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Assassin’s Apprentice

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What to expect

The first volume in Robin Hobb’s internationally bestselling Farseer series.

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

Critics Review

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'Hobb is one of the great modern fantasy writers … what makes her novels as addictive as morphine is not just their imaginative brilliance but the way her characters are compromised and manipulated by politics.'
The Times

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‘In today’s crowded fantasy market Robin Hobb’s books are like diamonds in a sea of zircons’
George R.R. Martin

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‘Hobb is superb’ Conn Iggulden

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‘Hobb is a remarkable storyteller’ Guardian

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‘This is a historical novel with a sly touch of magic. The first in the Farseer trilogy, this book will get new readers hooked on a series that recalls HBO’s Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings’ Telegraph

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User Reviews

Book 4.4
Narration 4.1
5.0
4.0
paulasher 23/11/2025
4.0
4.0
annawrammerfors 13/11/2025
5.0
5.0
The book is fantastic but the narrator is even better. I rented it from my library originally but had to immediately get it here because I was so invested.

SPOILER ISH AHEAD!!!
It is in places very DEPRESSING. Make sure you're in the right headspace 😬
Nikita.E.Groot 15/07/2025
4.0
4.0
gijsvankessel 23/08/2024
4.0
3.0
PeeVeeDee 06/07/2024
4.0
4.0
I listened to this as one of the last series in the whole published storey after starting with one of the dragon trilogies. If I had started with this I might not have gone on but as I had read many others I was able to relate more. Yes it is a reasonable storey but not helped as uch as it might by the narration, sorry, to me the voice was a little uninteresting. Hope the other two books in this trilogy are a better listen. I still would recommend it but it could have been better.
alanald 11/10/2023
5.0
4.0
EmBlack 17/06/2022
4.0
5.0
Glazael 05/05/2022

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