Assassin's Apprentice
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Quest
I really enjoyed these books. Once I got into the first book of the trilogy, I literally couldn’t put it down until I finished the third one. I spent almost every spare moment reading them. Since I finished them a few days ago and haven’t wanted to start reading anything else yet. It’s almost as if I’m worried that whatever I start on next just isn’t going to be as exciting and interesting to read.
The Farseer trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest) are the first three books in Robin Hobb’s “Realm of the Elderlings” and chronologically take place before her Liveship Traders trilogy. I read them a bit out of order by reading the Liveship Trader books first. Oh well. The story lines of the two trilogies only overlap in the background and history of the world, and not so much in the characters. There were a few aspects of the magic system that probably would have made sense more quickly if I had read them in order, and so I would recommend reading the Farseer trilogy first. Really, it wasn’t too big of a deal as both series are excellent by themselves.
What stood out most to me are the highly believable characters and the way I could almost feel their emotions as my own. Also, she does a great job of keeping you guessing what’s going to happen next. In a way it brings to mind George R. R. Martin’s books in that I was never certain that good things would happen to the “good guys”. In fact, some pretty awful things happen to the main character right from the start. In the first chapter for example, you learn that he’s a bastard child of the king to be and he’s being abandoned by his mother at the age of six. That said the books are not nearly as dark as Martin’s, and Robin Hobb can bring a trilogy to an end without expanding it into seven books that may never get written (ouch!).
I would recommend these books to anyone interested in the fantasy genre. They aren’t quite as accessible as something like The Wheel of Time, but there are less of them and the characters are more gritty and realistic. Along with the Liveship Traders (which I’ve already lent out to someone), these will definitely stay on my bookshelf to be read again at some point. Soon, I’ll be looking to purchase the books of the “Tawny Man” trilogy - sequels to the Farseer books chronologically set 15 years after the end of the trilogy and not long after the end of the Liveship Traders.
Right now, I’m going to pick back up on some C. J. Cherryh, with Downbelow Station.
