Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer) [Mass Market Paperback]

'Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers … what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics.'
The Times

‘In today’s crowded fantasy market Robin Hobb’s books are like diamonds in a sea of zircons’
George R.R. Martin

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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 like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly 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.

In a faraway land in which members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals -the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and learn a new life: weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Robin Hobb was born in California in 1952 and majored in Communications at Denver University, Colorado. Assassin’s Apprentice was her first novel, and was followed by the equally successful Royal Assassin and Assassin’s Quest. She lives outside Seattle, Washington.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.