Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb

ASSASSIN'S QUEST

Book 3 of the "Farseer Trilogy"

ISBN - 9780553565690
FIRST PUBLISHED - Jan '98
PAGES - 757
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHERS - Spectra
SOURCE - eBook

AUTHOR - Robin Hobb

SYNOPSIS - King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz—or so his enemies and friends believe. But with the help of his allies and his beast magic, he emerges from the grave, deeply scarred in body and soul. The kingdom also teeters toward ruin: Regal has plundered and abandoned the capital, while the rightful heir, Prince Verity, is lost to his mad quest—perhaps to death. Only Verity’s return—or the heir his princess carries—can save the Six Duchies.

But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him—currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was.

QUOTES - 

• Not being able to think of a reply is not the same thing as accepting another's words.

• But a living is not a life.

• Sometimes a man doesn't know how badly he's hurt until someone else probes the wound.

• ...sometimes it only makes one more lonely to know that somewhere else, one's friends and family are well.

FL Speak - I'm just going to assume that Hobb ran out of time and had to submit this first draft to the editors. 

Having done that, here's why I feel such a thing happened. All I found from this book is constant negativity, self doubts, sacrifices for no good reason and a mashed up climax that leaves more questions. 

You'd assume the protagonist to be wiser after two books. Apparently he isn't. He's still as selfish as ever and the only way to make him fall in line is by issuing commands that he cannot break free off and threatening to take away stuff/people he gives an iota of care about. Classic petulant child syndrome. 

This is a huge book. Pages and pages of mewling, crying, thinking about stuff that cannot be changed, the constant fear of failure and the inability to fucking stand up to anyone, anything or self. I'm sorry but I don't know who this Fitz is anymore. Yes, he's a servant of the King, a tool to be made use of, a sacrifice for the greater good. It would've made sense if he actually did something worthwhile in this book. 

I don't even want to start about the other characters. Ketricken used to be one of my favourites. Please make note of the words "used to be". The Fool, however, was a good surprise. I liked the parts where he was involved. Starling, the wandering minstrel is by far the best character of the lot. Full of life and full of flaws and with the "don't give a fucking damn" attitude. 

Don't get me wrong. The Farseer trilogy is one of the best trilogies ever. This is a beautiful tale. If only I had picked it up earlier, I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it much better. However, as things stand, I'm spoiled by other grand tales by newer authors. Despite all these, I still plowed on. I still kept reading and turning pages because the end was near and it promised something spectacular. 

Oh it was spectacular alright. It was also terribly disheartening. The Elderlings? The ones who would come to save the city. Well, guess what you've to spend years to coax them to come to your aid. That just made me sad. 

"the city is in danger. Summon the Elderlings. Where's the panic button?"
"oh wait. You need to spend a couple of years to try and ask them for help while your city burned, your people slaughtered, your houses looted."

And what do we get after so much? A 5 page wrap up. How did they save everyone? No one knows. The Raiders defeated in half a page. 

And not to mention the stupid sacrifices I've had to read about. Not to mention the little tears I had to shed for the loss and heart breaks. All for the sake of this haphazard, sloppy climax. 

If only, Hobb, if only you foreshadowed a little more. 

RATING - 3/5. A good trilogy.
Picture Credit : Robin Hobb

Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb

Royal Assassin
Book 2 of the Farseer Trilogy

ISBN - 9780006480105
FIRST PUBLISHED - March, 1997
PAGES - 752
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHER - Voyager
SOURCE - eBook

AUTHOR - Robin Hobb

SYNOPSIS - Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family.

Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

QUOTES -

• No man is so dangerous as the man who cannot decide what he fears.

• One can only walk so far from one's true self before the bond either snaps, or pulls one back.

• It’s not the kind of work a man does that says he can be proud or not. It’s how he does it.

FL Speak - I think Robin Hobb did a far better job in this book, both at plot and character growth. 

For those of you who have read this book, tell me, did you find it tedious at times or did you nod your head through it? Did you read it as an adult going through just another fantasy or did you live it through the eyes of our 16-17 year old lead character? Authors have this extraordinary ability to weave emotions to words. They live multiple lives, shedding characters as they see fit. As readers, we often do not distinguish between the various characters, their experiences, their ages or their genders. Grave as this error might be, we fail to admit it to ourselves. 

So when I read about our young Fitz, I completely accepted that their will be lots of emotional drama. After all, every teenager has those days and it would be extremely illogical if authors had to skip those. I became his shadow. I lived his life. I felt his pain and my heart fluttered when he found his love. Like every other teen, a person spends an insurmountable amount of time mooning over their loved ones and no advice can change that. (Even though, at the age of 28, I find the process of reading those paragraphs extremely irksome and wanted nothing more than to skim to the pages where there was more action, I remember my younger days where I did the same things. Fell in love and wanted to stay there while the world had other plans for me) 

Fitz finally grows up in this book. Not to an adult yet, but he has grown beyond his years. One part brave, three parts fool. There is also considerable time spent in doubting himself, which can be quite a chore. Robin Hobb made sure that if we are to read about the ecstasy and the adventures, we have to go through the bits that sometimes lulls you to sleep. 

The ending was quite a nasty shock for me. I'm actually not looking forward to the next book. At least the first 100 pages. This is going to take all my guts. 

Did I miss something? 

RATING - 4/5
Picture Credit : Robin Hobb

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE

Book 1 of "Farseer Trilogy"

ISBN : 9780006480099
FIRST PUBLISHED : March 1996
PAGES : 480
GENRE : Fantasy
PUBLISHER : Voyager

AUTHOR : Robin Hobb

SYNOPSIS : (From Goodreads)

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.


So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

QUOTES :

• When you cut pieces out of the truth to avoid looking like a fool you end up looking like a moron instead.

• Don’t do what you can’t undo, until you’ve considered what you can’t do once you’ve done it.

• Nothing takes the heart out of a man more than the expectation of failure.

• We left. Walking uphill and into the wind. That suddenly seemed a metaphor for my whole life.

FL SPEAK :

Robin Hobb had been on my list for far too long. So when I picked up this book today, I promised myself to savour every word slowly. That didn't happen. I couldn't stop turning over pages. 

This is a phenomenal beginning to a trilogy. The beauty lies in its simplicity. There's no overlying complex magical system. What this book offers is a simple clichéd tale of a bastard unrecognised and ditched. As most fantasy tales go, this is a coming of age grand story of one Fitz. Court intrigue, bondings and assassinations. Fantasy books often has a wider story arc which teaches you loyalty, bravery and a sense of kinship. This book was nothing less. If you're a fan of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" and Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn", you'd love this one. 

Without going into spoilers, this book is everything that you'd find in any coming of age setting. Young love, greater duty, conflict of emotions, a sense of independency as well as all those figths you always wished you found in such a novel. Robin Hobb decided to give Fitz a tough life and she didn't look back. More often than not, it felt Fitz was more of a puppet to be played along instead of living like every other teenager would. But then, bastards always have had a tough life. 


There are lots of areas for growth. Character wise as well as the story. This is just the beginning. Whatever adventures lie ahead, it will be fun to read about Fitz again.

My Rating : 5/5 (I've been told I'm generous with my ratings)