My Quick Takes:
- 4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Genre 📚 Epic Fantasy
- Language 🤐 a couple mild/moderate
- Spice ❤️🔥 none
- Content 🤔 violence, murder
Book Information
Title: Assassin’s Apprentice
Author: Robin Hobb
Publication: 1995
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of 3 in The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1 of 16 in Realm of the Elderlings series
The first book in The Farseer Trilogy, and the first book in the Realm of the Elderlings series, Assassin’s Apprentice introduces readers to Robin Hobb’s realm through the eyes of a young boy, born out of wedlock and son of Prince Charity, heir to the throne. Readers grow with the main character as he learns of his heritage, court life, and what it takes to stay alive as an illegitimate child under the shadow of royalty.
My Thoughts
I’ve realized recently that my overall enjoyment of a book is based heavily on my reading experience. I read this book in 4 days, which should tell you in and of itself how much I enjoyed it. I’ve heard of multiple people DNFing (Did Not Finish) this series in the first or second books due to Robin Hobb’s writing style, and I think under different circumstances I would’ve done the same, so lets discuss what else I had in the periphery to help me enjoy this title.
One variable that had a big impact on my reading experience is the amount of classical books I’ve read recently. I’ve been in a lot of Russian classics like Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, and War and Peace. I also was reading Assassin’s Apprentice while finished up War and Peace. After reading a 1600 page book like War and Peace, the slower writing style of Hobb didn’t bother me like it probably would’ve if I had been reading books by fast paced fantasy authors like John Gwynne.
Another variable is that I listened to this book on audio. I do not have physical copies and the chapters are quite lengthy. I gave up trying to stop at the end of a chapter and just read the book like one long continuous story, stopping whenever I needed to no matter if I was at the end of a chapter or not. A couple of the chapters are over an hour long on the audiobook, so they are not short. This would’ve been a hard hurdle for me if I had read the physical or kindle book. Even though I’ve been in classic literature, the chapters have been short. Switching to a long chapter format in a fantasy book may have been too much for me to bear.
So, what does all this mean? Well, I ended up loving Hobb’s writing style. It’s easy to follow and contains nice prose. The audiobook allowed me to enjoy her writing style for what it was and not get bogged down in details like chapter length. Additionally, after some chunky classics, this relatively short fantasy felt like a fun change of pace, even if the pace was slower than I expected.
Hobb’s writing style also reminded me of Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. The narrator is writing as an older person telling the story of his life. This gives readers a little glimpse of things to come or foreshadowing that really drew me in and hooked me, especially in the epilogue. Additionally, there is some fun unique magical element at play that still feels very veiled to me, I hope Hobb gives readers more insight into it in the second book.
While this does read as a loose coming of age story, readers only get a 7-8 year span of character development. The main character is 5 or 6 when the book starts and 14 or 15 when the book ends. The ending is a bit abrupt and Hobb gives a quick wrap up and overview of the aftermath of the storyline. Due to this, I look forward to getting in to the second book to see where the narrative picks up, because I have no clue where the reader will drop in for the start of book 2.
I did rate this 4 stars, but there wasn’t anything glaring that stood out to me in this book. Hobb’s writing style and voice were enticing, the plot was happening, and the character development is promising. It read very much as a set up book to me to kick readers into her world, one I plan to continue reading!
Biblical Worldview & Themes
This book didn’t have anything particularly heavy in terms of a worldview or themes. The main character is an illegitimate child, or bastard, and that term is used multiple times throughout the book both as an insult and a fact. I did not factor this term into my language rating because its used in context more than its used as a derogatory word. There are also themes of murder, the book is title Assassin’s Apprentice for a reason and the book explores these themes in the realm of political intrigue and uses it to further the plot on multiple occasions.
Who I’d recommend this to
I would recommend this book to readers who are interested in a slow burning fantasy plot. There is still plot happening in this book, but you can tell it is just getting started. Don’t be fooled by the age of the main character in this book, it is NOT classified as a YA book, it is an adult book. While I think a younger audience would enjoy this book (probably 16yrs+) I have only read this one book and can’t speak to the trilogy and larger series as a whole.
Similar Reads
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson – If you like a completed trilogy with a unique magic system, but want a quicker pace.
East by Edith Pattou – If you like a slow burning plot with magical elements, but want it YA
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