Assassin's apprentice (original 1995; edition 1995)

by pseud. för Margaret Ogden. Robin Hobb

Series: Realm of the Elderlings (01 (Farseer 01)), The Farseer Trilogy (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
13,182	294	493	(4.1)	1 / 436
Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. 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.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	gracekelly020
Title:	Assassin's apprentice
Authors:	pseud. för Margaret Ogden. Robin Hobb
Info:	1995.
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	to-read

Work Information

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (1995)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Stripey619, cmikhail, YMFDragons, Kinnarney, JasmineHere, Hawkwood_, Yannone, IzzyJo, Whiskeyjack92, WeaponX1415

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Member recommendations

124
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) by George R. R. Martin (Tjarda, Patangel)
70
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (LiddyGally)
LiddyGally: Both "autobiograhical" accounts of the life of a man with powers of a magical kind, told from boyhood to manhood. Compelling writing makes for a great read and memorable story!
50
Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn (Kassilem)
40
Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman (Kaelkivial)
Kaelkivial: If you enjoy the Master/apprentice relationship and the coming of age, rags to relative riches story lines. Both involve young boys who are capable of things that they do not yet understand and must harness their powers towards a greater end.
30
Transformation by Carol Berg (sandstone78)
sandstone78: For epic fantasy that is rarely makes things easy for its protagonists
20
Le Vaisseau magique, tome 1 : Les aventuriers de la mer by Robin Hobb (Patangel)
20
A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette (Kassilem)
20
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn (soffitta1)
soffitta1: A coming of age story, a noble boy with an uncertain future.
20
Imager by L. E. Modesitt (Dragget)
Dragget: Similar coming-of-age themes where the plot follows the main character as he discovers and develops his skills against a background of political intrigue.
10
Devices and Desires by K. J. Parker (NovaStalker)
NovaStalker: Both books that have no feel good quality about them at all. If you finish them and their respective series and don't hate life, love, everyone and want to kill yourself you're either incredibly well adjusted or a sociopath. That's a recommendation.
10
Inda by Sherwood Smith (humouress)
humouress: Both series share the similarity of a country defending itself from invaders from the sea with whom they in fact share their ancestry.
11
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (joyfulgirl)
00
L'Assassin royal, tome 07 : Le prophète blanc by Robin Hobb (Patangel)
00
The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark (mene)
mene: Both books have a similar setting: Told by a narrator when he is already old and has lived his life, he talks about his childhood. Both main characters lived in the "important building" of the city (though in Assassin's Apprentice it's a fantasy world and in The Book of Unholy Mischief it's Venice in Italy), both boys go to town every now and then to meet his friends (and a girl), and both are apprentices of someone/something they cannot tell anyone else (except for a few people). Both books contain a bit of magic, though of a different kind.… (more)

▾Lists

Best Fantasy Novels (24)

NPRs your picks: top 100 Sci-Fi/Fantasy books (42)

Five star books (33)

» 37 more

Favourite Books (379)

Epic fantasy by female authors (2)

Unread books (148)

Books Read in 2016 (377)

One Book, Many Authors (48)

Assassins (1)

20th Century Literature (423)

Female Author (316)

Books about the ordinary family members of interesting sounding people. (1)

Books That Changed Me (54)

Top Five Books of 2015 (508)

Amazon's 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime (48)

Top Five Books of 2024 (464)

What are your favourite books? (9)

Best Books of the 20th Century (14)

Epic Fantasy (5)

LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction (217)

Recommended Fantasy Books (13)

Books Read in 2018 (1,297)

Favorite Series (218)

Bookriot's 100 Must-Read Sci-Fi Fantasy Novels By Female Authors (53)

Books tagged favorites (156)

Ten Books That Have Stayed With Me (142)

My top 10 Fantasy Novels (1)

Books Read in 2014 (1,777)

Survey of Science Fiction and Fantasy (83)

Books Read in 2020 (4,286)

Books Read in 2006 (242)

Speculative Fiction to Read (356)

SantaThing 2014 Gifts (152)

Here There Be Dragons (67)

Stories Featuring Passages, Gateways and Doors (15)

Epic Fantasy of the 90s (4)

Sarah's Wish List (19)

Epic Fantasy (1)

al.vick-series (303)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

	Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
	Name that Book: Kid grows up in stables and has magic ability to bond with an animal	4 unread / 4	danielloehr, August 2020

» See also 436 mentions

▾Member reviews

English (278) Dutch (5) French (4) Italian (3) German (1) Finnish (1) All languages (292)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 278 (next | show all)

I can’t say that I liked it. Too much death! Too many animals suffer. The death scene with the princess’s brother and Fitz laughing while the poison worked was odd. I liked the old queen and the royalty from the second country. But that’s all. His own people were much too harsh and unforgiving. (

)

2wonderY | Dec 31, 2024 |

Well written but excruciatingly slow and bereft of action. The rest of the series is meant to be much better and I sorely hope that is the case if I'm to get through it. (

)

Xathras | Dec 26, 2024 |

This was better the second time around (

)

Tgoldhush | Dec 26, 2024 |

This is a work of high-quality fiction, well imagined in considerable detail and well written.

I give it only two stars because it leaves me feeling sad and depressed. It’s about the early life of a royal bastard, whose life is persistently difficult and perilous; and he lives in a kingdom in crisis. We know he’ll survive, because there are more books about him; but that doesn’t guarantee him happiness, and he finds little of it.

It’s realistic, I suppose: this is probably what life in that kind of world would be like. Although I think strict realism would require his death at one of the various points where it could easily have happened.

But I read fiction for my own enjoyment, I want some positive result out of it. What good does it do me to become sad and depressed? Almost any work of fiction must surely contain some conflict or struggle or problem to be solved, and there will be probably be moments of unhappiness. But I want moments of happiness and humour as well, and above all I want it to end on an upbeat note. I don’t insist that every book should end with everyone ecstatic and living happily every after, but I want to come away from the book feeling good about it.

I don’t think I’ll read the other books set in this world, because they seem likely to be about as depressing as this one. It’s a pity, because the author is talented, but from my point of view her talent is wasted on books like these. However, fortunately for her, plenty of other people apparently manage to enjoy them. Taste in fiction varies so much from person to person. (

)

jpalfrey | Dec 17, 2024 |

This is an amazing achievement. (

)

Dokfintong | Nov 30, 2024 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 278 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (11 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Hobb, Robin	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Boehmer, Paul	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Howe, John	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Santikko, Sauli	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Spångberg, Ylva	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Whelan, Michael	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

The Farseer Trilogy (1)

Realm of the Elderlings (01 (Farseer 01))

Belongs to Publisher Series

Varraku F-sari (27)

Is contained in

Assassin's Apprentice [and] Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice / Royal Assassin / Assassin's Quest) by Robin Hobb

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

British Fantasy Award (Nominee – August Derleth Award for Best Novel – 1997)

Compton Crook Award (Nominee – 1996)

RUSA CODES Reading List (Read-alike to Winner – Fantasy – 2024)

Distinctions

World Book Night selection (2015)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Assassin's Apprentice

Original title

Assassin's Apprentice

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1995

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For Giles

And for Raphael and Freddy,

the Princes of Assassins.

Bantam 1996 edition:
To Giles
and
to the memories of
Ralph the Orange
and
Freddie Cougar
Princes among Assassins
and
Felines above Reproach

First words

A history of the Six Duchies is of necessity a history of its ruling family, the Farseers.

Quotations

[The Fool] was proffering a leather drawstring bag. "What is it?" I asked, and tried not to let him hear either the flowers or the doll in my voice.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Despite some titles similar to those of the original 6, the French version of the Farseer books splits the 2 trilogies into 13 books. This is 1 of 13 and it is the only book that is exactly the same as the original one. Make sure you combine only with identically split parts of the series.

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

File:Robin Hobb - Assassin's Apprentice Cover.jpg

▾Book descriptions

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. 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.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Young Fitz is the bastard son of the noble Prince Chivalry, raised in the shadow of the royal court by his father's gruff stableman. He is treated like an outcast by all the royalty except the devious King Shrewd, who has him sectetly tutored in the arts of the assassin. For in Fitz's blood runs the magic Skill--and the darker knowledge of a child raised with the stable hounds and rejected by his family. As barbarous raiders ravage the coasts, Fitz is growing to manhood. Soon he will face his first dangerous, soul-shattering mission. And though some regard him as a threat to the throne, he may just be the key to the survival of the kingdom.

Haiku summary