The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice cover art

The Farseer: Assassin's Apprentice

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About this listen

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 Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Royalty Assassin Arthurian

What the critics say

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

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Good. Well written and performed for the most part. I drive a lot for my job and in a truck that can be noisy and sometimes the narrator speaks very very quietly. Otherwise I enjoyed it.

Good.

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Despite the unappealing cover art, I bought this book because a friend recommended it, and really enjoyed it. The story is detailed, unpredictible, well narrated, highly entertaining and dynamic. A great read!

A great find!

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What a great book. Kept my attention from start to finish. Can’t wait for the rest of the story.

Enthralling

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This is the first book in a trilogy. I had read the paper book a very long time ago and did not remember the story. I thought the audio would make it easier to get back in. The plot is rather complicated. The main character is a lovable boy who is put into an impossible situation. So it makes it easier for the reader to forgive him for becoming the king's assassin. It looks like even though the master teaching him to use the "Skill" tried to brake him and make him fail, Fitz can use the "Skill" in the end. I suppose the next book will tell us how he used it from then on."
The narrator was very good.

A good book and a complicated story

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#Audible1

Excellent characters, very well thought out geography and time period, and a solid plot line that ties the characters together.

Dialogue is a bit stiff at times (young children speak as if they were 30 something) and the lack of any sort of identifiable villain makes it difficult to understand where the plot is going until near the very end of the trilogy.

Well worth the listen if you are into the fantasy genre!

Solid fantasy with an original concept for dragons

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