isaiahdelune 's review for:

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

5.0

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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I think she realized at that moment exactly what I was. Not some romanticized princeling in exile who would eventually do some heroic task, but a killer. And not even a very competent one.

How does one describe the experience that is reading Assassin's Quest? Words elude me, but I shall try to do it justice.

As always with Hobb, the book takes its time. We share in the doubts, the despair, the pain, the grim determination of Fitz as he continues to make his way through the world; but also in his moments of love, of happiness. I grieved with him and felt his joys as strongly as if I was Skill-bonded to him. Hobb's characterisation has done nothing but improve throughout this trilogy; her characters are as dear to me as any friend.

At 800+ pages (twice that of the first book), Assassin's Quest still does not waste a single word. The mastery of language, of prose, of balance between the plot and the relationships of the characters, should be studied in class. Hobb never once derails from the path she's steering this story on. She might take you on a long-winded journey, but every detail has its importance, and every stop along the way only serves to make the ending as quietly majestic as it is.

No book series has ever quite reached into me the way the Farseer trilogy has done. Its golden touch resonates through my life, past and future, reaching out to the reader I was, engrossed in fantasy worlds at the back of the library, and to the reader I will be, sitting next to a fire someday, coming back to these words, these characters, for myself or to share them with somebody else. 

Regardless of where I go, Fitz and the Fool hold each other inside my heart, and dance. ♡

It is one thing to be willing to die for another. It is another to sacrifice the living of one's life for another. That is what he gives me. The same sort of loyalty I give to my king.