Name: Assassin's Apprentice
Rating: 4.094252873563218 (435 reviews)
ISBN: 9780553573398

Robin Hobb

Raised by a stableman and trained in the arts of the assassin, bastard nobleman's son Fitz realizes his magical skills and finds a first test of manhood in a band of raiders and a group of murderous nobles. Reprint. K.

Assassin's Apprentice

Alina

Marshie

Is it the nature of the world that all things seek a rhythm, and in that rhythm a sort of peace?

All events, no matter how earth-shaking or bizarre, are diluted within moments of their occurrence by the continuance of the necessary routines of day-to-day living.

Jordan

There is something I have observed about skinny men. Some, like Chase, seem so preoccupied with their lives that they either forget to eat, or burn every bit of sustenance they take in the fires or their passionate fascination with life. But there is another type, one who goes about the world cadaverously, cheeks sunken, bones jutting, and one senses that he disapproves of the whole of the world that he begrudges every bit that he takes inside of himself.

i’m not even on chapter 1 yet but i’m already going to cry

Kiran Aftab

“But most of all, I thank you for offering my characters a home in your heart.” 

Jasper

His public life should have ended with his abdication; how tactless of him to draw further attention to himself by actually dying.

That would be my solution in this situation 😃

Perhaps I should save time and cut my own throat.

Steph

I'm not going to lie, this book is so hard to get into. I get that for high fantasy books, the beginning always focuses on world-building and character introduction. But this one feels particularly long. I kept tuning out while reading because there's just SO MUCH INFORMATION to retain. It also took me a while to get into the writing because Robin Hobb tends to write in long paragraphs and the dialogue is... I would say quite minimal. At least it's not as frequent as the other fantasy books I've read. Don't get me wrong, her writing's wonderful. She gives so much detail to the point I can imagine the entire scene in my head. I've recently read another fantasy book where the author tells us what's going on instead of showing us, but in Robin Hobb's case, she gave us the entire presentation of how each scene is played out and she left no crumbs. I guess this is why this series is so well-received. I did enjoy the last 10 per cent of the book where finally there are some actions so I hope that I'll enjoy the second book more than this. Also, what the hell is forging?

A bastard prince relegated to cleaning stables is chosen by a king to become an assassin. The novel follows the training and missions of this man who has inherited magical skills, among them mind-control and the ability to communicate with animals.

A solid start to the series and I think it gets a lot stronger towards the end. I don't love the narrative style but I believe in the rest of Robin Hobb's novels it shifts as it goes from series to series. A lot of interesting twists in this book, though a few felt a bit far-fetched to be totally believable. 

Paige Leitner

“Fantasy as it ought to be written . . . Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons.”—George R. R. Martin 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. Praise for Robin Hobb and Assassin’s Apprentice “A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies . . . a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne.”—Publishers Weekly “This is the kind of book you fall into, and start reading slower as you get to the end, because you don’t want it to be over.”—Steven Brust

Killed three dogs over the course of the first entry of the trilogy, including the same dog twice. At least have the decency to spread it out!

Francis Wilson

felt like the whole book was setting up for what was a short and only mildly interesting conflict. didn’t love any of the characters…. 

Delaney Vorwick

Very good. Slow in the beginning and a very political book but very goos

Aleksander.G

Long and detailed but continued to intrigue me with what it all would lead to.

it was refreshing to read a fantasy book not catered to 2020s tik tok….. it was a little slow sometimes but the main character was a literal child so i get it. interested to see how he grows and develops 

taylor

Crazy. I couldn't pull myself away. I grew so attached to the protagonist I spbbed for him a third of the way through. Ugh. I'm so, so in love with this book I'm scared to read the sequel for fear of not loving it as much.

alice

Hanna Rybchynska

Wow!
Estamos aqui num mundo de fantasia em que a mágia é um dom raro e apenas corre no sangue da realeza. Fitz - o filho bastardo, acaba por parar à corte e, para não ser um desperdício total (pois, não apresenta afinidades desenvolvidas de um nobre) acaba por ser ensinado a ser um assassino do rei. No entanto o povo não está contente, nem com o futuro rei nem com as misteriosos Barcos Vermelhos que andam a envadir a costa do Reino de Seis Ducados.
É uma aventura intrigante e entusiasmante! A Hobb tem imenso jeito para a criação de um mundo mágico super realista. Gostei muito das personagens, da sua profundidade e dos seus morais e crenças.
Recomendo para quem gosta de Senhor dos Anéis ou Guerra dos Tronos!

Luke Harkness

Absolutely loved this. Can see why it's one of the top-rated fantasy books/series of all time!

Read my full review on www.lukeharkness.com

As Fitz, an outcast and the bastard son of Prince Chivalry, grows to manhood, a legacy of magical skill and other mysterious talents propels him into the role of protector of the kingdom, if his initial perilous mission does not destroy him first.

Sunny

oh my God it takes a lot for a book to make me cry but oh my God

Vicky  Nuñez 

A friend of mine compared this whole world to Harry Potter. She said it was the only fantasy series she loved as dearly. 
This is a very thoughtful and very clearly an introduction into this great series. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to the rest.

akynn 

Zahra

A solid first book to the trilogy. I loved reading how Fitz grow up and his journey to adolescent. This one was strong in characterization, which was awesome. Plus there was minimal blood and no excessive gory stuff! The killings were mostly done with the help of poison.

Cody Degen

George

“Utter loneliness was planted in me then, and sent its deep roots down into me.”

 yeah man, this was way better than I had expected going in. My first Hobb book and I wasn't disappointed, looking forward to reading the rest of this series. A little hard to get into at first but as I read more it definitely got better and the magic system was also really fun

fiona

i have never, ever felt so emotionally connected to a main character. some people might dislike this book because it's slow but that's why I liked it so much. it felt like I was growing up with fitz and therefore connected with him much better. the ending was great.

Shape Mismatch

While the magical system/universe here is not unique, neither is the as-i-grow-up narrative of the protagonist (Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind), this book did catch my interest. It mixes politics, emotions, and aristocracy in correct proportions. 

What Jessica Jones is for superheroes, this book is for high fantasy.

Very well written with some amazing character profiles! Is a very in depth and detailed story that I can already tell will continue to build. Is one of those series everyone should read at least once :)

Anna

Derek

This series is a combination of every style of prose i adore - introspective, first-person, verbose, and poetic - all in a fantasy setting. I'm in love with it, despite it also being a hard read due to the harsh conditions the main character has to survive in.

Krystyna 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I knew that this was a trilogy and that other series were connected to this one. However, I did not know that the Realm of the Elderlings consisted of 16 books. I'm not even upset about it. I really enjoyed this story and I love Fitz! I also really loved Burrich. 

This story starts out as a slow burn, which is expected for world building and such of a high, epic fantasy. I really loved getting to know about Fitz's childhood and his development as a character. Fitz is a fantastic character and I really got attached to him by the end of the book and wanted to know what was next. I also enjoyed the world that Robin Hobb created. I enjoyed Fitz's connection to animals, being an animal lover myself. I enjoyed the political intrigue of the kingdom and the whole assassin aspect. I didn't fly through this book; I wanted to take my time with it and pay attention to as much detail as possible. That could have been because of the writing style; it was a little different than what I was used to but it didn't take long to adapt to it. Once I adjusted to Robin Hobb's writing style I was hooked; I really love her writing, especially for fantasy. This story was definitely more character driven than plot driven, which, ironically, I still enjoyed. I didn't mind the slower pace/plot of the book because I loved the world and the characters. I was very pleased with this story but I can see how it was building up for the rest of the story in the later books. 

It was a great fantasy book to read. This was such a great introductory book to this series and this world. I am so glad that I picked this up and I definitely plan on continuing with the rest of Robin Hobb's work. I already bought the Rain Wilds series but I have a little while before I get to those. I will be buying all of her books. She is a new favorite fantasy author of mine, for sure.

Wynter

This is what Patrick Rothfuss's Name of the Wind was supposed to be. Alas he failed, Robin Hobb succeeded. Of course you can see the bad guy from a mile away, BUT oh the twisty plot renders that flaw obsolete.

Michael Springer

This is one of the best fantasy novels I've read. The problem with a lot of fantasy is a lack of multifaceted characters; the protagonist of this series is quite complex, and goes through many transitions in this first volume. 

For anyone interested in the fantasy genre, I'd recommend this.

Assassin's Apprentice

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