A review by halftimelord
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

adventurous emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don't read much fantasy, especially high fantasy, and it did take me two goes to get into the book. However once I'd got through the first chapter, everything started to fall into place and in the end it was a really enjoyable read.

Most of the characters are complex and multi-layered (apart from a few straight up evil guys) and it's interesting to see Fitz develop over the course of the book. Very interested to learn more about the Fool and see how he shows up again in future books. I had been warned that this was a sad book and it's definitely emotional and very dark in places -
the Galen training scenes were horrible!
- but it never feels TOO heavy. 

The politics are interesting but not too complicated to follow, and the mysteries in the story are well-balanced - being the first book in a trilogy, not everything is tied up, but it doesn't feel unsatisfying either. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing how the story and characters progress. 

I have no idea how Burrich survived the whole book! Dude has nine lives.
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