Assassin’s
Apprentice, Robin Hobb
This first book of the Farseer trilogy (the first of
a number of trilogies and other books Hobb has written) was recommended
recently and I’m so glad I paid attention!
I spent much of our holidays absorbed in
all three books – Assassin’s Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin’s Quest. They follow the life of Fitz, a bastard born
to King-in-Waiting Chivalry in the realm of the Six Duchies. The fantasy world Robb has created
essentially echoes the times of Kings, ladies, lords, knights, merchants, and
beggars. It is a wonderfully detailed
world and society with enough echoes of ‘old England’ to sound familiar, yet
enough differences to make you concentrate to figure out what is really going
on.
Told by Fitz over 10-15 years, they
chronicle his training to be the King Shrewd’s Assassin, as well as giving a history
of the slow decline of the kingdom as invaders constantly threaten the safety
of the realm and internal power struggles go on between the king’s sons. Will the kingdom survive? Who is the true king?
There is a level of mystery as you are
slowly introduced to the idea of the Skill, a mind reading ability mostly held
by nobility. The reader is also made
aware of another ability, the Wit, where people can bond to and communicate
with animals: does Fitz have it, and is it really the problem others seem to
think it is?
I really enjoyed this series. Husband will attest that my nose was firmly
planted in these three books for 2 weeks solid. In some ways, they could be compared to
an adult version of Ranger’s Apprentice. As they have no bad language,
romantic interactions are only generally alluded to, and the violence was not
excessive, I was happy for Mr 13 to give them a try. They failed to grab his interest at this
stage – they probably required too much concentration – but I think in time he
could enjoy them and I suspect that teenagers who want to put the effort in
would like them. I am very keen to move on to Robb’s other
books in future holidays!
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