have, such as Chivalry and Regal and Verity.
Many reviewers have commented, and it is indeed quite true. This book is boring at times, even in audio. It's not that it is poorly written or a well developed plot. It just simply isn't that exciting. You have to be willing to follow the story of yet another hero who starts out as a punt, ignorant boy who has much to learn about the world. For some people this probably never gets old, but I prefer authors such as Brandon Sanderson whose heroes already start out fully developed.
Most of the main character's problems would have been solved or never would have occurred if people would simple hag told him what he needed to koror that they assumed he already knew. Indeed, the main character's ignorance seems to be the main antagonist for much of this story.
The narrator did a great job and fit the part perfectly; no complaints there at all.

Don't Expect a Fast-Paced Epic

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