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  • Fool's Assassin

  • Book One of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy
  • Written by: Robin Hobb
  • Narrated by: Elliot Hill
  • Length: 27 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (149 ratings)

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Fool's Assassin

Written by: Robin Hobb
Narrated by: Elliot Hill
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Publisher's Summary

Nearly 20 years ago, Robin Hobb burst upon the fantasy scene with the first of her acclaimed Farseer novels, Assassin’s Apprentice, which introduced the characters of FitzChivalry Farseer and his uncanny friend the Fool. A watershed moment in modern fantasy, this novel - and those that followed - broke exciting new ground in a beloved genre. Together with George R. R. Martin, Robin Hobb helped pave the way for such talented new voices as Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, and Naomi Novik.

Over the years, Hobb’s imagination has soared throughout the mythic lands of the Six Duchies in such best-selling series as the Liveship Traders Trilogy and the Rain Wilds Chronicles. But no matter how far she roamed, her heart always remained with Fitz. And now, at last, she has come home, with an astonishing new novel that opens a dark and gripping chapter in the Farseer saga.

FitzChivalry - royal bastard and former king’s assassin - has left his life of intrigue behind. As far as the rest of the world knows, FitzChivalry Farseer is dead and buried. Masquerading as Tom Badgerlock, Fitz is now married to his childhood sweetheart, Molly, and leading the quiet life of a country squire.

Though Fitz is haunted by the disappearance of the Fool, who did so much to shape Fitz into the man he has become, such private hurts are put aside in the business of daily life, at least until the appearance of menacing, pale-skinned strangers casts a sinister shadow over Fitz’s past...and his future.

Now, to protect his new life, the former assassin must once again take up his old one....

©2014 Robin Hobb (P)2014 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"Fantasy as it ought to be written... Robin Hobb’s books are diamonds in a sea of zircons." (George R. R. Martin)
"A gleaming debut in the crowded field of epic fantasies...a delightful take on the powers and politics behind the throne." ( Publishers Weekly) on Assassin’s Apprentice)

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What listeners say about Fool's Assassin

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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Narrator

Great Robin Hobb ill-served by Elliot Hill, the worst narrator ever. Best to just read them.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite by far

Of the whole series, to me, this book is the best so far, and by an important margin. The characters are interesting and believable, the rythm of the story makes it hard to put the book down, the storyline is original and surprising. So much action! And I also really liked the narrater.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A Darker turn for one of my fav series

I have followed Fits Chivalry Farseer right from book One of his adventures and this segment of his journey definitely takes a darker turn then the other books. As always Robin's writing and story is captivating, engaging and very well written, However the narrative on this trilogy is my least favourite with the use of weird loud whispering as the voice of some of the characters, but this does not entirely impede the listeners ability to follow the story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

please choose better narrators

The story is so hard to find interesting when half the voices are whispered or breathy and even on full volume you can barely hear them. Alot slower paced than the rest of the books from realm of the elderlings but still a great addition to the world and worth the listen.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Addictive story with unique protagonist

Through the first six FitzChivalry Farseer books, I struggled to characterize what exactly bothered me about Fitz. Why does he make so many poor decisions? Why does he seem inept at deductive reasoning and utterly bereft of inductive reasoning? Why does he ignore the information and opinions of his most trusted companions?

Is he arrogant? Self-centered? Self-indulgent? Emotionally stunted? Distracted and simply not noticing? The latter can be ruled out, because he remembers such detail years later to recount them for us. The others, while true, don't explain it either, as in his recounting he gives little hint of either shame or chagrine, as if he realized what he was telling us.

He's stupid. He's the least intelligent protagonist in any major fantasy series. Robin Hobb has expertly written a dolt - a less generous analysis might blame clumsy or even poor writing, overshooting the mark with unlikely obtuseness as a plot device to create and drive conflict, but I don't think that's it.

FitzChivalry Farseer is actually a moron, and it doesn't really detract from the story. I'm on his 7th book and I'm steaming ahead to the end.. I just had to accept that his mother's father dropped him on the head long ago, on his way to leave him at the outpost.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Keeps me listening.

Enjoying this whole series. Good character development and heart to the story. Not knowing where the plot will take me keeps me listening.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Struggling

Not sure if it’s the person reading or the source material but I normally live Hobb books and this one is just a never ending slog definitely my least favourite

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The narrator Change is Striking.

the narrator struggles to keep up with James Langton. I have a hard time immersing into the story while an English noble from the 1700s reads a book intensely. with little expression.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

awful narrator

the narrator butchered voices and failrd on Chades name so badly ill be reading these last books not listening. Very disappointed.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An awful follow up performance for a previously great series

This is my first review, I couldn't ignore how much I dislike the new narrator. Everything about it is poorly done;
Pronouncing character's names differently than every book that came before
Poorly read sentences that flow so badly that you can't get into the story. Your brain is so busy reconstructing what you heard that you lose focus on any sense of immersion in the story.
Entirely different accents for characters
E v e r y s e n t e n c e i s s o d r a w n o u t a n d s l o w t h a t y o u h a v e t o l I s t e n a t 1.2x speed just for it to be remotely alright.
Bee's voice is awful
It's all wrong, everything about it.

As far as storyline goes, this may be biased from the terrible narration, but the book has very little for interesting content compared to all of the previous books. It's mostly about Fitz spending a decade at home making bad domestic decisions and being mired in regret.

I really loved the previous 6+ books, Fitz has been a great character to follow around, I will likely ask for a refund on this book because I'd like to regain some part of the time I've lost slogging through the whole thing. I won't buy the next one because the sample plays just as badly or worse than this one, but I'll give it a read just to see how things go for Fitz-Chivalry.

All of the previous books are great, so go enjoy those at least!

I can't fathom how this made it through to release as an audiobook, it's a shame. Was it so much cheaper for this narrator that it was worth ruining Robin Hobb's book?!

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