The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

By: Robin Hobb

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

With unforgettable characters, a sweeping backdrop, and passionate storytelling, this is a fantasy debut to rival that of Robert Jordan. Filled with adventure and bloodshed, pageantry and piracy, mystery and menace, Assassin's Apprentice is the story of a royal house and the young man who is destined to chart its course through tempests of change. Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal household by his father's gruff stableman. An outcast whose existence has forced his father to abdicate his claim on the throne, Fitz is ignored by all royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him secretly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in the young man's blood is a heritage of magic, the talent called the Skill, as well as another, even more mysterious ability.

As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts and leave behind the zombie-like husks of the townspeople to prowl the countryside, Fitz is growing toward manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission, a mission that poses as much a threat to himself as it does for his target---for Fitz is a threat to the throne...but he may also be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

©1999 Robin Hobb (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

“Intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured...at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.” ( Kirkus)

Great Book

I don't know what to say about this book. It was not fast paced nor very exciting most of the time. The setting was pretty typical of the fantasy genre and the world building wasn't the greatest that I've read. This book feels like a set up to a trilogy where we are learning the background story of a few chars. It's essentially a story about a bastard boy, his mentors, and his dogs.

So why the 5 stars? I just loved this book. I was invested in the chars and cared about what happened to them. The friendships and bonds felt so real. The one downside is the one dimensional aspect of the "evil" characters. I was able to get past this easily, though because the story itself is strong. This is one of the books where you just enjoy the journey the author puts in front of you. I downloaded the second book within seconds of finishing this. Not because of some contrived cliffhanger but because I just couldn't wait to see where the story would take me.

Well written, but too slow for me

You might love this book if you like lots of character development and dialogue. I thought I liked character development, but after this book, I guess I realize that I don't.

This book was well written in my opinion. The story was good and the characters were believable. The world was developed. But for me, there was not enough tension in the plot. The character development was not enough to hold my interest. I was interested enough to keep listening, but I will not get the second book.

Good start to trilogy, but

I really liked this first book and performance. Well conceived universe that was somewhat contained in size and scope. The main character spends much of book 1 as a child/youth. The unfortunate BUT is books 2 and 3 become unbearably inconsistent and leave you wanting to slap the main character half the time for being so dense and stupid.

Great series

I'm just finishing the first book, and it's great. It has the same narrator as Brent Weeks Night Angel Trilogy, who does an amazing job. I became a huge fan of Robin Hobb years ago with the Farseer trilogy and now it's an audio book, awesome!

Don't Expect a Fast-Paced Epic

This is a solid high (but not epic) fantasy that has garnered quite a following, and not without good reason. It is very well developed and written. I wouldn't say there are a lot of new ideas here; the magic system is pretty subdued and the plot is all political intrigue. The biggest thing for me to get used to was the naming system; characters are named after traits they are desired to have, such as Chivalry and Regal and Verity.
Many reviewers have commented, and it is indeed quite true. This book is boring at times, even in audio. It's not that it is poorly written or a well developed plot. It just simply isn't that exciting. You have to be willing to follow the story of yet another hero who starts out as a punt, ignorant boy who has much to learn about the world. For some people this probably never gets old, but I prefer authors such as Brandon Sanderson whose heroes already start out fully developed.
Most of the main character's problems would have been solved or never would have occurred if people would simple hag told him what he needed to koror that they assumed he already knew. Indeed, the main character's ignorance seems to be the main antagonist for much of this story.
The narrator did a great job and fit the part perfectly; no complaints there at all.

what was the main plot?

Would you try another book from Robin Hobb and/or Paul Boehmer?

Paul Boehmer was the only reason I finished the story.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Sanderson

Could you see The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

Any additional comments?

could have been a good story.

Best in Show

This is arguably the best book I've ever read, in any genre. I read it first, and then when I saw it here, I had to listen to it as well! Robin Hobb has a gift for creating characters that are so full and true to life that it is difficult to believe they are not real people. Each character is unique, and filled with strengths and flaws. The story itself, is of a boy growing to manhood in a court where he isn't supposed to exist. He learns court politics, takes on a trade (of sorts) and comes to an understanding of who he is.
The magic system is slight, but unique and is weaved into the story to create subtle depth. The dialog is often thought provoking, and I found myself making note of quotes from the book.
Having read the story before listening to it, I was surprised to find how well the narrator's portrayal matched my vision. He is easy to listen to, and captures the tone of the story well.

This is the first in the Farseer series, and really must be read first. It is also the first book set in this world. Hobb's other series are mostly set in the same world. The series don't have to be read in order, but if you do there are ties (sometimes subtle) between them that makes the whole experience more enjoyable. If you want to read them in order, read Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, and finally Rainwild Chronicles.

Don't hesitate to get this book, it is well worth it!

As good as the genre gets

This is as close as any contemporary writer I know gets to George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones work. I mean that as praise – and I certainly enjoyed reading this – but it’s tainted a little by the fundamental problem of the genre: books that seem bulked up just to feel weighty.

Some people refer to what Martin and Hobb and their rivals are doing as “high fantasy,” fantasy that deals with the politics of competing kingdoms, but I wonder whether it might be better simply to call it “fat fantasy.” We’re invited to read, and read, and read some more about a world different from our own. The joy of it is getting lost in an imaginary place, one reminiscent of our own but also full of possibilities we can never know. That generally means magic, swords, and exotic creatures.

Some of the best-sellers in the field take that imperative of the genre, start at ’10,’ and then amp it up higher still. In the days when audio books meant bundles of cassette tapes you could get only at the public library, I went through a lot of those writers. Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth, and Stephen R. Donaldson’s Covenant – to say nothing of R.A Salvatore or Brandon Sanderson whom I’ve skipped – all seem to follow the same pattern. While there may be occasional jokes, the books themselves are fundamentally humorless. They learn that from Tolkien, of course, but they don’t bring his deeper substance. Instead, we get lurid stories of entire worlds at risk from some dark evil.

Martin solved that problem by doing away with “good” and “evil” altogether. His battles are between equally flawed people. Joe Abercrombie does some of the same in his First Law stuff, and to his credit, he brings a sustained irony to the stuffy business. But, in some ways, Hobb is simply a better writer of “fat fantasy” right now than anyone other than Martin. Her books are loooong, but they’re subtle, too. And not even Martin is especially subtle.

What Hobb does best is take the convention and rebuild it from the ground up. The conflicts we see aren’t universe-shaking. They’re rivalries within and between kingdoms. The kingdoms aren’t glittering empires like Tolkien’s; instead, they’re reasonable states that flourish or fall because of a rich but accessible economy. Martin does something similar, of course, but his characters are facing apocalypse. Hers are just wrestling with saving their own lives and possibly keeping the kingdom from falling into the hands of a narcissist.

Her magic isn’t overwhelming. (Another positive feature of Martin and Abercrombie.) There’s a consistency in “the wit” and “the skill.” Each offers power but ultimately turns on making it possible for someone no longer to be alone. It’s a notion of radical communion, tempered by the possibility of the strong controlling the weak, and it gives the novels a dash of philosophy: what does it mean to be closed within ones self when it’s possible to imagine weaving into another consciousness. That plays out at the level of the ‘magic,’ but more impressively it plays out in the larger story as well. The conflict between princes is all about whether to trust others or not, whether, as Black Panther puts it, to build bridges or put up barriers when things get troubling.

And, most impressively, Hobb makes the “fat-ness” of such fantasy relevant as well. Instead of what they call “world-building” – which I take as providing material that ought to be in footnotes – she takes time to admire a world that already feels built. Her best descriptions aren’t exotic but homely. She makes the smells and sounds of a stable come alive. She describes rooms that aren’t that different from the ones of our own world. She talks of a loneliness that’s familiar in the midst of a world that gestures toward the strange.

Anyway, there is a story here, one that unfolds very slowly. Hobb is a gifted enough writer to pull that narrative tease off, though, and the final quarter brings it all to a head. (And, semi-spoiler, the end is a deeply satisfying gesture to the power of “the wit,” that first and more natural power that Fitz discovers.)

This is roughly 450 pages and, in the end, it really just sets up the volumes that follow. I’ve read one of those out of sequence, and I know it holds up as well. So, as a bottom line, know what you’re getting into. This is long and slow, but it’s as good as the genre has given us. I always feel a little guilty surrendering to this sort of narrative, but I also know – in the hands of someone as talented as Hobb – that I’m not going to get let down here.

Not a great book, but it hooked me enough to go on

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This book spends most of the time having a pity part for the "bastard" boy. There is some decent character development and some interesting intrigue. You get some hints that the protagonist is more powerful than he is aware.

I'm hopeful that this book will pick up the pace a bit in the next installment. The stage is set.

Would you recommend The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice to your friends? Why or why not?

There are other books I would advise them to read first, however I am starved for finding a decent fantasy series and anything is better than the last two duds I tried "Name of the wind" and "Sheep farmer's daughter" which are quite possible two of the worst books I ever suffered through.

Have you listened to any of Paul Boehmer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not. The performance and reading were quite excellent. Nothing can sink an audio book faster than a bad narrator and Paul did a great job here.

Could you see The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I would rather see the word and void trilogy or possibly a Dark Tower HBO series.

Good Author & Book, Narration Could Use Some Work

Despite being a decent book, he first person narrative took some getting use to. Half of the book seems to be the back story of the main character's childhood, which I found boring. After that, the book seemed to be setting the story up for the other two books. This is definitely the worst book in the trilogy, but is well worth the 1 credit.

The narrator could use some work. He seemed somewhat boring and it made it hard to get through the first book. After listening for some time, though, I did manage to get used to it. Part of the problem may have been a droning British accent. Not really trying to be rude, but I do prefer American/Canadian narrators.