Royal Assassin: The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2

This is the second book in the Farseer trilogy. I loved this book. It’s so well done. We’re deep in the head of the main character, Fitz, and he feels very real. One thing I notice is that Fitz has multiple ties to different characters and plot threads. Some of them compete or conflict, which makes his life feel thick and rich. This is the book in which Nighteyes first appears, Nighteyes being the wolf Fitz bonds with using a forbidden magic called the Wit. Nighteyes sees the world in a simpler way than Fitz has to deal with. If you have food, a warm bed, and your pack, why would you need all the complications humans make? Nighteyes’ view of things is something funny, sometimes clarifying. But given Fitz’s multitude of ties, I could list a dozen characters I like: Kettricken, Verity, Burrich, Chade, Patience, Molly, Shrewd, the Fool. And no one makes my blood boil like Prince Regal. Honestly, if you haven’t read the Farseer series, what are you waiting for?

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS This is another of those books where I've read the first in the trilogy but didn't write a proper review for it. This is also one of those series where you really need to read the first one otherwise nothing, and I mean nothing, that comes after will make any sense to you. Now, I do recommend you read Robin Hobb, she has a lovely sense of fantasy and builds very rich worlds. But her books are massive, re: really long. Which, personally, I enjoy. But if you are looking for a quick read, this isn't it. Read this series when you have the will and desire to sit with something for long stretches of time, that is the only way to do it justice. Read this series when you are in the mood for something that is slower paced up until maybe the half way mark. Again, when you're in the mood for this kind of story, it's great! If you aren't, then it seems boring and a chore to get through. Know that going into the Farseer Trilogy, because I didn't. The first book left me confused and annoyed that it took so long to get things rolling. This time around, knowing what I was getting into, I liked the second in the series much more. It's still a slow burn, but either the story was just all that much better or I knew enough of Hobb and her writing style to not judge the story early. Also, if you want a really crazy magic system and hardcore fantasy book, I wouldn't consider this trilogy to be that. There's no mistaking the fantasy elements and the magic that is present. But this is not a traditional witches or magicians kind of magic. Nor is it as complicated as Sanderson's magic systems. All of these are fine! I just want to be sure you all know what you are getting into ahead of time. I'm looking out for you guys! So first things first, I wasn't in love with the first of the series which is why it took me so long to get to book two. Things like the Skill and the Wit are explained a bit better here then they were the first time around. The Skill is basically a type of telepathy that lets certain people speak directly to each other over great distances and influence others to do what you want and actually want to do it. I get it now. The Wit is the Skill but for animals and people are afraid of it. Think Bran Stark in GOT and his warg ability. People hate the Wit and those who use it, and Wit users can be put to death. I never understood why it was bad. Despite everyone in the book, literally everyone, saying it's beast magic and it's just so, so awful... I never understood why. It seems like a really useful skill. Fitz thinks so too. And perhaps this was Hobb's way of showing that Fitz is right when it comes to judging the Wit, but because I still don't understand why everyone hates it, it's hard to even see the other sides point of view as legitimate. Anyway, this book takes over pretty much right after the events of the first book with Fitz recovering from his near death experience. The book starts with him weak and hurt and it maintains this theme throughout. Hobb loves hurting Fitz. Pretty much every other chapter this kid was getting abused physically or mentally in some way. Which is ok, I abuse my main characters all the time too, but Fitz doesn't always improve or learn after his ordeals. Sometimes he does, but not always. And he's also not the best assassin. Not because he doesn't know how to be stealthy when he poisons you, but because he just doesn't kill all that many people outside of the mindless Forged people or in the confines of battle. Fitz occupation is almost inconsequential to the story outside of a few, and I mean few, instances. So if you want a book focused on assassins, I'd be hard to say that this is that story. But all of this I forgave because I liked hanging out with Fitz in Buckkeep. I liked him finally using the Wit to get a wolf buddy. I wish they had done more with their relationship and less with Molly and Fitz but oh well. Fitz and Molly's relationship felt very forced at the beginning. There was no courtship, just "we both like each other and then you left but you're back! Let's try again?" There was more "courtship" with Fitz and his wolf bonding so I enjoyed that more and didn't much care when Molly left the story. So if you want a fantasy romance story, this is not that story. What this story is, is Fitz growing up and turning into his father's son. More a leader than a troublesome bastard. A man people want to follow. A prince who puts his people first and becomes a real pain in evil Regal's side. I really liked that Fitz, the troubled boy who wants a life of his own but knows his duty and knows its bigger than him and must always comes first. That conflict was so genuine and real and I loved it. I loved how Regal went full on crazy in this book, not just doing his underhanded deeds in secrecy but kind of full on in the open. What I didn't like was that only Fitz, Chade, and Kettricken seemed to notice (also, how do you have a name like Kettricken and Molly in the same book? Seems so out of place but oh well). I wanted more people to be on Fitz side rather than Regal but that didn't happen in this book. Which makes some sense because this is supposed to be the lowest point for Fitz and Verity while he's off trying to find the Elderlings (which never really get explained as how or why these things are supposed to be the key to stopping the Raiders). But still, when so few people are against Regal right now, it's just going to make convincing people that Verity is back and the rightful king harder than it needs to be, or harder than I want it to be. Like I said, Fitz gets beat up a lot so I just hoped that something would go his way otherwise I worry he'll commit suicide! So this book is hard to give a rating to. I liked it more than the first in the series, but it is still a slow read. I had a better grasp on the magic but things like the Elderlings and how Forging happens is still a mystery. Fitz struggle is delicious but the book ends with him having lost almost everything so he has a lot to make up for in the next book. The writing is excellent and Hobb does a great job of showing how easy it is for someone to lose track of who they are when they Skill into someone else. The romance is unsatisfying and the magic system isn't really all that magical so if you want that, you won't get that here. It wasn't a classically exciting or tense story but I liked it and enjoyed the slow build up so I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars and I'll read the final one when I have more time to sit with Robin Hobb's long ass books!

Ms Hobb is an excellent writer. She knows how to make you care for the characters, even with all their foibles. Regal makes for an excellent villain, and Burridge is made to be an enigma, one that is both full of pleasure as well as pain. Highly recommend this book, but ONLY if you've read the first one!

I haven't been existing in my own world lately. I've been engulfed in robin hobbs world with Fitz, Nighteyes, Kettrickon, Burrich, and the Fool. This series has been such an escape. Everytime I opened it, I forgot about all my real world problems and got completely lost in the Six Duchies. Its one of those stories that makes me happy I was born and lived long enough to experience it. Its that good, definitely worth the read.

This is a well written beautiful story. We continue this journey as Fitz faces same enemies but the plot thickens. He finds love, family expands, but enemies are attacking and Fitz pays the price. Molly deserves better and hopefully will find the peace and life she deserves but something tells me there’s more to it. I enjoyed every chapter. Fitz is a well written complex character with many faults that makes it so likable. I was cheering for him and wanted him to have his happily ever after. This is a series for those who like fantasy, character driven story with a soft plot, and enjoy a well writen slow burn storyline.

The illustrated edition has no illustrations.

Toda esta serie es buena

Kitaplar tertemiz, kargo hızlıydı🌻

I love all the entire series of books, I also love the new illustrated editions as it puts some of the characters in perspective. Really great, and I would definitely recommend these.

Sometimes, at the close of a book, you feel almost physically drained. I had forgotten, quite forgotten, exactly how tough this series is: I can’t believe I was so young when I read it first (this was a reread). It’s harder and more brutal by far than the work of any other author I can remember reading, even more than George R.R. Martin, who is usually referenced as the example par excellence of an author who refuses to wrap his characters in cotton wool. The miraculous thing is that it all just binds you in to the story ever more tightly. There must be few mid-series books with such a raw ending, but at least the closing mood is one of mitigated triumph. Despite the darker plot-threads that begin to unravel in this instalment, Hobb’s solid sense of place and character never fails to delight. The court at Buckkeep becomes an ever more absorbing bustle of plots, secrets and gossip and Fitz rapidly learns that he must be on his guard both within and without. As his relationships with those around him change, to echo the change in himself, he realises that adults are no better at making sense of their lives than he is, with his adolescent torments and confusions. And, enmeshed in the court hierarchy, these adults rarely have as clear and insightful an understanding of events as does Fitz, with his assassin’s eyes. He continues to follow Chade’s directions: to aid Verity, protect Kettricken and defend King Shrewd, but this becomes a crushing weight for such young shoulders to bear. Hobb is extremely good at avoiding the suggestion that Fitz is the protagonist for anyone except her readers. All her characters have their own dreams and hopes and lives and you have a very firm sense that there are all sorts of other interesting stories unfurling at the sides of the novel that we never get to hear about. She drops tantalising hints about Chade’s past that I don’t think are ever fully fleshed out. Fitz moves through a world which is completely self-absorbed and really doesn’t take much notice of him; and that’s unusual in a genre where the heroes, like Rothfuss's Kvothe in The Name of the Wind , are often extravagant, extrovert mavericks. Most of the people who do notice Fitz end up using him – perhaps kindly, perhaps with the best of intentions, perhaps with regret – as an instrument in their own plans. That’s even true (perhaps even more true) of the Fool. It all combines to create a stifling sense of claustrophobia, a world in which no one can really be trusted. Even those whom Fitz considers his protectors are willing to take desperate gambles in which he is the pawn that faces sacrifice. If you can finish this book and not end up staring at the wall, feeling exhausted and wrung-out, then you’re stronger than I am. But this is part of the contract this series makes with you. It demands a particularly intense engagement from its readers and in return it sweeps us into one of the most addictive and absorbing fantasy worlds I know. For the full review, please see my blog