Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father’s gruff stableman. He is treated as an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz’s blood runs the magic Skill—and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.
@goodreads


MY REVIEW:


4 STARS 

These were the lessons in my assassin's primer. And more. Sleight of hand and the art of moving stealthily. Where to strike a man to render him unconscious. Where to strike a man so that he dies without crying out. Where to stab a man so that he dies without too much blood welling out. I learned it all rapidly and well, thriving under Chade's approval of my quick mind.


If your looking for a big ole bloody and everything goes book, this is not it. This is just a great story about a boy that was born to not knowing the love of a mother or father. But he still turned out to be a good person, even if he was an assassin.

Fitz is a wonderful character even though he went through a lot as a child. He was brought to the royal guard at 6 years-old by his grandfather telling them he was done with him and it was time for Prince Chivalry to take care of his own son. As you can read on the blurb, Fitz wasn't born the proper way.

But Fitz was allowed to stay with the stable master, Burrich, whom I loved very much. He was so kind to the horses, dogs, and hawks that belonged to the Prince and he was very kind to Fitz. Although, there is one part with someone named Nosy that I thought he didn't something bad to and it turns out he didn't so I forgive him. Those of you that have read the book know what I mean.

Fitz has the ability to get inside an animals mind. I call it mind melding and they can see through each others eyes and communicate. They call this the Will in the book. But Fitz also learns how to use the Skill which is a form of telepathy <--- I think that's the word I'm looking for.

Fitz father, Prince Chivalry never once met him. He left with his wife to go into exile because of the boy and he stepped down from being next in line to be the King. I didn't understand this part too good but that was how I saw it.

At one point when Fitz is a little older, I think around 10, his other grandfather who was King Shrewd decided to start getting him trained as an assassin. Burrich was hoping that he would keep being ignored but that wasn't so. Prince Regal who was a jerk beyond jerkdom didn't like this at all. Prince Verity didn't seem to mind. He was always kind to Fitz. Prince Verity is another character that I grew to love because of his kindness to Fitz and their relationship later on in the book.

I think this was a really good book to start out the trilogy. Robin Hobb brings us slowly into a world that she built for us to enjoy along the way. Yes, there are some bad people trying to do bad things but isn't there always? But that fact that I could read a fantasy book that wasn't all about - cut off their head, burn, burn, burn, rape this and rape that - was actually pretty nice =)

There are some people that say this book is slow and that is why I said if your looking for some huge action book, this is not it. If your looking for a journey with some good people than you will enjoy it.

I really hope I enjoy the next two books in the trilogy as much as this one! 


GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1348931564

AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:

https://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book/dp/055357339X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472680031&sr=1-1&keywords=assassin%27s+apprentice

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