Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

It's not very often that you pick up a book from an ordinary shelf, thinking nothing more than 'I'm sooo bored, maybe I'll read this,' and, within a few pages, discover that you have, in fact, stumbled upon genius in print.
Following the life of a royal bastard, known as Fitz, this trilogy takes you on a journey that spans years, miles, height and depth. Though easily qualified as a work of high fantasy, political intrigue, human personality and realistic motivation keeps the entirity incredibly grounded. You never catch yourself wondering just how realistic it all is- it IS real, that's a given. But there was one aspect of this story that especially caught me.
For me, characters are the measure of a good story. If you don't care about them, you don't care about the book itself. In the case of this trilogy, you find yourself becoming more and more deeply entangled in the thoughts, emotions and personality of the characters until it's hard to remember who YOU are.
In particular, I think Fitz is one of the most realistically human characters ever to inhabit the written word, and the Fool remains my favourite character of any I've ever read about. Such depth and delicacy of portrayal and narration is all too rare.
In other words, read this trilogy. You simply can't go wrong with a story like this one.

Friendly fellow fantasy fan warning: buy this book and you'll be committing yourself to purchasing not only the further two books in this trilogy, but very likely every other book in all four trilogies that have thus far been written by Robin Hobb. The characterisation, prose and plots in all of her novels are of such a high standard that it's impossible to describe how engrossing they can be until you've sampled them for yourself. Here's a list of those trilogies, just so you know what you'll be letting yourself in for...

The Farseer trilogy- Assassin's Apprentice / Royal Assassin / Assassin's Quest

The Liveship Traders trilogy- Ship of Magic / Mad Ship / Ship of Destiny

The Tawny Man trilogy- Fool's Errand / The Golden Fool / Fool's Fate

The Soldier Son trilogy- Shaman's Crossing / Forest Mage / Renegade's Magic

The first three trilogies are set in the same world, while the fourth is a stand-alone series set in a different world. Although the Liveship Traders trilogy can be read independently, as it concentrates on a different set of characters, I would still recommend reading the trilogies in order, as they each subtly tie-in with one another and build a larger story-arc in the saga of this world as events transpire. The most recently published fourth trilogy is set in a completely different world, but is perhaps best accessible to die-hard Hobb fans, as it isn't quite in the same league as her previous trilogies.

For me Assassin's Apprentice was easily the best debut from any author I'd ever read in any genre at the time and remains one of my all-time favourites. The world Hobb has crafted here is so detailed and authentic, the characters so vivid and the story so mesmerising that you'll realise you're hooked after only the first two chapters. It tells the story of a nameless boy who comes to live in Buckeep Castle under the watchful eye of stable master Burrich, who in turn bestows upon him the enigmatic name of Fitz. Very soon Fitz finds himself in the service of ageing King Shrewd and embroiled within court intrigue and various plays for power that are rife among the royal family. The backdrop to this domestic plotting is the invasion of the Six Duchies by a race known as the Outislanders whose method of conquest is as horrific as it is persuasive.

If it sounds in the least bit derivative so far then rest assured it's absolutely anything but! The outline may even sound like standard fantasy fare, but Hobb's storytelling abilities elevate Assassin's Apprentice far above any similar fantasy tale with familiar themes. By the end of this first story in the Farseer trilogy you'll be completely immersed in Fitz's bittersweet story and the conflicted kingdom of the Six Duchies, so much so that the impulse to read the whole of this trilogy in one sitting will be extremely difficult to resist. Magical is a term that's very often over-used to describe fantasy stories, but for Assassin's Apprentice there's no more accurate description. Enjoy.

When you read fantasy there is always this little voice in your head telling you that the young shy hero will do the right thing eventually and all will work out for the best. Halfway through assassin's apprentice this voice is effectively silenced! Just like in real life things do go seriously wrong and are sometimes damaged beyond repair, despite the best intentions of the main characters. The kingdom is being torn to shreds by magic, raids by foreign raiders, intrique and petty rivalries. The only member of the royal family competent enough to deal with the troubles abdicates over a scandal and vanishes. His bastard son, Fitz, is left to grow up in a mostly hostile court. He struggles to master his magical abilities, learns the secrets of assasination in an attempt to be loyal to his king and tries to survive the lethal tangles of court intrigue. Robin Hobb has created a stunning fantasy story that, while retaining all the classic elements of good fantasy (dragons, magic, wizards) nevertheless tastes of reality because of it's unpredictability and it's deep-felt tragedies. If you are still well into reading "young shy hero grows up to be the brilliant king that saves the world" stories, this book is not for you. If you are ready for something far deeper and infinitely more gripping; it's only one click away! Enjoy!