Now, see, this is fantasy.

Unlike a certain other fantasy writer, Robin Hobb doesn't need 3,000 pages to tell a great story with characters that you enjoy (and actually NOTICE) develop.

Royal Assassin is the middle book in the Farseer Trilogy (the other two are Assassin's Apprentice and Assassin's Quest, not the books mistakenly filed under this category), and anyone who has an interest in reading it, I suggest start from the beginning. Although the prologue does a good job at explaining the story so far, why would you want to skip all the great bits it doesn't go into that happened in the first book, Assassin's Apprentice?

Basically the Farseer trilogy tells the story of FitzChivalry Farseer, illegitimate son of the late Price Chivalry, who is forced into a life in court without any family or friends other than Burrich the stablemaster, and later on, in secret, Chade who trains Fitz in the art of the assassin. Red ships led by Outislanders have begun raiding The Six Duchies coast, and are consistently becoming more arrogant in choosing their targets.

Refreshingly, Robin Hobb has chosen the first-person perspective. His (her?) style makes it very easy to suspend disbelief. Hobb is perfectly aware of this and often uses it to play tricks on the reader, instead of simply playing the trick on the protagonist.

The setting is interesting. Robin Hobb doesn't go overboard with it and discards all token fantasy cliches. There is magic, but it is subtle and psychological in lieu of fireballs and teleportation. The rest reads like a partly glorified description of medieval times. Chivalry and loyalty to the King are major theme, but are later challenged by court politics.

In Royal Assassin, the story takes a drastically darker turn from the light-hearted coming of age story of Assassin's Apprentice.




Recommended: Yes