The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

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)

Some seem not to understand this is about a child

This is a story about a child's growth in to the adult world. I guess people are used to the common trope of the all powerful whatever. Too much deus ex whatever. So this deals with the story of an imperfect person, somewhat more real that the usual in that way. There are enough reviews that I am not going to bother repeating all that they say.

I found the book well paced and engaging.

Great After All is Done

Now that I have finished I find the story is better than I believed while reading. I felt I had to push through too much of it, and felt there were sudden gaps, or walls, put in place by the author that made sections distasteful...

Some characters were not described to my liking initially and I felt some confusion until I was done with the book.

I can say, after pushing through to the end, that I am interested in going to the next book, but I will have some difficulty rereading this one.

There are some great moments, and perhaps reading through it again with the understanding that I have now will make it a better experience... But I do not look fondly on my first trip through.

I can recommend this book with the warning that you should go all the way through it before deciding on whether it is good or not.

Why the unpleasant ending?

What did you like best about The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice? What did you like least?

Something about the way the author writes draws you in, and most of the time the story is pretty interesting. I detested how again, and again, and AGAIN the main character always has situations blow up in his face, that he has little to no power over, and ultimately looses/damages some cherished relationship. His foster father essentially refuses to speak to him when he uses his powers with animals, and ultimately kicks him out of the stables, after raising him for years, in addition to having been very good friends with his father. None of the characters act as rationally as they should, and because of this, they don't feel real.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The idea of the skill was interesting (but by no means unique or original), and it was interesting to see how he acted in his status as the illegitimate son of the prince who would have inherited the throne if not for his affair. I found the constant problems the main character finds himself in, which he never actually solves, extremely repetitive.

What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?

He was an good, solid narrator with nothing about his voice that was particularly grating, and the character's voices were distinct.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No, it was not the type of book I would consider would make a good film, especially as spans several years, and it's mostly in the main character's head, there isn't a ton of action, just a lot of plotting and learning, and getting punished and rejected.

Any additional comments?

Why? Just why would you want to write a story about a kid who grows up in a corrupt kingdom, and ultimately (spoiler), by the end of the series looses essentially every person he cared about. What's more, there isn't anything deep I can see about his suffering, he has little or no impact in fixing the world he lives in (which no one even attempts) and he never cares about anyone who loves him back unconditionally who doesn't die. Heck, the men he serve don't do anything to improve the world either! I'm fine with sad endings, but the story becomes so predictably fixed on one pitfall after another, it feels like the author created the character just to make everything around him go wrong. Again. And Again. And Again....

Assassins Apprentice

It has been many years since I read the books, long ago enough to have forgotten most if not all.
I tend now, to mark Fitz down a bit, too negative, too careful, I think maybe we all have these traits to some extent.
It doesn't detract much from the story, that I have just listened to the Fools story, the trilogy following this one.

Good story but......

Very good story but the narrator killed the characters. It's not that his voice isn't nice to listen to, but he made the story seem sad and almost dull. I wish he could've connected with the characters more so they were brought to life! Alas. Nope.