Fool's Assassin

Book One of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Elliot Hill

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Nearly twenty years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel—and those that followed—broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.

Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such bestselling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.

FitzChivalry—royal bastard and former king’s assassin—has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past . . . and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one. . . .

Praise for Fool’s Assassin

“Hobb knows the complicated workings of the wayward human heart, and she takes time to depict them in her tale, to tell her story sweetly, insistently, compellingly. . . . A book meant to be inhabited rather than run through.”—The Seattle Times

“[FitzChivalry Farseer is] one of the best characters in fantasy literature.”—Fantasy Book Review

“[Hobb’s] prose sparkles, her characters leap off the page.”—Tordotcom

“Modern fantasy at its irresistible best.”—The Guardian

“Fantastic . . . emotionally rich storytelling.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Critic reviews

Praise for Fool’s Assassin

“[Robin] Hobb knows the complicated workings of the wayward human heart, and she takes time to depict them in her tale, to tell her story sweetly, insistently, compellingly. . . . A book meant to be inhabited rather than run through.”—The Seattle Times

“[FitzChivalry Farseer is] one of the best characters in fantasy literature.”—Fantasy Book Review

“[Hobb’s] prose sparkles, her characters leap off the page.”—Tordotcom

“Modern fantasy at its irresistible best.”—The Guardian

“Fantastic . . . emotionally rich storytelling.”—Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for Robin Hobb

“Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin

Narrator can break this

Narrator haven't bothered to check up on previous books in the universe so quite a few names are suddenly pronounced differently than previous installments.
Furthermore he has a very limited set of voices and has a hard time staying consistent on the voices if they haven't been in use for a short while...

Good story- absolutely terrible narrator

I never leave reviews on books, but I feel like if I don't get this vent out I'll explode with frustration. Story wise, this is one of Robin Hobb's slower books. But it's almost to be expected; she's setting the scene for the trilogy. There's a nice intense action scene towards the end that kept me on the edge of my seat.
However, the real reason I'm writing this review is to say how AWFUL a job Elliot Hill has done narrating! I don't mean lackluster like other narrators. I mean, he has completely changed almost everyone's accent/tone (he does an acceptable Fitz Chivalry thank goodness). Like, almost every other character in the book now has this haughty, snotty, speaking through clenched teeth voice. It changes the meaning of everything they say. And when they skill! He does this weird hoarse whisper-yell. What the heck, Elliot? They're skilling, not arguing in a library! And the fool!! Oh. My. Gosh. Our beloved. He has dismissed the perfection of the previous narrators and given him a weird, painfully spoken accent. I can't even describe it with justice.
So, after reading the reviews of book 2, instead of using my credit to get that one, I've decided to just buy the kindle version and read it myself. I wish there was a way to get audible to re-do a series/trilogy. They picked the wrong narrator. I'm sure he's a nice guy. I wish him well. I just hope he never, EVER, narrates another book I ever want to listen to. He has ruined this trilogy for me. Yes, it is that bad. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the broken pieces in my own head when I read book #2 in the correct voices!

Robin Hobb, you are cruel

I have listen to all her books up till now. I listened as the books containing Fitz's became more and more painful. I love these book and find it so difficult to listen to them.

Beautiful.

Oh, the reader was really difficult for me for me to listen to. He was choppy and paused frequently. The audio quited at random times and it was generally annoying. Speeding up the audio helped a bit but was still frustrating to hear such a peice of art through such a filter.

Change of narrators

The change in narrators and the subsequent change in voice characterization is clumsy. For the most part Hill’s narration is spot on. However, his dramatization of established characters is just weird. Who knew that some characters (7 books in) were actually Scottish or Russian or any number of other accents that got glommed on to his/her character. I don’t blame Hill. He’s excellent. Some producer must’ve thought that these changes added to the story. NOT!

Awful NArrator

If you’ve listened to books by Robin Hobb before, how does this one compare?

Slightly annoyed by Fitz's seeming ignorance of something(don't want to spoil anything) for the entire book. He is suppose to observant and this is something that it should have noticed. It seemed off for his character.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The voices were off and it drove me CRAZY how he pronounced names differently. The portrayal of Fitz and fool's voices was annoying. Not to mention they way he emphasized certain words which made the writing sound trite.