Assassin's Apprentice (The Illustrated Edition): The Farseer Trilogy Book 1 Hardcover – October 1, 2019

~ Spoiler-Free Series Review ~This trilogy is now one of my favorite epic fantasies. The story, the characters, and the worldbuilding are all masterfully done. The plot takes its time, but I was willing to just sit in this world, absorbing Hobb's beautiful prose as the story unfolded.Robin Hobb is excellent at making all of her characters feel very human. Some characters I loved, some I had complicated feelings towards, and some I absolutely hated. All were fleshed out and layered, with both strengths and flaws that affected their own lives and the lives of those around them. Many of the friendships were deeply touching, and the moments of characters interacting were some of my favorites. Fitz was an interesting character to see this world through. His story examines what it's like to have very little agency in your life simply because of who your parents are, and watching Fitz struggle with that is absolutely gutting. I always found him compelling, even though he is a boy and makes a boy's mistakes.The prose is rich with subtlety and descriptions that immersed me so deeply in the world of the Six Duchies. I was there for every scene, experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells of Buckkeep, its seaside town, the open road, and everywhere else we traveled with Fitz throughout the series. There is so much mystery built into the magic and the world, and the balance of what was known and what wasn't was perfect for me. When it comes to the role humans play, there's no lack of politics and intrigue to keep you guessing.There is so much more to this series, but to avoid spoilers, I'll just say that I'll be thinking about the themes for a long time. I have some criticisms about how a few things played out in the third book, but I still loved it and cannot recommend the Farseer Trilogy highly enough.Content:Romance - a few fade to black/very very vague open door scenes; talk of affairs and light innuendoFoul Language - some moderate swearing and crude languageViolence - descriptions of war violence, blood, injury, poisoning, and death; non-graphic talk of rape

The book was about an illegitimate son of a prince in a court rife with political intrigue. Fairly sheltered at first due to his low birth, Fitz grows to be a youth in a world of dogs, horses, hawks, and soldiers. All this changes when the king takes notice of him and asks him to be trained in the art of assassination. Coupled with his ability to bond with animals (sharing emotions, thoughts, and insights), especially dogs, and a potential for the Skill, Fitz is exposed to dangers and betrayals he had never encountered or imagined.Likes: There was a lot that I enjoyed in this book. I thought it was a slow paced, carefully constructed world with good characters and interesting development. Yes, it was slow pacing, but I felt like we were discovering the world at the same time Fitz was, and for me this worked. It allowed for development of characters above and beyond what most authors take the time to do. It also allowed for a lot of depth to the plot. I liked Fitz, although I kept waiting for him to show some back bone and play his strengths. But I think his flaws made him more believable. I thought all of the characters were believable, except for Regal, who I found to be annoying and a bit cliched. I found the author's clear love and understanding of animals and their devotion and love to be a nice addition to the story, and endearing. I also found the Red Ship people and their eerie and poorly understood way of depriving their victims of their humanity disturbing, in a good way; I'm definitely invested in wanting them to be defeated. Obviously I'm hoping for some insight into their motives in future books, because the lack of a clear reason why they attack innocent people and children and turn them into a type of zombie is frustrating. Robin Hobb also has a beautiful way of turning a phrase, I would have liked to see more of that.Didn't work as well for me: Well, what I liked least about this book was the violence. It was a bit sickening and disturbing, but I understood the author's use of it and realize it probably won't matter to most people. Like I said, I found Fitz a bit whiny at times. I also found it a bit jarring to be moved with Fitz from one mentor to the other. It made me feel as if Fitz was a Jack of all trades, master of none. I kept waiting for him to step into his strengths, become truly good at something, but as soon as he started to make progress, he was moved again, between Chade, Burrich, Galen, even Patience and Hob, to lesser extents. For all the people in his life, he didn't trust any of them fully and didn't connect with any of them in a meaningful way. I know this accentuates his loneliness, but after a while it felt a bit bleak, and I WANTED him to make some connections with a human being. Drifting around in the book with no one to love and cling to with the hero was wearying. Fitz was loyal and helpful to a lot of people but I never saw anyone without reservation and at times, abandonment, be loyal to him.All in all, the things that bothered me were nothing compared to my enjoyment. I simply could not put it down, and found myself thinking about it a lot when I wasn't reading it. I'm so happy to discover a series that has been out a while so that I have sequels to look forward to while the world is still fresh in my mind.