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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well done: how to make an assassin a sympathetic character,
By An adult reader (Stratford CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book first, then read Assassin's Apprentice to see where it started, then finally Assassins Quest with bated breath. Glad I picked it up."Royal Assassin" is a lovely play on words, best understood once the story is over, as is the premise that "Chivalry ain't dead" which, while never uttered, provides the foundation for the protagonist's existence. That sense of irony is ever present throughout the series, and is beautifully complemented by Hobbs' use of adjective given names: Shrewd, Desire, Verity, Constance, Regal, etc. The measured development and revelation of each character's flaws and motivations is a beautiful example of how to write a book that startles you with plot twists, all of which ultimately make sense. The hardest character to reach is Regal, which is a shame, since he is a believable self-justified villain. Hobb's system of magic is easy to grasp, and does not require too great a suspension of disbelief to incorporate, since so few people in the book actually practice the Skill or the Wit. Her ability to demonstrate the suspicions and superstitions of commoners is admirable. Most compelling, however, is her ability to get inside the "coming of age" problem with a stark realism that most cannot achieve. Hobb is also able to address intimate relationships, love, and marriage from a very human, and often humorous perspective, a skill that is rarely displayed in the fantasy genre. The setting is rich with vivid depictions of life in a medeival castle. You can smell the stew cooking in the kitchen, and taste the warm bread that Fitz wheedles from Cook when it is fresh out of the oven. You also appreciate the plain difficulty of getting things done, even for one endowed with the Skill. And you empathize with the archetypical ailing king, whose hold on life and his kingdom are both weakening, and who nonetheless battles to impose his will on the events shaping his kingdom. Best of all, Fitz is an imperfect protagonist, who must rely on tenacity and his various friends to achieve his goals and survive in the deadly environment of court intrigue. The only problem with reading this book is that most contemporary fantasy pales in comparison. Robin Hobb has raised the bar.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable Second Installment,
By
This review is from: Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
With the second volume of the Farseer trilogy, Robin Hobb has certainly written a compelling saga strong on characterization. The first volume saw young Fitz growing as a boy and learning the ways around the court of Buckkeep, the capital of the Six Duchies. It seems to me that once Fitz was able to grow into his teens, the author finally has more freedom in making him the center of the happenings. Whereas Fitz was mostly a spectator in Assassin's Apprentice, he now tries to direct the action in the court; whether he is cleverly manipulated by others or truly acts on his own is an interesting question. This novel is less a novel of action or of epic proportions. It is obvious that Robin Hobb has no interest in becoming another Tolkien or Jordan. This is a novel of court intrigue, machinations, moves and countermoves. And Fitz finds himself with far more to deal with than he can chew. The characters are even livelier and interesting than in the first novel. I found it remarkable how Fitz seems to grow from page to page as he becomes more observant and active with the daily activities around him. From a boy, he becomes a man, with the unfortunate resulting consequences. The only drawback I found is that the underlying moral seems to be that the more resposibilities you shoulder upon yourself, regardless of your intentions, the more ruthless your enemies will act toward you. And, goodness, are they ruthless. Perhaps i was hoping for a traditional hero, and Fitz tries his best to be one, but Hobb yanks him back again and again.
18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Emotional Roller Coaster Continues,
By
This review is from: Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Truly after having become instantly enamored with Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin had me hooked before I even finished the first page. I will begin this review with my sincere puzzlement in the fact that there is so much overhyped fantasy in the world by highly decorated (see award winning) authors that it amazes me to no end how the Farseer trilogy tends to slip through the proverbial cracks. This series is easily on par with the efforts of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and perhaps some of the finer moments of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time.
That said, this tale picks up literally where the first book ends (with no recapping) and continues in the first person narrative of Fitz Chivalry as he recounts his life in effort to document the history of the Six Dutchies. Like before, the imagery is just stunning and Hobb once again demonstrates that her greatest strength as an author is through development of incredibly rich characters that the reader can't help but feel like they know personally. Perhaps therein lies the greatest source of frustration mingled within the beauty of this series: Robin Hobb isn't afraid to let the bottom drop out and does so very frequently. They say that hopelessness is a powerful literary tool (and certainly a motivator to turn the pages in effort to find resolve). The trouble some have with Hobb is that resolve is painfully slow to come (and often times doesn't come at all). Readers were treated to a taste of this in the first book but it pales in comparison to the mental and physical torture they will endure through Fitz's eyes in this one! Without giving away too much of the plot's key moments, let me just summarize by saying that nearly everything Fitz has worked for comes crashing down by the conclusion of this novel. How Robin Hobb plans to tie up all of the loose ends of the saga in the third entry (Assassin's Quest) is truly anybody's guess. Although I must confess that it will be nearly impossible for anyone (regardless of how frustrated) to finish this book without desperately seeking the third entry with ravenous passion. Upon completing Royal Assassin last night, I concluded that: 1) Robin Hobb may just be one of the most powerful authors in our time and certainly one of the most under appreciated in the fantasy genre. 2) This series is absolutely gripping in every sense of the word but requires a reader willing to "ride out the storm" in the distant hope that resolve will come. 3) Readers who rely on fantasy to escape the drudgery of daily life/ world affairs may want to steer clear of this entire melancholy-riddled saga. This book has the ability to cast a gray cloud over the mood of even the most optimistic reader (that can follow into real life). 4) If you decide to forge through this book, have the third entry handy- it ends on such a note that you just may find yourself standing outside the bookstore at dawn waiting for them to open.
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