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A review by drlark
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
3.75
Finally giving this series a go, and I'm not sure how to feel other than, I need to know what happens next. If the last book I read was all plot, very little character, this is the exact reverse. Hobb takes her time introducing Fitz, the illegitimate son of the King-in-Waiting, and the characters who surround him as he grows up, trained and used by the king as a spy and assassin.
This is high fantasy in the classic sense -- a huge body of work (16 books!) immersing the reader in a new world with its own magic and history, so the reader has to be ready and patient to let that unfold at a gradual pace. I think Hobb does this quite well. Her writing is beautiful, and her development of the relationships between Fitz, Burrich, the Fool, Lady Patience, Chade, Verity, and others is expert. The relationships are what hooked me into this story because:
Oh my GOODNESS, the cruelty and ugliness of the villains in this book. And moreover, the blindness of the other characters to just how evil these people are, and the inability/unwillingness to stop them in their cruelty and ugliness -- it was upsetting, to say the least. Personally, I prefer villains with a bit more nuance. Villains who think they're doing the right thing. I prefer a kinder world. Of course bad things happen, and there's conflict, but... a little more kindness, please. And enough with the animal cruelty, ffs.
This is high fantasy in the classic sense -- a huge body of work (16 books!) immersing the reader in a new world with its own magic and history, so the reader has to be ready and patient to let that unfold at a gradual pace. I think Hobb does this quite well. Her writing is beautiful, and her development of the relationships between Fitz, Burrich, the Fool, Lady Patience, Chade, Verity, and others is expert. The relationships are what hooked me into this story because:
Oh my GOODNESS, the cruelty and ugliness of the villains in this book. And moreover, the blindness of the other characters to just how evil these people are, and the inability/unwillingness to stop them in their cruelty and ugliness -- it was upsetting, to say the least. Personally, I prefer villains with a bit more nuance. Villains who think they're doing the right thing. I prefer a kinder world. Of course bad things happen, and there's conflict, but... a little more kindness, please. And enough with the animal cruelty, ffs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse