Book 3), Assassin's Quest (The Farseer Trilogy

Robin Hobb did a great job with this series. I read the last book over an international flight. It kept me enthralled to the end and made me forget the uncomfort of coach flying. I would rate this among my top three favorite fantasy series.

I loved the characters but hated this book. It was so long i skimmed many pages something i hate doing. Plus the ending where are the good stuff happens was cut short. I will keep reading this authors books but this book was a flop.

I hated this book. It was needlessly and tediously drawn out to the point that you wanted to scream " get to the point". I got to 90% and gave up. Characters were great and we'll developed and the plot was good but unfortunately the tedious prose and endless traveling tangent drove me crazy. I would love to read more by this author but I just don't have the patience.

This is a nightmare. I never quit reading a book once started, but boy was I tempted this time. The hero is constantly waining and misserable and makes every mistake you can think about. This is a big No No.

I read the first two books and really enjoyed them, however this last one just left me feel depressed with disappointment after disappointment.
A final book doesn't have to be this melancholy, and the ending was wrapped up so extremely quickly it left me feel robbed of all I liked about the first two books.
In all honesty I wished I had stopped reading at book nr2 and imagined the rest.

The characters are too real for me. I can't read anymore. Too much tradgedy. The story continues with the Tawny Man series, but I won't pick it up. I have never read a novel whose protaganinst has troubled me so deeply. An awesome read if you can handle the pain of FitzChivaley's life. I cannot.

After reading the 1st two books in Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and enjoying them immensely, I was more than just a little disappointed in the 3rd volume. Hobb appears to have burnt out. He devotes pages and pages to boring pointless journeys, opens a promising theme - Old Blood - and never develops it and his evil king character develops a split personality, alternatly swinging from evil genius to drug addeled dilettante. I finished the book but it was so poorly done I had a real hard time not just chucking it part way thru.

If you like self obsessed, ignorant, and sometimes (P.C. lords forgive me) retarded protaginists, then this book is for you. Otherwise, save yourself the anguish.

To be fair, the majority of this book was interesting. I hate giving such a low rating for the book as a whole; however, I cannot stand the fact that almost all of the conflict and plot is driven by poor writing on the part of the main character.

Countless times does the protagonist find himself in peril. Not once does he extricate himself from it alone. Almost always does he get himself in trouble through sheer stupidity. Writing a character to always do the stupidest things, just to keep the plot and 'suspense' rolling, is shoddy writing. If nothing else, through sheer luck, one would assume a main character could make a singular good choice. Instead, the author finds ways to make the main character act in ways I hadn't even considered possible, so stupid were they.

I am baffled that these books have such high ratings, and feel betrayed to have been swayed into purchasing these books through them.

I'll admit it, I didn't even finish the book. I read the first 300 pages and that's it, because it was literally painful and frustrating to read.

I really liked the first book. Because of that I bought the 2nd and 3rd books together. Well, the second book was dreadful. Nothing happens in practically the entire book. There are millions of plot-holes. The author makes up all kinds of dumb reasons why her characters can't do what they should obviously do just so the story can continue. Nonetheless, I managed to get through it. The third book has not shown me anything different in the first 300 pages and I really don't think I can go through another 500 pages of crap. Reading the other reviews on here it looks like I should read the last 30 pages and I'll pretty much know the entire plot.

But my biggest problem with these books is the main character is a whiny little selfish brat. It's not enjoyable to read about someone like that. He constantly dwells on every bad thing that happens to him and never does anything about it. It's infuriating. I want to punch him in the face every other page. In fact all the male characters in these books constantly dwell on their feelings and are sentimental about everything. They are not men. This author should only write about female characters because she obviously has no clue when it comes to how guys think or act.

First two parts of the “Farseer Trilogy” were something of a low fantasy. Feudalism, courtly drama, courtly romance, bit of cloak and dagger, intrigue, some weird magic and incomprehensible war looming over horizon. For a good measure, some feudal teenage angst was thrown in, along with couple more father figures than was probably necessary. It was working…well…I guess.

Final part of the trilogy makes not that a clean break with all of that. Suddenly, we’re in a realm of high fantasy, with prophecies, destinies, high powered magic, dragons, ancient races and immortals (or just really, really well-kept people) looming about. We finally left drafty corridors of Buckkeep for an adventure in countryside, we found and ancient, powerful road leading somewhere unknown, we’re in over our head and we’re still dreaming about “normal life”, despite destiny and the world in general being firmly opposed to those wishes. It’s a change, I’ll grant you that. Whether it was necessary change, or even meaningful one is open to debate.

What began as a tale of power struggle between princelings, ended as a larger than life battle of good versus evil with every character taking his “predestined” part in it. This effectively made any moral choice void. Morality as a concept didn’t fare any better. Enemies of our heroes are under a spell and are not really responsible for their actions. As for a reader, one can’t really hate a puppet. Even a puppeteer is nothing more than a “troubled child”. Vain, weak person and a text-book case of oversimplification of Freud’s teachings. What we’re witnessing in nothing more than some kind of “cosmic dance”, cyclical repetition of violence, good and bad times, olden, golden history being thrown away for modernity once again. It becomes boring quickly.

“Assassin’s Quest” sort of follows a pattern of Greek tragedy, where Gods play and people suffer, having no say in the matter. It is a thought fantasy plays with often, and if you’re a fan of that kind of deterministic, larger than life tales, everything will be well and fine. For me, I’d rather go with a Renaissance vision of a Man having his own say in the matter.

One shouldn’t be blind to few good moments in “Assassin’s Quest” (every part of this trilogy had few of those). Hobb finally managed to begin deconstructing notions of duty, sexuality, normalcy, love, passion and conformity. She finally challenged rules and roles of feudal society and she had courage not to take a happy ending route for her characters. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tackle all of that within a scope of a single book, with all else that was going on and had to be addressed, but it is as it is. What can you do. Entire trilogy sometimes reads as a long list of bad choices. Both for a writer and her characters.

Hobb’s bloating of a text is as present here as it was present earlier, no surprise there. This time around it didn’t bother me as much. Too many things happening, too many new venues to explore to really make notice of stylistic crudeness. In the end, all I can say is that there is better fantasy out there. Far, far better. “The Farseer Trilogy” isn’t really the worst choice you could make for your leisure time (if you’re content with mediocre writing, it’s all on you ?) but it’s far from representative texts of fantastical nature. Even nineties had more to offer than this.

Betrayed, tortured and left for dead, Fitz has survived the depredations of his mad uncle Regal and been taken to safety in the countryside of the Six Duchies. Plagued by nightmares and trauma, Fitz eventually recovers enough to swear himself to two tasks: the murder of Regal and the safe rescue of Verity, the long-missing true king.

Assassin's Quest concludes the Farseer Trilogy in a manner that I don't think anyone was quite expecting. The first two volumes of the Farseer series are traditional epic fantasies in many respects, but ones where more overt displays of magic and violence are rolled back in favour of a deeper emotional storyline and character development. Still, with their intrigue, battles, romance and betrayals (if separated by lots of long-winded introspection), there is much of the standard fantasy template within them.

Assassin's Quest is completely different. In fact, it's a very strange book. For most of the novel we are firmly in Fitz's head as he undergoes what can best be described as a PTSD-induced nervous and near-mental breakdown after the trauma he suffered at the end of Royal Assassin. Suffering severe depression and making awful judgement calls (as everyone calls him on but himself), Fitz has to first find himself and restore his confidence before he can embark on his long-delayed true quest, which is to find and rescue Verity. Eventually, after crossing (with agonising slowness and quite astonishing amounts of angst) the entire length of the Six Duchies, Fitz overcomes his demons and gets on with the story. The problem is that this happens some around page 500, meaning that the novel only then has 300 pages to wrap the entire trilogy up in.

You might imagine this means that those last 300 pages are full of incident and plot and character development as Hobb brings the story across the finish line? Not so much. Those 300 pages still meander, circling around major plot and character moments for dozens of pages before landing (and often exactly where the reader can see them going). Eventually, in the last few pages of the book, the author explains the background of the Elderlings, Forging, the Red Ship Raiders, the Skill and many other aspects of her world, but it comes so abruptly after almost 800 pages of slow-burning despair that it feels highly anti-climactic.

In some ways you have to respect Hobb for crafting such an utterly strange ending to a fantasy trilogy, one that shys away from convention and ignores every rule of plot structure and pacing. In many respects Hobb was writing a profoundly anti-epic fantasy, something similar to what Patrick Rothfuss appears to be doing with his trilogy (only with rather less humour), and in its sacrifice of plot and action and exposition for character and a realistic approach to how a real human mind might cope with the craziness of your average epic fantasy adventure, Hobb is clearly doing something different.

But different does not mean good and the thing about experiments is that they sometimes just don't work. Assassin's Quest has fine moments of characterisation (probably best exemplified in the relationship between Fitz and the Fool), some real moments of jaw-clenching terror and some very odd moments of real magical weirdness, but it is also a novel that unfolds with all the verve, pacing and tension of watching a lethargic snail travel thirty miles. The massive stakes and tensions raised over the course of almost 1,200 pages across the first two volumes are effectively handwaved away at the end of the novel: the Red Ship Raiders are defeated off-screen, the Fool remains resolutely unexplained and most of Fitz's friends and allies remain in complete ignorance that he is alive.

Obviously we know now there is more to come in the Tawny Man and Fitz and the Fool trilogies, but on its own merits Assassin's Quest (**½) is an altogether unsatisfying conclusion to the first series, languid to the point of unconsciousness until the too-rushed ending. There are some wonderful atmosphere moments and some occasionally effective dialogue, but overall it is a disappointing novel. Still, it is followed up by the far superior Liveship Traders trilogy.

The thing with the Farseer books is that they go dark —far darker than I'd ever had fantasy go when I first seriously started reading the genre. We join Fitz at his lowest ebb. He's lost everything, the woman he loves, his position at court. He'd be a hunted criminal if it weren't for the fact that everyone believes that he's dead. As it is, he's known as the Witted Bastard, and has become something of a bogeyman used to frighten children. Yeah, so that totally sucks.

Free for the first time in his life to act with agency, Fitz chooses to avenge himself on the one who's responsible for creating the hell that has become his life – Regal, now king of the Six Duchies. And yet he's not free, for the duty laid upon him by his uncle Verity draws him to the Mountain Kingdom to aid the true heir in his mission to free the kingdom from the marauding Red Ship Raiders.

Hobb goes further to explore the relationship between Fitz and his wolf Nighteyes, in all its beautiful subtlety. Her deft strokes expand on the nature of the relationship with the enigmatic Fool, who will always be present, helping and, sometimes, hindering. Ketricken and Fitz also have a special relationship that is deep and abiding – and I dare say a true bond.

This is my second read through the book, and as expected, I missed a lot the first time and though I recalled the gist of what happens, there is so much layering to rediscover that it felt as if I were reading the story again for the first time. We are presented with the ancient mysteries of the Elderlings, the dragons, the lost magic of the stones. Our heroes sift through the ashes of a fallen civilisation, hardly understanding the artefacts that they uncover.

As always, Fitz's self-talk is heavy; he is at the end of the day his own worst enemy and he remains perhaps one of the most enduring and endearing fantasy characters I've had the pleasure of getting to know.

The Farseer books reward patient readers. I've heard folks complain that things take a long time to unfold, but I will keep saying this: nothing Hobb puts in her story goes to waste. Pay attention to every detail because, no matter how inconsequential it seems, it will invariably play an important role later.

I cannot underscore enough what an important work this is in the collective oeuvre of modern fantasy. Hobb deserves all the honours she receives for her immense contribution to this genre, and I stand forever humbled in her shadow.

...and that's it.

The first book in this trilogy made me want to read everything Robin Hobb has ever written. It was an excellent story with a fun and engaging main character. The second book in the trilogy piles on the injuries the main character a little too much. This last book is 770 insufferable pages in which the main character is assaulted in almost every imaginable way: physical, mental, spiritual. He is stripped of all the interesting layers and left as not even a broken shell of a man. I think Ms. Hobb was trying to reimagine the cliched "to defeat them you must become them," but it just left me thinking that Ms. Hobb is a bit of closet sadist. I was enough of a masochist to read the book, but I won't be reading any more of her writings.

Two notes:
1) Like many others, I was surprised to get to page 700 before things started to wrap up. The mysterious and terrific enemy established in the first book and belabored in the second is dispatched in about three pages with about as much preamble as the character usually gives to his evening meal.
2) It appears from the jacket covers of the follow-up trilogy to this story that even Ms. Hobb relented and reimagined a happier ending for the main protagonist...

This book is quite long. It's 37 hours and 39 minutes of listening. The voice of Paul Boehmer has helped my mind to focus on the story he is narrating while I am multi-tasking at work. Robin Hobb is a very witted author. I am in awe of the twist she has interjected at the last few chapters in the end. This is a twist that has never even come across my mind. Usually, my assumptions are almost right but not this time. :-) My heart has been crushed several times for Fitz, and so, I am sad that the HEA I am waiting for him has not transpired. It's unfair in my opinion. I think he deserves it for all of the sacrifices and hardships he has gone through ever since he has moved to Buckkeep. This Farseer Trilogy is awesome! Moving on to Tawny Man Trilogy to find out if Ms. Hobb has granted my wish. :-)

Sad to say this, but this book was a deadened ending to the first two books. Assassin's apprentice had intrigue and action and was full of twists and turns. Royal Assassin had more of the same, and was a fun read. Assassin's Quest was a hole lot of quest, no assassin, and no action until close to the end.

This book seemed to just trudge along to get all of the story out. Why did this happen in book one? here is a lengthy explanation. And, What about this in book two? Another long and winded reasoning. What is happening now in book three. Nothing interesting, so let us reflect once more on ... zzzzz....

Everything that should have led up to a huge climax actually felt like once the wheel started down the hill, everything happened too far away for the character to see. So, it becomes an anti-climatic retelling of events. Chapters spent on days at a time until the final battle of days in a few mere paragraphs, that our hero was not even a part of.

I am your hero. I have had adventures. But the biggest adventure, I did not have, so I get to tell it to you instead - HUGE let down. I do not care about the ending either. Almost as if things were an after thought. Tie these strings tightly in one chapter and get the book to the editor.

Book one by itself was great, and book two was wonderful, but you have to have book three if you read book two, so i the end, you must read the trilogy, and I hope that you feel more rewarded from the ending then I did.

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Plot

Unlike the other two books in this series, which move pretty slow, this one moves even slower. For most of the book I was actually pretty bored, but continued to read because I loved the characters. I needed to know what was going to happen and I haven't decided whether or not I am satisfied with the ending.

The beginning was pretty interesting as Fitz overcomes his near death experience, but the middle of the book is where I was utterly bored. Fitz goes off to Tradeford to attempt to kill Regal without really having a plan. Though this fits with his character I thought this entire 100 or more pages was actually unnecessary. If it wasn't for Nighteyes being his companion through all of this I highly doubt I would have finished it.

Once he fails miserably at this, he moves on to try to find Verity, which he spends almost the rest of the book trying to do. It does make sense that it would take him awhile with Regal after him and trade with the mountain kingdom suspended, but Hobb didn't make this adventure that interesting. Ninety percent of the book consists of Fitz walking from place to place! I don't need a lot of action in a book, but I need something more than this. If it would have been a shorter book I think it would have been much better. It was dragged on for way too long. By far the weakest of the series.

After reading so many pages of Fitz endlessly walking around, I expected the ending to be pretty good. It was okay, but not great. It wasn't as awesome of an ending as I was hoping for. I thought maybe magic would have played even more of a role than it did and what happens to Verity destroyed me. It was so upsetting. After all Verity did and everything his wife went through! :( The very ending of the book also seemed a bit rushed, especially compared to the rest of the novel.

Characters

I love Fitz, but most of the time he is an idiot and doesn't think things through. It became very frustrating by the end of the book. At least his bond with Nighteyes makes him more interesting! Nighteyes is just incredible and I love the way he thinks about things. I at least liked how Fitz was able to develop more of his skill as the book went on and what he does to Regal is just awesome. It was all his longing for his past that he wanted to leave behind in the first place that became kind of annoying to me. He complained about it the entire book. Ugh.

Towards the end of the book we finally get to see more of the Fool and he has changed quite a bit. Everything he does along the journey to find Verity helped to keep me interested in the story. He is a very interesting character and I adore the relationship that he has with Fitz and, eventually, Nighteyes! Very entertaining.

Regal, as usual, is just as annoying as ever. I really hate him and am glad how he ended up.

There are some other characters that Fitz picks up along the way, but the most notable would have to be Kettle. She is very elderly, but insists on going with him to find Verity. I just love her and the secrets of her past! She is one of the strong female characters in this story besides Kettricken.

Writing

Robin Hobb is an amazing writer! Everything flowed really well and she really knows how to tell a story. She is just a little long winded at times and needs a bit of help shortening her story to make it more interesting.

Overall Thoughts

This final book in the trilogy was a bit of a let down. I wasn't too impressed with it and it was very long winded and difficult to get through. However, I stuck with it because I wanted to finish the series and I adored the characters.

As a series, it is pretty good. The characters are memorable, well developed, and entertaining, but the plot just moves a bit slow. I would recommend reading this because, despite its flaws, it is still a good story. I just don't think I would ever re-read it.

Started out fairly strong.. kind of name of the wind-ish.. but progressed linearly into drivel particularly by the 3rd book which was so poorly written and disappointing.

Like other reviewers mention fitz evolved steadily from promising character to a drab weak moaner relying on luck to achieve his goals.

The magic systems in the world don't have a structure or believability to them. Skill starts out as a kind of telepathy and by the end it can be used for all sorts of ridiculous stuff like carving dragons from stone.

The main bad guy "regal" also has a ridiculous arc from spoiled child to skill-wizard controller to meh.

Actually nearly every character arc was silly and unsatisfying.. chade the old mentor went from pocked old man needing drugs to function to dashing womanizer. Fool went.. God knows where.

There were no clever plot twists.. it was all lucky or magic escapes and random bad situations.. no development.

Ahhh nuff said.. it starts out well enough but becomes so terrible I couldn't recommend to anyone.

I recall that bitter sweet sadness and majesty that lingered with me for days after reading Lord of the Rings. I've found it difficult to recapture that magic with other fantasy authors. This trilogy by Robin Hobb captured that. This third book was much larger in scope than the other two, and was my favorite of the three. Hobb displays creativity, cleverness, sensitivity, and mastery of prose.
I greatly appreciate authors like Hobb who carefully craft their sentences, when much of the genre is filled with lifeless, half-assed, descriptionless skeleton narratives prime for skim reading. A lot of people seem to like that sort of narrative style, as well as publishers who can crank books out. But these are books to be savored.
The book is very long, and there is plenty of deliberation. But I did not feel as if the middle bogged down significantly. With writing this good, a book is allowed to be long. The threads are cleaverly tied.
Some people are disappointed with the ending. I was not. Hobb's world is relentlessly gritty and tragic and real. There was initially no set plan to continue other books in this world, so it really and truly ends.

I am excited to read the Liveship Traders, and look forward to eventually reading all of the books set in this world, which are rated even better than this.

Assassin's Quest provides a fitting conclusion to the marvelous Farseer trilogy. As an individual volume, though, I will grant that it is less consistently absorbing than its predecessors. The first half of the book especially was at times somewhat tedious. Still, if AQ is possibly the weakest of the bunch-and I'm not sure that it definitely is- then that merely proves that Robin Hobb is one of the best fantasy writers around.

AQ starts with Burrich and Chade secretly working to heal Fitz, who is presumed dead after the concluding events in Royal Assassin. Fitz has been effectively outcasted from his past life-there is no returning to Buckkeep. After recuperating, Fitz separates from Burrich and Chade and eventually even his wolf companion Nighteyes, and he attempts revenge on King Regal, who has set up his court at Tradeford. Fitz ultimately shifts his focus and decides to seek the true king, the long missing Verity. Fitz is pursued by Regal's men as he travels to Jhaampe, and is reunited with Nighteyes and meets the minstrel Starling and the mysterious Kettle along the way. In Jhaampe, Fitz reunites with Verity's wife Kettricken and the former court Fool of Buckkeep. There is even a brief reunion with Chade. From Jhaampe, Fitz, Nighteyes, the Fool, Kettricken, Kettle and Starling set out to find Verity. On this quest, Fitz fulfills his role as catalyst. The struggle with Regal is ended, and so too is the fight against the Red Ship Raiders.

AQ is different than the previous Farseer entries in that the tale is no longer oriented around Buckkeep. Also, many major characters from previous volumes (such as Burrich and Chade) are relatively deemphasized. Molly and Lady Patience do not interact with Fitz at all, though Fitz and the reader get to peer in on their doings through Fitz's skillusing. And there is a whole new set of characters (Starling and Kettle) to assimilate. Despite these changes, Hobb continues to excel at characterization, and the story does not intrinsically suffer by leaving Buckkeep behind.

However, there are some issues to be addressed. One common criticism is that AQ is too long. I tend to agree, and think that the first half of the book could have been easily shortened. Fitz doesn't even arrive at Jhaampe, which serves as the base camp for the search for Verity, until page 380. To be fair, much had to happen before the quest could get going. Fitz had to be nurtured back to health, he needed to reach extreme desperation before he was skill-imprinted to seek Verity, it was important to develop Starling and Kettle as characters prior to the final quest, etc. Nevertheless, it didn't need to take nearly 400 pages to accomplish all this. Though there was much in the first half of the book that was interesting, at times I found myself wondering when the story was going to start picking up.

Another common criticism is that AQ manages to end too abruptly. Here I don't agree. AQ does end more abruptly than many fantasy stories, but this ending fits well with this particular story. For instance, based on information from the previous volumes, it was clear that in the distant past King Wisdom had enlisted the help of the Elderlings to win a decisive victory over the Red Ship Raiders. Elderling participation in the struggle was the key to victory. This reader thus did not feel cheated that Verity's struggle against the Red Ship Raiders-in which Verity sought to emulate King Wisdom's strategy-ended quickly and decisively. More importantly, it is well to remember that Hobb's focus is on Fitz as catalyst, helping others to be heroes. On the final quest Fitz helps Kettle and Verity in their attempt to find a way to fight the Red Ship Raiders; he staves off Regal's designs that would have rendered Kettle & Verity's achievement meaningless; he enables the Fool to play an important role in these accomplishments. There is much that Fitz manages to achieve here at the end of AQ that is richly satisfying. For me, this is a suitable and appropriately rewarding end to a masterful trilogy.

I have a subscription to Audible and listen to tons of audio books. This is perhaps the most boring I have ever listened to. This is not due to any fault of the narrator, it's just a slow book that drags on forever. The first two books kept me interested, even when there was no action the conflicts that the characters faced kept me interested.

The first half of the book was fine. We met new characters and there were some sticky situations that had me concerned for Fitz. Then... Fitz and the crew go into the mountains and do absolutely nothing for what seems like forever! It was hours listening to the narrator drone on and on about conversations that go nowhere. I even forgot about the "bad guys" and lost any sort of suspense I had - which is one thing you never want to happen in a book.

With 4 hours left to this audio book, I decided to give up. I couldn't imagine listening this prattling for 4 more hours. I googled to see what happens at the end and I'm glad I stopped when I did. Actually, I wish I would have stopped after listening to the second book - it would have saved me some time.

Oh, and in case you think "maybe this reviewer can't handle a slow burner"... I listened to Stephen Kings unedited version of The Stand and loved every word of it. You don't get more of a "slow burn" than that...

After finishing Assassin's Quest, I was left wondering how after two good books this could was given to readers to finish up the Farseer Trilogy. Following Fitz's journey to regain his humanity then seeking vengeance against Regal and then journeying to find Verity has all the prospects of an exciting book, however the result was tedious details that were repeated every couple of pages and then were the info dumps that actually had to be rushed(!) before the climax of the book. And then after all the build up of the Red Ship War that the reader has been experiencing along with Fitz over two books, the end of the war isn't experienced it's described afterward to the reader's frustration.

There were plenty of bright spots throughout the book, even when some of them were tainted with the book's overall flaws. The magic of the Wit and Skill were better understood, the mystery of the Fool and his interest in Fitz, Chade's reemergence into public knowledge, and the unique type of dragons created in this fantasy. Fitz's interactions with a host of characters from familiar to new acquaintances was a mixed bag in terms of his character development, especially when it came to Kettle who Fitz should have verbally rounded on earlier than he eventually did.

Assassin's Quest is essentially a mixed bag. The book doesn't reach the level of bad, but it is disappointing as the finale of the Farseer Trilogy. If you've read the first two books then you should read Quest, but don't expect a fantastic finish.

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb

Four stars for a sweeping epic. I highly recommend this classic trilogy but be warned it takes a commitment from the reader to make it through the entire trilogy!

Spoilers.

Gone is the almost claustrophobic setting of the first two books where Fitz rarely leaves Buckkeep. This story spans a much greater distance and epic journey.

Fitz is not the sharpest knife in the drawer – that much hasn’t changed from the first two books in the trilogy. This is a character trait that usually drives me mad in most books, but that’s because authors usually try to convince the reader that main character isn’t dumb as a post – usually be having the other characters fawn and praise him. Not so with Fitz, both Chade and Burrich in the first part of the book and many others as the story progresses point out the character’s flaws.

Fitz as always is the Catalyst as the Fool (whose real name is never revealed!) often calls him and never the true driver of the action. Never the hero. He botches nearly everything he touches and in the end saves the day almost by sheer luck.

The story opens where book 2 left off. Fitz has been resurrected from the dead and must recall that he is human. It is a long task that Burrich takes on with patience of a saint.

Once he finally comes to himself, Fitz wastes his one advantage, the fact that everyone believes him dead, before charging forward with an ill-conceived and poorly executed attempt on Regal’s life. After that he is running for his life. He is captured no less than three times and Robin Hobb never spares our characters any grief or torture.

The main flaw with this book is that it is massive! Much happens from the beginning when Fitz awakens still believing himself a wolf and the end when Verity finally wins back his Kingdom and defeats the Red Ships.

Mostly, Fitz travels, meets various people who point out his flaws including his continued drug addiction (Elf Bark which in the first two books was used without a hint that it was problematic is revealed as very dangerous perhaps even disastrous in book three) . Fitz continues to trust people when he shouldn’t and reveal secrets that threaten those he loves. Time and time again he fails to put the pieces of the puzzles together. At one point Verity states something off handedly that was obvious to the reader (at least me) but completely missed by Fitz. By how easily Verity comes to realize it, I think we are meant to find Fitz a little lacking in the perception skills!

It is a long journey told in great detail. Dragons are not even mentioned until about 70% through the book – they are never foreshadowed and so their appearance is a little too abrupt. Not surprising, since a dragon appears on the cover, but still some foreshadowing would have served the story better.

It is riveting and the writing continued to draw me in, though perhaps like George RR Martin, Robin Hobb likes to torture her readers a bit.

Young FitzChivalry, trained as an assassin, is now on the run from his own death, which was orchestrated by his mentor in order to save him from hanging at the hands of the self-declared King Regal, who insists his older brother, King-in-Waiting Verity, is dead on his quest to the lands beyond the Mountain Kingdom. And it's mostly all downhill for Our Hero from that point. Regal is determined to make his claims self-fulfilling, so Fitz -- having first failed badly at an attempt to wreak personal revenge -- sets out on his own quest, to do what he can to aid his true king, with whom he shares a close psychic tie through the Skill. And he's accompanied by the now-grown Nighteyes, the wolf to whom he is Wit-bonded, and who (though he views the world and the people in it the way a wolf would) is a complex and intelligent character in his own right. Kettricken, Verity's wife and now the rightful queen following her father-in-law's death, takes charge of the search, and two new characters join in as well. And the Fool returns in a new guise as someone far more important to the survival of the kingdom (and the world generally) than Fitz, or the reader, would have suspected.

It would take several thousand words even to barely outline the plot in this concluding volume of the first "Elderling" trilogy, there are so many threads and complexities. Fitz won't get what he thinks he most truly wants and will have to grow up in various psychologically painful ways. Verity is still alive, we know that much, but will he remain that way? Hobb is perfectly capable of doing terrible things to those the reader has come to care about, so you'll approach the denouement with some trepidation. In fact, you need simply to start at the beginning of this trilogy and settle in for a long, often unsettling, sometimes terrifying ride through an epic dark fantasy adventure of very high quality indeed. Some reviewers have denigrated it for being too depressing. I would say it's realistic, with a vengeance. And even at the last moment, the author will reveal some causes and effects that will give you pause.

There are series that, having finished them, leave you with a lingering discontent. A feeling that you've been cheated. That the endings were too easy and the plot arcs too conveniently brought to a close.

This is not one of those series. Hobb is too good to let that happen.

Much of this book is about losing oneself. To a companion who offers a simpler world. To illness and the failings of a body that once you were content to call your own. To the needs of a people. To the call of a magic.

It is about finding yourself, as well, in the love of people and animals who stay loyal despite your shortcomings. In the devotion of a wolf who forsakes his own kind because together, you and he and make a different kind of whole. In the sacrifice of one's skin for a single night so that your king and his queen can rekindle what, soon, will be lost forever. In the sharing of the mind of a friend where, finally, for all time, you prove the depth of your connection.

This book has everything: dragons quickened by life and awakened by death; minstrels yearning to make the song that will win them their place in history. A child born and a childhood romance gone, but the bittersweet knowledge that the one who now has her heart will care for her perfectly. It has prophecies fulfilled and deadly coteries; a spoiled boy-king; and dragons wreaking revenge on marauding pirates. And the beauty of this book is that, amongst all that, the key players remain so beautifully human.

Fitz and the Fool and Night Eyes and Verity and Kettricken forever hold a place in my heart.

On the whole I love the Farseer trilogy (and the wider series that it begins), but every time I read this particular book, I find myself losing patience about halfway through. It's one of those fantasy novels that consist mostly of characters walking across their realm, and the already meager plot often gets further bogged down in mysticism about ancient secrets. There are enough interesting character moments to make me stick with the story even on a reread, but it's well below the level of the Elderlings saga at its best.

A satisfying ending to the first trilogy - though I read the Tawny Man trilogy first (accidentally), so it read like a prequel to the 2nd series. Make sure you this trilogy first so that everything will be fresh and new.

What I really liked about this series is that each book was different, and that the characters were given more depth and history. I do wish that some more of the other characters from books 1 & 2 were present, as opposed to just being mentioned. At times, the journey seemed to be drawn out and other times at pivotal moments, things happened so quickly that I had to go back and re-read it to relish it more.

Betrayed, tortured and left for dead, Fitz has survived the depredations of his mad uncle Regal and been taken to safety in the countryside of the Six Duchies. Plagued by nightmares and trauma, Fitz eventually recovers enough to swear himself to two tasks: the murder of Regal and the safe rescue of Verity, the long-missing true king.

Assassin's Quest concludes the Farseer Trilogy in a manner that I don't think anyone was quite expecting. The first two volumes of the Farseer series are traditional epic fantasies in many respects, but ones where more overt displays of magic and violence are rolled back in favour of a deeper emotional storyline and character development. Still, with their intrigue, battles, romance and betrayals (if separated by lots of long-winded introspection), there is much of the standard fantasy template within them.

Assassin's Quest is completely different. In fact, it's a very strange book. For most of the novel we are firmly in Fitz's head as he undergoes what can best be described as a PTSD-induced nervous and near-mental breakdown after the trauma he suffered at the end of Royal Assassin. Suffering severe depression and making awful judgement calls (as everyone calls him on but himself), Fitz has to first find himself and restore his confidence before he can embark on his long-delayed true quest, which is to find and rescue Verity. Eventually, after crossing (with agonising slowness and quite astonishing amounts of angst) the entire length of the Six Duchies, Fitz overcomes his demons and gets on with the story. The problem is that this happens some around page 500, meaning that the novel only then has 300 pages to wrap the entire trilogy up in.

You might imagine this means that those last 300 pages are full of incident and plot and character development as Hobb brings the story across the finish line? Not so much. Those 300 pages still meander, circling around major plot and character moments for dozens of pages before landing (and often exactly where the reader can see them going). Eventually, in the last few pages of the book, the author explains the background of the Elderlings, Forging, the Red Ship Raiders, the Skill and many other aspects of her world, but it comes so abruptly after almost 800 pages of slow-burning despair that it feels highly anti-climactic.

In some ways you have to respect Hobb for crafting such an utterly strange ending to a fantasy trilogy, one that shys away from convention and ignores every rule of plot structure and pacing. In many respects Hobb was writing a profoundly anti-epic fantasy, something similar to what Patrick Rothfuss appears to be doing with his trilogy (only with rather less humour), and in its sacrifice of plot and action and exposition for character and a realistic approach to how a real human mind might cope with the craziness of your average epic fantasy adventure, Hobb is clearly doing something different.

But different does not mean good and the thing about experiments is that they sometimes just don't work. Assassin's Quest has fine moments of characterisation (probably best exemplified in the relationship between Fitz and the Fool), some real moments of jaw-clenching terror and some very odd moments of real magical weirdness, but it is also a novel that unfolds with all the verve, pacing and tension of watching a lethargic snail travel thirty miles. The massive stakes and tensions raised over the course of almost 1,200 pages across the first two volumes are effectively handwaved away at the end of the novel: the Red Ship Raiders are defeated off-screen, the Fool remains resolutely unexplained and most of Fitz's friends and allies remain in complete ignorance that he is alive.

Obviously we know now there is more to come in the Tawny Man and Fitz and the Fool trilogies, but on its own merits Assassin's Quest (**½) is an altogether unsatisfying conclusion to the first series, languid to the point of unconsciousness until the too-rushed ending. There are some wonderful atmosphere moments and some occasionally effective dialogue, but overall it is a disappointing novel. Still, it is followed up by the far superior Liveship Traders trilogy.

The thing with the Farseer books is that they go dark —far darker than I'd ever had fantasy go when I first seriously started reading the genre. We join Fitz at his lowest ebb. He's lost everything, the woman he loves, his position at court. He'd be a hunted criminal if it weren't for the fact that everyone believes that he's dead. As it is, he's known as the Witted Bastard, and has become something of a bogeyman used to frighten children. Yeah, so that totally sucks.

Free for the first time in his life to act with agency, Fitz chooses to avenge himself on the one who's responsible for creating the hell that has become his life – Regal, now king of the Six Duchies. And yet he's not free, for the duty laid upon him by his uncle Verity draws him to the Mountain Kingdom to aid the true heir in his mission to free the kingdom from the marauding Red Ship Raiders.

Hobb goes further to explore the relationship between Fitz and his wolf Nighteyes, in all its beautiful subtlety. Her deft strokes expand on the nature of the relationship with the enigmatic Fool, who will always be present, helping and, sometimes, hindering. Ketricken and Fitz also have a special relationship that is deep and abiding – and I dare say a true bond.

This is my second read through the book, and as expected, I missed a lot the first time and though I recalled the gist of what happens, there is so much layering to rediscover that it felt as if I were reading the story again for the first time. We are presented with the ancient mysteries of the Elderlings, the dragons, the lost magic of the stones. Our heroes sift through the ashes of a fallen civilisation, hardly understanding the artefacts that they uncover.

As always, Fitz's self-talk is heavy; he is at the end of the day his own worst enemy and he remains perhaps one of the most enduring and endearing fantasy characters I've had the pleasure of getting to know.

The Farseer books reward patient readers. I've heard folks complain that things take a long time to unfold, but I will keep saying this: nothing Hobb puts in her story goes to waste. Pay attention to every detail because, no matter how inconsequential it seems, it will invariably play an important role later.

I cannot underscore enough what an important work this is in the collective oeuvre of modern fantasy. Hobb deserves all the honours she receives for her immense contribution to this genre, and I stand forever humbled in her shadow.

...and that's it.

The first book in this trilogy made me want to read everything Robin Hobb has ever written. It was an excellent story with a fun and engaging main character. The second book in the trilogy piles on the injuries the main character a little too much. This last book is 770 insufferable pages in which the main character is assaulted in almost every imaginable way: physical, mental, spiritual. He is stripped of all the interesting layers and left as not even a broken shell of a man. I think Ms. Hobb was trying to reimagine the cliched "to defeat them you must become them," but it just left me thinking that Ms. Hobb is a bit of closet sadist. I was enough of a masochist to read the book, but I won't be reading any more of her writings.

Two notes:
1) Like many others, I was surprised to get to page 700 before things started to wrap up. The mysterious and terrific enemy established in the first book and belabored in the second is dispatched in about three pages with about as much preamble as the character usually gives to his evening meal.
2) It appears from the jacket covers of the follow-up trilogy to this story that even Ms. Hobb relented and reimagined a happier ending for the main protagonist...

This book is quite long. It's 37 hours and 39 minutes of listening. The voice of Paul Boehmer has helped my mind to focus on the story he is narrating while I am multi-tasking at work. Robin Hobb is a very witted author. I am in awe of the twist she has interjected at the last few chapters in the end. This is a twist that has never even come across my mind. Usually, my assumptions are almost right but not this time. :-) My heart has been crushed several times for Fitz, and so, I am sad that the HEA I am waiting for him has not transpired. It's unfair in my opinion. I think he deserves it for all of the sacrifices and hardships he has gone through ever since he has moved to Buckkeep. This Farseer Trilogy is awesome! Moving on to Tawny Man Trilogy to find out if Ms. Hobb has granted my wish. :-)

Sad to say this, but this book was a deadened ending to the first two books. Assassin's apprentice had intrigue and action and was full of twists and turns. Royal Assassin had more of the same, and was a fun read. Assassin's Quest was a hole lot of quest, no assassin, and no action until close to the end.

This book seemed to just trudge along to get all of the story out. Why did this happen in book one? here is a lengthy explanation. And, What about this in book two? Another long and winded reasoning. What is happening now in book three. Nothing interesting, so let us reflect once more on ... zzzzz....

Everything that should have led up to a huge climax actually felt like once the wheel started down the hill, everything happened too far away for the character to see. So, it becomes an anti-climatic retelling of events. Chapters spent on days at a time until the final battle of days in a few mere paragraphs, that our hero was not even a part of.

I am your hero. I have had adventures. But the biggest adventure, I did not have, so I get to tell it to you instead - HUGE let down. I do not care about the ending either. Almost as if things were an after thought. Tie these strings tightly in one chapter and get the book to the editor.

Book one by itself was great, and book two was wonderful, but you have to have book three if you read book two, so i the end, you must read the trilogy, and I hope that you feel more rewarded from the ending then I did.

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Plot

Unlike the other two books in this series, which move pretty slow, this one moves even slower. For most of the book I was actually pretty bored, but continued to read because I loved the characters. I needed to know what was going to happen and I haven't decided whether or not I am satisfied with the ending.

The beginning was pretty interesting as Fitz overcomes his near death experience, but the middle of the book is where I was utterly bored. Fitz goes off to Tradeford to attempt to kill Regal without really having a plan. Though this fits with his character I thought this entire 100 or more pages was actually unnecessary. If it wasn't for Nighteyes being his companion through all of this I highly doubt I would have finished it.

Once he fails miserably at this, he moves on to try to find Verity, which he spends almost the rest of the book trying to do. It does make sense that it would take him awhile with Regal after him and trade with the mountain kingdom suspended, but Hobb didn't make this adventure that interesting. Ninety percent of the book consists of Fitz walking from place to place! I don't need a lot of action in a book, but I need something more than this. If it would have been a shorter book I think it would have been much better. It was dragged on for way too long. By far the weakest of the series.

After reading so many pages of Fitz endlessly walking around, I expected the ending to be pretty good. It was okay, but not great. It wasn't as awesome of an ending as I was hoping for. I thought maybe magic would have played even more of a role than it did and what happens to Verity destroyed me. It was so upsetting. After all Verity did and everything his wife went through! :( The very ending of the book also seemed a bit rushed, especially compared to the rest of the novel.

Characters

I love Fitz, but most of the time he is an idiot and doesn't think things through. It became very frustrating by the end of the book. At least his bond with Nighteyes makes him more interesting! Nighteyes is just incredible and I love the way he thinks about things. I at least liked how Fitz was able to develop more of his skill as the book went on and what he does to Regal is just awesome. It was all his longing for his past that he wanted to leave behind in the first place that became kind of annoying to me. He complained about it the entire book. Ugh.

Towards the end of the book we finally get to see more of the Fool and he has changed quite a bit. Everything he does along the journey to find Verity helped to keep me interested in the story. He is a very interesting character and I adore the relationship that he has with Fitz and, eventually, Nighteyes! Very entertaining.

Regal, as usual, is just as annoying as ever. I really hate him and am glad how he ended up.

There are some other characters that Fitz picks up along the way, but the most notable would have to be Kettle. She is very elderly, but insists on going with him to find Verity. I just love her and the secrets of her past! She is one of the strong female characters in this story besides Kettricken.

Writing

Robin Hobb is an amazing writer! Everything flowed really well and she really knows how to tell a story. She is just a little long winded at times and needs a bit of help shortening her story to make it more interesting.

Overall Thoughts

This final book in the trilogy was a bit of a let down. I wasn't too impressed with it and it was very long winded and difficult to get through. However, I stuck with it because I wanted to finish the series and I adored the characters.

As a series, it is pretty good. The characters are memorable, well developed, and entertaining, but the plot just moves a bit slow. I would recommend reading this because, despite its flaws, it is still a good story. I just don't think I would ever re-read it.

Started out fairly strong.. kind of name of the wind-ish.. but progressed linearly into drivel particularly by the 3rd book which was so poorly written and disappointing.

Like other reviewers mention fitz evolved steadily from promising character to a drab weak moaner relying on luck to achieve his goals.

The magic systems in the world don't have a structure or believability to them. Skill starts out as a kind of telepathy and by the end it can be used for all sorts of ridiculous stuff like carving dragons from stone.

The main bad guy "regal" also has a ridiculous arc from spoiled child to skill-wizard controller to meh.

Actually nearly every character arc was silly and unsatisfying.. chade the old mentor went from pocked old man needing drugs to function to dashing womanizer. Fool went.. God knows where.

There were no clever plot twists.. it was all lucky or magic escapes and random bad situations.. no development.

Ahhh nuff said.. it starts out well enough but becomes so terrible I couldn't recommend to anyone.

I recall that bitter sweet sadness and majesty that lingered with me for days after reading Lord of the Rings. I've found it difficult to recapture that magic with other fantasy authors. This trilogy by Robin Hobb captured that. This third book was much larger in scope than the other two, and was my favorite of the three. Hobb displays creativity, cleverness, sensitivity, and mastery of prose.
I greatly appreciate authors like Hobb who carefully craft their sentences, when much of the genre is filled with lifeless, half-assed, descriptionless skeleton narratives prime for skim reading. A lot of people seem to like that sort of narrative style, as well as publishers who can crank books out. But these are books to be savored.
The book is very long, and there is plenty of deliberation. But I did not feel as if the middle bogged down significantly. With writing this good, a book is allowed to be long. The threads are cleaverly tied.
Some people are disappointed with the ending. I was not. Hobb's world is relentlessly gritty and tragic and real. There was initially no set plan to continue other books in this world, so it really and truly ends.

I am excited to read the Liveship Traders, and look forward to eventually reading all of the books set in this world, which are rated even better than this.

Assassin's Quest provides a fitting conclusion to the marvelous Farseer trilogy. As an individual volume, though, I will grant that it is less consistently absorbing than its predecessors. The first half of the book especially was at times somewhat tedious. Still, if AQ is possibly the weakest of the bunch-and I'm not sure that it definitely is- then that merely proves that Robin Hobb is one of the best fantasy writers around.

AQ starts with Burrich and Chade secretly working to heal Fitz, who is presumed dead after the concluding events in Royal Assassin. Fitz has been effectively outcasted from his past life-there is no returning to Buckkeep. After recuperating, Fitz separates from Burrich and Chade and eventually even his wolf companion Nighteyes, and he attempts revenge on King Regal, who has set up his court at Tradeford. Fitz ultimately shifts his focus and decides to seek the true king, the long missing Verity. Fitz is pursued by Regal's men as he travels to Jhaampe, and is reunited with Nighteyes and meets the minstrel Starling and the mysterious Kettle along the way. In Jhaampe, Fitz reunites with Verity's wife Kettricken and the former court Fool of Buckkeep. There is even a brief reunion with Chade. From Jhaampe, Fitz, Nighteyes, the Fool, Kettricken, Kettle and Starling set out to find Verity. On this quest, Fitz fulfills his role as catalyst. The struggle with Regal is ended, and so too is the fight against the Red Ship Raiders.

AQ is different than the previous Farseer entries in that the tale is no longer oriented around Buckkeep. Also, many major characters from previous volumes (such as Burrich and Chade) are relatively deemphasized. Molly and Lady Patience do not interact with Fitz at all, though Fitz and the reader get to peer in on their doings through Fitz's skillusing. And there is a whole new set of characters (Starling and Kettle) to assimilate. Despite these changes, Hobb continues to excel at characterization, and the story does not intrinsically suffer by leaving Buckkeep behind.

However, there are some issues to be addressed. One common criticism is that AQ is too long. I tend to agree, and think that the first half of the book could have been easily shortened. Fitz doesn't even arrive at Jhaampe, which serves as the base camp for the search for Verity, until page 380. To be fair, much had to happen before the quest could get going. Fitz had to be nurtured back to health, he needed to reach extreme desperation before he was skill-imprinted to seek Verity, it was important to develop Starling and Kettle as characters prior to the final quest, etc. Nevertheless, it didn't need to take nearly 400 pages to accomplish all this. Though there was much in the first half of the book that was interesting, at times I found myself wondering when the story was going to start picking up.

Another common criticism is that AQ manages to end too abruptly. Here I don't agree. AQ does end more abruptly than many fantasy stories, but this ending fits well with this particular story. For instance, based on information from the previous volumes, it was clear that in the distant past King Wisdom had enlisted the help of the Elderlings to win a decisive victory over the Red Ship Raiders. Elderling participation in the struggle was the key to victory. This reader thus did not feel cheated that Verity's struggle against the Red Ship Raiders-in which Verity sought to emulate King Wisdom's strategy-ended quickly and decisively. More importantly, it is well to remember that Hobb's focus is on Fitz as catalyst, helping others to be heroes. On the final quest Fitz helps Kettle and Verity in their attempt to find a way to fight the Red Ship Raiders; he staves off Regal's designs that would have rendered Kettle & Verity's achievement meaningless; he enables the Fool to play an important role in these accomplishments. There is much that Fitz manages to achieve here at the end of AQ that is richly satisfying. For me, this is a suitable and appropriately rewarding end to a masterful trilogy.

I have a subscription to Audible and listen to tons of audio books. This is perhaps the most boring I have ever listened to. This is not due to any fault of the narrator, it's just a slow book that drags on forever. The first two books kept me interested, even when there was no action the conflicts that the characters faced kept me interested.

The first half of the book was fine. We met new characters and there were some sticky situations that had me concerned for Fitz. Then... Fitz and the crew go into the mountains and do absolutely nothing for what seems like forever! It was hours listening to the narrator drone on and on about conversations that go nowhere. I even forgot about the "bad guys" and lost any sort of suspense I had - which is one thing you never want to happen in a book.

With 4 hours left to this audio book, I decided to give up. I couldn't imagine listening this prattling for 4 more hours. I googled to see what happens at the end and I'm glad I stopped when I did. Actually, I wish I would have stopped after listening to the second book - it would have saved me some time.

Oh, and in case you think "maybe this reviewer can't handle a slow burner"... I listened to Stephen Kings unedited version of The Stand and loved every word of it. You don't get more of a "slow burn" than that...

After finishing Assassin's Quest, I was left wondering how after two good books this could was given to readers to finish up the Farseer Trilogy. Following Fitz's journey to regain his humanity then seeking vengeance against Regal and then journeying to find Verity has all the prospects of an exciting book, however the result was tedious details that were repeated every couple of pages and then were the info dumps that actually had to be rushed(!) before the climax of the book. And then after all the build up of the Red Ship War that the reader has been experiencing along with Fitz over two books, the end of the war isn't experienced it's described afterward to the reader's frustration.

There were plenty of bright spots throughout the book, even when some of them were tainted with the book's overall flaws. The magic of the Wit and Skill were better understood, the mystery of the Fool and his interest in Fitz, Chade's reemergence into public knowledge, and the unique type of dragons created in this fantasy. Fitz's interactions with a host of characters from familiar to new acquaintances was a mixed bag in terms of his character development, especially when it came to Kettle who Fitz should have verbally rounded on earlier than he eventually did.

Assassin's Quest is essentially a mixed bag. The book doesn't reach the level of bad, but it is disappointing as the finale of the Farseer Trilogy. If you've read the first two books then you should read Quest, but don't expect a fantastic finish.

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb

Four stars for a sweeping epic. I highly recommend this classic trilogy but be warned it takes a commitment from the reader to make it through the entire trilogy!

Spoilers.

Gone is the almost claustrophobic setting of the first two books where Fitz rarely leaves Buckkeep. This story spans a much greater distance and epic journey.

Fitz is not the sharpest knife in the drawer – that much hasn’t changed from the first two books in the trilogy. This is a character trait that usually drives me mad in most books, but that’s because authors usually try to convince the reader that main character isn’t dumb as a post – usually be having the other characters fawn and praise him. Not so with Fitz, both Chade and Burrich in the first part of the book and many others as the story progresses point out the character’s flaws.

Fitz as always is the Catalyst as the Fool (whose real name is never revealed!) often calls him and never the true driver of the action. Never the hero. He botches nearly everything he touches and in the end saves the day almost by sheer luck.

The story opens where book 2 left off. Fitz has been resurrected from the dead and must recall that he is human. It is a long task that Burrich takes on with patience of a saint.

Once he finally comes to himself, Fitz wastes his one advantage, the fact that everyone believes him dead, before charging forward with an ill-conceived and poorly executed attempt on Regal’s life. After that he is running for his life. He is captured no less than three times and Robin Hobb never spares our characters any grief or torture.

The main flaw with this book is that it is massive! Much happens from the beginning when Fitz awakens still believing himself a wolf and the end when Verity finally wins back his Kingdom and defeats the Red Ships.

Mostly, Fitz travels, meets various people who point out his flaws including his continued drug addiction (Elf Bark which in the first two books was used without a hint that it was problematic is revealed as very dangerous perhaps even disastrous in book three) . Fitz continues to trust people when he shouldn’t and reveal secrets that threaten those he loves. Time and time again he fails to put the pieces of the puzzles together. At one point Verity states something off handedly that was obvious to the reader (at least me) but completely missed by Fitz. By how easily Verity comes to realize it, I think we are meant to find Fitz a little lacking in the perception skills!

It is a long journey told in great detail. Dragons are not even mentioned until about 70% through the book – they are never foreshadowed and so their appearance is a little too abrupt. Not surprising, since a dragon appears on the cover, but still some foreshadowing would have served the story better.

It is riveting and the writing continued to draw me in, though perhaps like George RR Martin, Robin Hobb likes to torture her readers a bit.

Young FitzChivalry, trained as an assassin, is now on the run from his own death, which was orchestrated by his mentor in order to save him from hanging at the hands of the self-declared King Regal, who insists his older brother, King-in-Waiting Verity, is dead on his quest to the lands beyond the Mountain Kingdom. And it's mostly all downhill for Our Hero from that point. Regal is determined to make his claims self-fulfilling, so Fitz -- having first failed badly at an attempt to wreak personal revenge -- sets out on his own quest, to do what he can to aid his true king, with whom he shares a close psychic tie through the Skill. And he's accompanied by the now-grown Nighteyes, the wolf to whom he is Wit-bonded, and who (though he views the world and the people in it the way a wolf would) is a complex and intelligent character in his own right. Kettricken, Verity's wife and now the rightful queen following her father-in-law's death, takes charge of the search, and two new characters join in as well. And the Fool returns in a new guise as someone far more important to the survival of the kingdom (and the world generally) than Fitz, or the reader, would have suspected.

It would take several thousand words even to barely outline the plot in this concluding volume of the first "Elderling" trilogy, there are so many threads and complexities. Fitz won't get what he thinks he most truly wants and will have to grow up in various psychologically painful ways. Verity is still alive, we know that much, but will he remain that way? Hobb is perfectly capable of doing terrible things to those the reader has come to care about, so you'll approach the denouement with some trepidation. In fact, you need simply to start at the beginning of this trilogy and settle in for a long, often unsettling, sometimes terrifying ride through an epic dark fantasy adventure of very high quality indeed. Some reviewers have denigrated it for being too depressing. I would say it's realistic, with a vengeance. And even at the last moment, the author will reveal some causes and effects that will give you pause.

There are series that, having finished them, leave you with a lingering discontent. A feeling that you've been cheated. That the endings were too easy and the plot arcs too conveniently brought to a close.

This is not one of those series. Hobb is too good to let that happen.

Much of this book is about losing oneself. To a companion who offers a simpler world. To illness and the failings of a body that once you were content to call your own. To the needs of a people. To the call of a magic.

It is about finding yourself, as well, in the love of people and animals who stay loyal despite your shortcomings. In the devotion of a wolf who forsakes his own kind because together, you and he and make a different kind of whole. In the sacrifice of one's skin for a single night so that your king and his queen can rekindle what, soon, will be lost forever. In the sharing of the mind of a friend where, finally, for all time, you prove the depth of your connection.

This book has everything: dragons quickened by life and awakened by death; minstrels yearning to make the song that will win them their place in history. A child born and a childhood romance gone, but the bittersweet knowledge that the one who now has her heart will care for her perfectly. It has prophecies fulfilled and deadly coteries; a spoiled boy-king; and dragons wreaking revenge on marauding pirates. And the beauty of this book is that, amongst all that, the key players remain so beautifully human.

Fitz and the Fool and Night Eyes and Verity and Kettricken forever hold a place in my heart.

On the whole I love the Farseer trilogy (and the wider series that it begins), but every time I read this particular book, I find myself losing patience about halfway through. It's one of those fantasy novels that consist mostly of characters walking across their realm, and the already meager plot often gets further bogged down in mysticism about ancient secrets. There are enough interesting character moments to make me stick with the story even on a reread, but it's well below the level of the Elderlings saga at its best.

A satisfying ending to the first trilogy - though I read the Tawny Man trilogy first (accidentally), so it read like a prequel to the 2nd series. Make sure you this trilogy first so that everything will be fresh and new.

What I really liked about this series is that each book was different, and that the characters were given more depth and history. I do wish that some more of the other characters from books 1 & 2 were present, as opposed to just being mentioned. At times, the journey seemed to be drawn out and other times at pivotal moments, things happened so quickly that I had to go back and re-read it to relish it more.

Fitz ah, Fitz... never matured or developed (to me) as a character. He did fit his name though: the starter/catalyst . But overall he always acts like a spoiled child – when he does not get what he wants, he pouts and do things that will eventually put him and his group in danger. Then when that danger comes, he will say tons of ‘I’m sorry’ only to do impulsive things again in spite when he does not get what he wants.
I kept on hoping he will mature and act responsibly but then again I guess he just can’t because he was raised to obey as a tool. What grated on the end was that he kept wanting things for himself – a life for himself – unfortunately, he can’t think for himself. The only success he does in thinking for himself is when he sulk – then he will draw danger again to him and to those around him.
His matured, settled self at the last 20 minutes of the CD did little to erased all the above image that I witnessed from [book:Royal Assassin|68487] to the very last chapter of this book. I had more admiration to the rest of characters of this book, even the main villain. I believe he is a worthy enemy for this series because he did give the 'good guys' a good fight.
I do not know if I liked this series at all. It is a dark tale to begin with, with a very human main character. It will stir a reader/listener's emotions - both laughter and tears and in between. And in the end will leave the reader/listener wrung out of emotion in the end.
This is a good series I don't think I want to read again.
Lastly, I often rate a book based mostly on the main character. If I like them, more stars. In this case though, the number of stars is based on the story and not on the main character.
*Thanks to my local library*

Don't read this if you can't handle a whinny, silly hero. The first 2 books are not too bad but the third is absolutely rife with pitiful whining about silly mistakes, made one after another, by the "hero". He is constantly getting beat senseless or wounded because of obviously bad choices that only an idiot would make. The book also repeats information over and over again. It's almost like the story was originally intended to be published as short stories and, therefore, needed information repeated for anyone that started in the middle of the series. It's incredibly annoying. I would not have read this series if I had know how horribly the "hero" would be treated.

In this final book, Fitz seeks desperate solutions to Regal's command of the Six Duchies and the Red Ship's ongoing attacks. I remain impressed by how completely I adored this series. Assassin's Quest is higher concept and high fantasy, much longer and with a more significant plot, but the first two books built a solid, character-based foundation which supports that weight. This series has never been perfect, and its conclusion is no exception: new characters crop up without warning, Fitz frequently comes off as dim, and the epilogue threatens to be underwhelming. But with every book, this series has pushed its tropes--the companion animal, the found family with all of its messy and strange intimacies, Fitz's coming of age, hurt/comfort--further, and the end result has a visceral, pit of the belly satisfaction. Within its limitations, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

As the Booklist review notes, this concluding tome of the Farseer Trilogy is long. It tells the story of how FitzChivalry, our hero, heads out on a dual quest to find his king and defeat his king's brother the usurper. It does a respectable job in the process, further exploring the character's conflicts and motivations, introducing and fleshing out new characters, and following a meandering plot line, both figuratively and literally. Fitz travels a LOT, and we feel right along with him the seemingly endless trip.

While the Booklist review correctly notes that this length is both burdensome and an opportunity for fleshing the tale out, the page count was poorly used. Some middle parts of the book seemed to just go on and on and on, but the epic conclusion (and it is epic and it is worth the slog and it does satisfy to a degree), while very well crafted, seemed almost rushed. The denouement answered many questions and wrapped up many of the plot threads, but that, too, was uncharacteristically short and left many other questions unanswered.

I almost gave up on this book a couple times. I'm glad I finished it (as I noted, the ending was strong) but I feel that losing 100+ pages in the middle and adding 10 at the end would have made for a far more balanced presentation.

this book is a tall tail. character development is great and when a character seems to have a change of heart it seems natural instead of predestined that that's what the author intended. the story was good although at the beginning of each chapter their is a summery of events that occurred at some point in the kingdoms past, which if you read the first two books and earlier chapters in this book, were all repeated information.

I have to say that I have really enjoyed this trilogy, and this last book is different from most of what we get in the fantasy genre. A lot of this book is about Fitz's journey and his challenge in choosing between humanity and bestiality. But we also get an overwhelming sense of despair throughout the book, with Fitz skilling and seeing his loved ones suffer while he is marching towards doom. It seems that whenever something good happens we get the feeling that it will be short-lived.

That is why, I think that the author does a great job with the ending, which others here have criticized. I won't go into details of course, but I found the conclusion of the trilogy to be completely in line with the mood set by Hobb previously. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Hold on to your seats though, because there will be some interesting surprises along the way.

There are many things Hobb does very well when she writes. She is great with dialogue, some of the conversations we witnessed are way more thrilling than other writer's action scenes. She also knows how to get the pace to pick up when needed. However, some sections of this books are really slow and I found myself having trouble to get through them. The author decides to spend a lot of time describing a travels of Fitz and his group. There were some significant events in this journey, but a big part of it was pretty much flat out boring. This is the reason why I took a star away from the book's rating. Actually, at one point I was struggling so much I was thinking of rating it 3 stars, but towards the end there are many positives that brought my rating back up again.

There is no doubt, Hobb is a magnificent writer, and she shines when communicating the feeling of helplessness that abounds in this story. I also enjoyed that she spends time giving us more information about the inner workings of the skill and the wit, which adds interest to the story. Ultimately, for those that have read the previous books, this is a no-brainer, you have to read it, especially since there are other trilogies that build on the story, starting with Ship of Magic (The Liveship Traders, Book 1). If you are new to Hobb, I think this is an outstanding series, especially if you are looking for something a little different, with a lot of focus on character development and a darker mood.

Assassin's Quest is the third book in Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, and is difficult to speak of, since at every turn, I seem to be combatting spoilers.

The protagonist FitzChivalry's anger recuperates from serious wounds in a sheepherder's cabin, and in a desire for revenge, plans to destroy his uncle, who tortured him and believed him dead.

In constant tension are Fitz's two magics. The Skill is like mind magic, allowing practitioners to influence others, and suggest thoughts. his own use of the Skill is week, due to his partial training by a hateful Skillmaster. King-in-Waiting Verity has compelled Fitz, through the Skill, to come to him and aid him in his quest to defeat the Red Ship Wars. His beast magic, also known as The Wit, is generally hated (and much maligned) by the population, but his bond with the wolf Nighteyes is quite strong.

In the 150 preceding words I recognize how very complex the Hobb's plot has become. This is definitely a third book of three, and I couldn't imagine beginning the series out-of-order. Her writing, as usual, is extremely strong. The story is told from the perspective of FitzChivalry, and is made powerful by the development of all the characters. With the possible exception of Regal, none of the characters seems completely good, or completely evil. And even so, Regal has been given motivation for his hatred of his nephew. Even minor characters, like the young stable boy Hands, and the old woman Kettle, seem to have considerable plausibility.

A propos of nothing: I have noticed her fascination with names that start with the letters "Ke". I've noticed Kettriken, Kettle, Keffria, Kennit; even FitzChivalry's given name, Keppet. She likes strong characters with strong K names.

The book was complex, but immensely readable. The character of FitzChivalry is occasionally a bit dour, in the vein of a Hamelt, and his ruminations about suicide and revenge occasionally detract from the story itself. Nonetheless, it was a fitting end to the trilogy, and I was happy to read the series to its conclusion. It was worth every word, and I am once again,pleased to say I'm happy I discovered Robin Hobb's writing, and her Elderling world, several months ago.

Five of Five Stars

Every so often I read a book or series which sinks its hooks into me, something not just memorable but engaging to the point where it spills over into the rest of my life. "Assassin's Quest" did that, finishing what the first two books started. It's hard to write reviews about books which affect me in this way, because there's no real way to approach it objectively, or to convey to anyone reading how it's pertinent to them. Anyway, I'm going to try.

The story picks up almost straight after the second book left off. The first 50 pages (of a 757 page paperback) set-up everything very nicely; we get some context, and the foundations for the rest of the novel. It's a solid beginning, much improved over the last book, and the next 150 pages are also pretty solid.

After that, though, the middle section drags. There are hints of fantasy travelogue to it, and although everything that happens has later relevance and is interesting, the slower pace is telling. As with the previous two books, it's the character-driven plot taking over. And from here, the plot becomes a bit disjointed, and that gets progressively worse towards the latter portions of the book. The last section is stronger, and has alot of powerful moments. There are still some problems with it; I think the main problem is that there are some new story elements introduced late into the story, and this feels a bit jarring. This is also problematic in that some of the events don't make sense as they haven't had the time to be fully fleshed out. It also diminishes the drive of the story; the last section relies more heavily on pacing than narrative strength to keep things going. Otherwise, it feels like things kind of fizzle out.

Additionally, in my opinion, the ending is rushed, and everything is wrapped up far too quickly. I think this is particularly important because, being a character-driven story, alot of emotion has been generated over the trilogy. This isn't to say that there should be a feel-good ending, or some varying degree of satisfaction, but rather a sense of completeness and a full capitalisation on the character arcs. Instead, it's a rather blunt, abrupt conclusion. There's still a big punch to it, but there's little information provided, and most of it is told briefly in a paragraph for each topic/character. Think of the last chapter in Assassin's Apprentice - the ending here is like that. It feels as though all the characters have been cut from the story, that they suddenly ceased to exist or be important. Furthermore, the abrupt ending leaves other aspects of the story poorly explained, particularly the results of events immediately preceding the closing two chapters.

One of the main problems of the story is that it's largely disconnected from the previous two books. Previously there were several significant character relationships, many of which were major story-drivers, which acted as a source of tension on their own, then playing off against each other and increasing the tension further. Those are mostly gone here as the setting shifts, and have no immediacy within the narrative. While Hobb makes big efforts at reminding us of them, it doesn't quite work. This leads into another problem, where new events *had* to keep occurring to maintain an undercurrent of tension to the story, and they needed. It began to feel contrived at times, with things laid out a bit too conveniently.

Again, the characterisation is superb, and Hobb writes her characters so well that who they are as people comes through clearly via their interactions with each other. I almost always felt that there was a depth to these characters, implied through their words and actions, although the characters do tend to act a bit stupid at times when it's convenient for the plot or to build tension. I also didn't find the stories main antagonist unbelievable. It may simply be a matter of familiarity or passage of time, but we get more depth to it here, and it becomes more understandable.

I truly don't want to spoil anything - I'm a spoiler purist, and I hate to risk ruining things for others - but I really can't avoid giving one particular plot-arc a mention. It's the main romance story of this book, and it's a big motivational driver for Fitz from very early on. I guessed what was going to happen, but when it did it was no less breath-taking. For me it feels real, almost personal, and the emotions it inspires are deeply resonating. I feel completely wrung out.

About halfway through this book, I would have rated it marginally lower than the other two. I was becoming more engaged with these books, almost a growing obsession, but there were enough obvious issues that left me feeling frustrated. The ending though, despite its problems, just took this story to another level; I feel almost as though I had experienced this myself. I'm certainly going to buy at least the next two trilogies. I'm going to rate this book a half-point highler than I otherwise would purely for its emotional impact.

4.5/5

This isn't a bad book really. It's only bad relative to how good the first two were. There is just waaaay too much filler in this effort. You could honestly probably cut 300 pages out of this and miss nothing of the overall story. It starts off pretty well, lulls tremendously in the middle and then ends pretty neatly albeit a bit rushed but not too bad. I think if the meandering and repetitive bits were just trimmed from the book it would actually be a pretty good read. Still, I enjoyed reading most of it, it just got really tedious at points.

FitzChivalry Farseer's life keeps getting worse. He has once again barely -- and I mean just barely -- survived Uncle Regal's machinations. As Assassin's Quest, the third book in Robin Hobb's FARSEER trilogy, opens, Fitz's situation seems hopeless. Only a couple of people know he still lives and Molly is not one of them. She's gone, and it seems safest for Fitz to let her live in ignorance.

Meanwhile, Fitz's uncle Regal has declared himself king in the Six Duchies. He demands exorbitant taxes, has abandoned Buck Town and left Buckkeep in the hands of a foreigner, and has in essence given up the area to the Red Ship Raiders. Not only has Fitz suffered at Regal's hands, the coastal duchies suffer too.

Once Fitz is standing on his own two feet again, he decides to get revenge for what Regal has done to him personally and to the Six Duchies. But Regal is protected by a coterie of skillers and some rather nasty soldiers. As Fitz tries to hunt down Regal, Prince Verity begins skilling to Fitz and asking for help. Fitz is the only person who knows that Verity still lives, but it's not long before Regal discovers that both of his worst two enemies, FitzChivalry and Verity Farseer, are alive. Of course, Regal wants to get them before they get him.

Assassin's Quest takes a while to really get going, and there's some rehearsal of old events, but I think it had to be that way -- Fitz's recovery must be slow, or it wouldn't be believable. Hobb puts this time to good use, though. We learn about Burrich's childhood and grow to love him even more for what he sacrificed for Fitz. Molly also becomes even more admirable as we see her trying to make the most of her unfortunate circumstances.

Once Fitz is able to travel -- and there is a lot of traveling -- the pace is still slow, but by now the reader is so devoted to FitzChivalry Farseer and his wolf that it feels more like we're spending time with old friends than trying to get through a novel. Along the way we meet a few new characters, most notably the minstrel Starling and a mysterious old lady, and eventually Fitz falls back in with some characters who we already love and have been missing. Besides the slow pace, which I really didn't mind too much, my only complaint is that I had a hard time believing that Fitz doesn't want Molly to know he's alive. This felt like it was contrived to break my heart, but I must say that it worked.

In the end there is some glory for Fitz and the Six Duchies, but it's accompanied by much heartache. This isn't one of those fantasies where everyone lives happily ever after. Readers should know that though this is the end of the FARSEER trilogy, Fitz's story continues in Robin Hobb's next trilogy, THE TAWNY MAN. I've been listening to Tantor Audio's excellent version of FARSEER and so far they have not put TAWNY MAN on audio, but they do have LIVESHIP TRADERS, a related trilogy on audio. I hope we'll be seeing TAWNY MAN in audio sometime soon because audio readers are not going to want to wait for it.

I just came across this corner of dissatisfaction and feel I have to comment. I do think some of the other reviewers explain quite well why they like these books, but it seems that many people were disappointed by the lack of heroism at the end, even going so far as to call poor old Fitz a wuss. For me the last volume was a revelation, developing earlier themes in surprising and exciting directions, and drawing us through the development of both old and new characters along their arduous journey to the lost city and the garden of the dragons. But I'd rather talk about the trilogy as a whole, and why many of us find it so extraordinarily good.You have to understand that this book and the rest of the trilogy are so much appreciated precisely because Fitz is not a brilliant, glamorous hero, but a troubled, often obtuse,self-destructive, passionate, and hopelessly loyal "catalyst" to the great figures of his time. He is amazingly real, and his relationship with Nighteyes the best human/animal bonding I've ever read. Hobb is not an action writer, although I think she sets up action brilliantly, giving you a huge investment in the relatively short action scenes. Her deepest concerns, though, are with depth of character, the extraordinary richness of the six duchies world, and the complexity and fluidity of ethics and morality. The classic high fantasy epic morality of self-sacrifice, strategy, and battle is the dominant code in Fitz's world, fully honoured in the character of Verity. Yet this code is always undercut by Hobb's layering of profoundly different and valuable perspectives, often those of her wonderful female / gender-ambiguous characters: above all Kettricken, the Fool, Kettle and Patience, as well as Nighteyes and the Witted. In her best work - this series and the "ship" trilogy, Hobb manages to bring together the excitement and pageantry of epic fantasy with the thoughtful, speculative spirit of the best feminist science fiction and fantasy -- Le Guin, Tepper, etc. Of course it isn't everybody's taste, but I do feel sad when I see these masterworks by Hobb relatively unappreciated next to the somewhat bombastic cynicism of George R.R. Martin, for example, whose characters are primarily compelling because of their warts-and-all lack of nobility. Hobb goes beyond the popular layering of cynicism/irony over the old cliches - presenting a truly unstable moral ground where both those who try to be "good" and the more devious characters get caught up in irreconcilable desires and points of view. All with a wonderful gift for describing nature, spectacle, the awkwardness of relationships, and the ecstasy of transcendent experience in the "skill" and the "wit." Read it again Sam?

Other reviewers have covered every aspect of the book itself quite thoroughly so I'll just say that Robin Hobb is one of the finest *writers* working in the epic fantasy genre today. She ranks up there with the best of any genre. That's not something you can say about so much of the 'product' that seems to be flooding the shelves these days, especially the undercooked fantasy series that try so hard to be gritty and realistic but just end up capturing a kind of YA-Hollywood imitation of realism. Hobb is the real thing. She never panders, lets the story take its own course, doesn't hit you over the head with obvious exposition or author effects, just lets character and story develop naturally until the book becomes a real living breathing animal in your hands.

It's no coincidence that all her series tend to have some element of empathy with 'otherly' creatures - puppies, dragons, liveships - because empathy is what colors her work most effectively. She never goes for the big pompous grand spectacle though her scale is as epic as Martin's or Jordan's. Instead, she works from within a character, usually a single protagonist, even using the very-challenging First Person pov in this book to immerse you, Avatar-like, into the seat of consciousness of Fritz's mind as it goes from child to adult, orphan to assassin, powerless abandoned waif to Wit-and-Skill empowered hero.

Her style is graceful and felicitous to the point where I'm sure it must cost her the more popular readership of bigger selling authors but if those readers would try reading even a few dozen more pages they would see that her slow enduring grace always rewards you richly. In fact, she's one of those rare authors who not only delivers books in a series sharp on schedule to her readers - in this, I'm judging from the publication dates, of course - while expanding her themes, scope and action with each subsequent book.

I also love that she doesn't just write one long series but several interconnected ones set in the same world of the Six Duchies because it gives her (and us) the opportunity to view the stories and events through different protagonists. This attention to detail, rich pay-off in subsequent volumes (or even in the latter half of some volumes) and graceful prose are what make her so well worth rereading. That and the way she captures the magic of the human condition as effectively as most fantasy authors write about magical systems makes Robin Hobb one of the finest *writers* of fantasy.

Before I buy any book I read the bad reviews first. I do this because what the bad reviews do is show me what not to expect when reading the story, so they usually have the opposite effect. This is a glimpse into the life of a boy grown to live in the shadows of court life, abused and used by friend and foe alike. Obviously, such a life sucks! Who the hell expects to read this and get beautiful feelings of contentment and happy endings? Besides if this is the first of the books you have read from this author, and give up after this read, you're an idiot. This is just the beginning of Fitz's story, you have to keep reading to find the happy ending you expect to find at the long end of an epic series of stories. Don't give up on Fitz, the Fool, or Molly...there is so much more to this story line and the happy ending is yet to come, but not yet. This is an awesome story telling of Verity making a terrible sacrifice for the sake of the six duchies, another side of the Fool is revealed and Fitz goes on a long, terrible journey discovering secrets of himself and the world he is a part of. It is sad, and there will be dangling strings leaving you wanting more and asking "what the hell?" But you will find what I have found, Robin Hobb is the shiznit in epic fantasy writing!

If you've been reading my reviews on this series, you'll know that I've been fairly ambivalent towards it. Hobb has great skill, but it is a very concentrated talent: for each thing she does well, she does something else poorly.

The second book, Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2), was a great step up from the first. Sadly, this book seems to be a step down from the first and was overall disappointing. I do not know if I will read more books by this author.

The Good:

Hobb continues to show talent in the same areas she did before. The world building, character depth, and magic system are excellent. You do really care about what happens. Hobb does a great job of subtly portraying Fitz as an unreliable narrator, and the series is much more interesting for it.

I would praise her more, but I would just be repeating my earlier reviews on Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2) and Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1).

The Bad:

I should not blame Hobb personally for all of the issues with this book. In truth, many of my complaints are a failure on the editor's part, not the author's. The book could easily be half of its current size if it were pruned a bit, and many chapters add nothing of note to the story. Once trimmed down properly, perhaps the story would have time to reach a more satisfying conclusion.

Characters are introduced in one chapter, do absolutely nothing for a few chapters, leave, and then are never seen or mentioned again. Is this meant to show Fitz's newfound isolation? It did not feel that way; it felt like a waste of my time.

The edition of the book I read had continuity issues within the book. A minor character, who was firmly established as male, is suddenly referred to as "she" later in the story when Fitz is remembering him(her). Fantasy creatures suddenly transform into sheep then go back to being fantasy creatures. These issues could well be fixed in later editions, I do not know. Honestly, even the self-published stories I've read are usually better edited than that!

Hobb's strong characterization is one of her best skills. Even that wavers in this book, as Fitz frankly acts quite stupid for no reason other than to advance the plot. At least two-thirds of the entire book is Fitz travelling. We're told repeatedly that he has no money and that this is a big problem for his journey. In one chapter, Fitz loots the bodies of several dead people for supplies. While he is clearly not above stealing from the dead, he deliberately does not take any of their money for some unknown reason. In the very next chapter, Fitz's lack of money is once again a major plot point. This felt incredibly forced, and it's not the only time that something like this happens.

Without spoiling anything, the ending is also completely unsatisfying. We're treated to literally hundreds of pages of Fitz walking around the countryside, the plot creeping along at a snail's pace as Fitz moves at the same rate. When he finally reaches his destination, the plot-dam breaks and the next several chapters are rushed. Frankly, this should have been the middle of the book. It even reads like the middle of the book.

The actual ending is handled entirely in a narrated epilogue. Hobb tells us, not shows, what happened. After spending three books building several great mysteries of the series, each one is given an incredibly unsatisfying couple of paragraphs worth of summary. Some of these explanations do not even make sense, and do not match the facts we had been given leading up to this book. Were you trying to figure them out yourself based on the clues you were given? You were wasting your time.

I will not spoil the end of this book, but I'll use a comparison and spoil Star Wars instead. Imagine the entire second Star Wars movie had been Luke looking for Yoda. He finds Yoda at the end of the movie, and then entire third movie is summed up as an epilogue saying: "Then Luke became a Jedi. Using his powers, he defeated the Empire. As it turned out, Darth Vader was actually Luke's father, and also Princess Leia was his sister all along. The end."

That style of flat, uninteresting summary is how most of the major plot points are concluded.

Hobb also betrays our trust, somewhat. She apparently retcons the nature of "future Fitz," the man who has been narrating the entire series. I do not want to spoil anything, but suffice to say that "future Fitz's" timeline is not that far in the future after all. To me, this felt like a ploy to shoehorn in additional sequels.

In Summary

Despite my complaints, the book was still entertaining to read. Again, there are a lot of good points to this book: I just did not focus on them in this review because they are exactly the same good points the first two books had.

I do not know if I will continue to read books by this author. I frankly enjoyed the entire series, but the pacing of this book was so bad, and the ending so unsatisfying, that I am frankly afraid to trust her further. I felt cheated by this book, and that is not a feeling I want to repeat.

One of the first ebooks I ever purchased, Assassin's Quest is an excellent read. Narrated in the first person, it is a bit dense and humorless for my taste, but nonetheless a well fleshed-out fantasy with a solid cast of characters, and great drama. The action is satisfying too, and the plot is believable (well, believable in that it stems from the characters and is not riddled with plot holes/cliches...not believable in the "it could actually happen" sense). Good world-building, and lots of political intrigue on top of everything else makes it a pretty wonderful thing to peruse through before bedtime.

I wasn't a huge fan of Hobb's naming scheme, but that hardly stopped me from liking the book enough to buy the rest of the series.

My only real complaint is with the Kindle format's pricing. $7.99 for this ebook is ridiculous. It was $3.99-4.99 per book when I purchased this series (albeit for a different format ereader) years ago. I took a peek at the Kindle version, and I certainly don't see enough (or really any) improvements to justify that nearly doubled price. I really wanted to purchase this series for my Kindle, but honestly at this price, that's not going to happen.

Blegh, it's been 10 minutes since I finished the Farseer Trilogy with this novel's conclusion. Boy, what a ride it's been. It's the feeling you get after a long journey returning home.. but you're changed: like Frodo from Lord of the Rings. I feel this numbing hole now that it's over. But this book has faults nonetheless. Other reviewers have pointedly complained about the pacing/length of this novel as well as its ending. I agree with them.

This novel is by no means 'boring' it just feels very sluggish in the middle during the journey part of reaching Verity. And it departs from the 1st two books a lot: gone are so many characters we loved, gone are the focus of court intrigue in the face of the Red Ship Raider's Forging. Instead we are left with torturing poor Fitz even more so that by the end of it I could not help wiping stubborn tears (and I rarely cry lol so you can tell this stuff is bleak).

My gripe with the ending as a whole is that it is too realistic. This not hollywood by any means. All that pain and suffering should mean there's a nice reward in exchange...... right? Also, the Red Ship Raiders and Elderlings story line is swiftly concluded within a chapter almost. The whole book was the about the process not the result.

It's been 2 weeks to the day since I was searching here on the store reading reviews for a good fantasy series while I waited for George RR Martin.. Farseer Trilogy has been amazing. I've lost several hours of sleep reading late into the night hoping against hope for witnessing Fitz get his due. *SPOILER*------------ Sitting in a cottage in Buck with Nighteyes and his bastard son; scribing diligently in front of a warm fire away from court plotting and judgemental people is 95% of the life he always wanted minus the love of his life who left him for his closest friend instead.

"Assassin's Quest" has provoked a great deal of debate among Robin Hobb's fans. Some believe that it's the most vivid and imaginative novel that she's written so far, while others view it as weak and disappointing. I place myself squarely in the first camp. I find this book to be a triumph. It successfully resolves the stories of every character, major and minor, from the first two volumes of the series, while also boldly jumping into a new scope and a new location, and providing some major new people and concepts. Overall, it's a magnificent conclusion to what will surely be remembered as the best fantasy trilogy of the current generation.
The first fifty pages are dedicated to showing Fitz's recovery from the events at the end of the last book. After restoring his sanity, he sets out with a mission: to kill Regal. I don't want to give away any more of the plot than that, but I can promise you this much: the third volume of the Farseer Trilogy is much more than just a simple revenge fantasy.
Many people have commented on the originality of Hobb's magic system. In "Assassin's Quest", Fitz is constantly dueling with the surviving members of Regal's coterie. A much larger segment of the book is dedicated to the Skill magic and its ramifications than in the first two volumes. She thoroughly explores the question of what it would mean to not even be safe within your own mind. The answer is frightening at times, and the integration of this facet of the story makes "Assassin's Quest" even more suspenseful than "Assassin's Apprentice" and "Royal Assassin". The Wit magic makes another appearance as well, of course, and we garner quite a bit of new information about how it works and who can use it.
Another thing I liked about this book was the way that storylines from the distant past were worked into the plot without interrupting it. There are no history lectures. Instead, Hobb actually devises convincing ways to make past events work together with what's happening in the present. Her storytelling shows quite clearly that she planned this entire trilogy out right from the beginning. Little details from the first two books resurface to prove their significance here. I can't quit without mentioning her amazing writing talent, of course. In this book even more than in the first two, she shows a unique (among fantasy authors at least) gift for picking the right word at the right time. Despite the vastly changing scenery, she provides moving and convincing descriptions for every location. Her dialogue is very carefully laid out, and she brings all of the characters to life with believable emotions and reactions to events.

For many people who have read the Farseer Trilogy, Robin Hobb's descriptive and poetic words and her clever and profoundly complex imagination have led them into a whole new world filled with vivid colors, clear and crisp sounds, and many unexpected surprises. But for some, the traditional ending of 'Guy works hard, then guy gets the girl' is more appealing to them than the ending Ms. Hobb has seen fit to end her book with. Yes, it is unexpectantly brutal, and disturbing for the moment until one understands it was the only way fit to end the trilogy.
In the end of the first book, Fitz is weak and stranded in the mountains. In the end of the second installment, he had survived a brutal beating, that has left it's conspicuous marks in the third book, and has almost lost his soul to Nighteyes. It only seems fit to be consistent in the third book. It seems as though I would have thought it too obvious to end the third book with Fitz happy as can be with his long lost love Molly. That is one of the many aspects I enjoy in Robin Hobb's books. Very little is obvious or expected, and it is refreshing to find an author who goes against the grain.
There were some loose ends, but that is to be expected. Such as the Old Blood topic which never really went very far. That was one thing that was a mistake. She could have done alot with it. But besides that, the other couple loose ends keep the reader wondering what happens to the other characters. Whether done on purpose or by accident, it leaves the reader somewhat hanging. Even when all the questions are answered, there is still a mystery yet to be solved. This is even present in the "About the Author", which has as little information about Ms. Hobb as possible. Even when one is done with the series, there is still an air of suspicion, and mystery. It is quite an experience.
Just an afterthought. It seems as though Fitz is not only telling the story of the six duchies, and the titanic events occurring in it, but also writi! ng his autobiography. His entire life, from age five, to his present old age. He tells of his loves, his adventures, his pleasures, and his pain at the loss of his humanity. The pain at the loss of his love. And the pain of knowing that his closest companions thought him dead. It is a story of life. That terrible things happen, wonderful things are lost, and that the hero doesn't always get the girl. He doesn't get his life back, he doesn't even get the satisfaction of knowing that he has one friend in the world. That is the life Fitzchivalry lives. Anyone who has read this book should see how lucky they are. These books are amazing and awe-inspiring, and I encourage Ms. Hobb with all my heart that she keep writing.(Even more than the Ship of Magic books). She has a talent that I enjoy, and envy. Please e-mail me if you have comments. I would enjoy to hear them.

-This review is more for people who are contemplating rereading before plunging into the new Fitz and Fool series rather than reading it for the first time

After many years I finally decided to go back to the series I loved so much as a young and impressionable reader. My primary worry when starting my reread was that I simply wasn't sure how I would find the quality of the books now after so much time removed. I was much younger and this was one of the first fantasy series I read, so there was a small fear I wouldn't find them nearly as good as I once had after reading so many great series and learning much of the fantasy genre since then.

However, the quality still holds up very well and Hobb has her own unique style that I have not come across again in the genre. It took awhile to get going, but once I was I was flying through the pages much like my younger self had on my first read. The world is crafted well and pulls you in easily, and characterization is great at times.

It is not without faults though obviously and I feel I spent more time remarking on these than I would have expected during my reading. The biggest perhaps was my much lessened enjoyment of the character of Fitz. I have found most rereads pleasant because it allows you to pick up on all the smaller details you may have missed the first time around while also getting to appreciate the good parts that much more. Unfortunately, with a protag like Fitz that seems to constantly get put in terrible circumstances and make equally terrible decisions, this can be a rather tedious and annoying process. This third and final book of the trilogy was the worst of this, where it seemed to just be Fitz making blunder after blunder until the end.

On the first read it's easy to laugh at Kettle being aghast at Fitz and the Fool being the Catalyst and White Prophet, but here it was hard not to share her disdain. They did almost nothing right and essentially lucked into the end. It would be boring to read about a perfect hero sure, but it shocked me just how incompetent I realized Fitz to be. He dabbled in several skills, but was good at absolutely none of them and was punished by that incompetence time and time again. Others have complained about the lack of assassinations, I don't really care about the number of people he killed but the fact that he didn't even THINK like an assassin let alone act like one after all his time with Chade was very frustrating and led to feeling less sympathy when things went wrong (like the multiple times he got beat up after getting recognized because ofa refusal to alter his appearance beyond buying a kerchief following a botched assassination attempt on a king).

Some of the good never changed though, and I found myself enjoying nearly every passage with Nighteyes or Verity and appreciating them all the more knowing what was coming for the characters. The exploration of the ruined city and stone garden were filled with just as much adventure and wonder as I remember. The brief intro to the Old Blood ones felt more fitting knowing their later part. The relationship between Fitz and the Fool that gets complicated in Tawny Man was still so simple and pure. There's still a lot to like, and I do have to wonder if my disappointment towards the TM trilogy ending perhaps made me less likely to focus on the good rather than those things I disliked when going back and rereading this series. Certainly the ending here was sort of ruined and far less impactful than it once was, knowing what was to come in the future.

Ultimately my advice for those who are thinking about taking up another reading is that they are well written books and definitely worth checking out a second time. It is not an easy reread though, and you do have to look past some things and be ready to experience stupid decisions and painful memories all over again. I think it will be easier if you go into it ready solely to enjoy the series again for all its good, rather than focusing on being overly critical as I was at times. Give em a reread before jumping into the new series

Actually, 3.5 stars. The Farseer Trilogy has a great deal to recommend it. The protagonist, FitzChivalry, grows up with uniquely ambivalent standing (royal, but bastard, effectively orphaned, etc.), and imperfectly wrestles with conflicts between his duty and his personal wants. The plot is engaging, the magic is imaginative and is eventually tied logically to the persistent arch-enemies, the Red Ships of the Outer Islands. The symbolism (or is it metaphor?) of the Wit magic is interesting ... the Wit seems innocent enough, even positive, like a somewhat different flavor of Skill magic; yet Wit is almost universally (and irrationally) abhorred, and indeed is grounds for death, while Skill is widely admired. This has some parallels to religious beliefs, more to ethnic backgrounds, but it appears most parallel to sexual orientation. In any event, there are also a number of very different characters, many of which are conveyed in rich detail. A nice touch of realism is conveyed by the fact that Ms. Hobb permits bad things to happen to good people. I personally found the magic of the ending to be imaginitive, even reasonably consistent with the rest of the magic framework, rather than offensively contrived (deus ex machina) as some have claimed.

But there are significant flaws, as well. First, as others have noted, the pacing is erratic: some parts of the book seem to drag without advancing or justifying the plot, while the ending seems unnecessarily abrupt. Second, while Hobb draws a fairly wide range of characters, they often seem rather two-dimensional. The minor characters are often cartoonish in their coarse-grained simplicity (as supporting examples at random, consider the Duchess of Shoaks and Molly's father). The anti-heroes have few or no redeeming features, and the good guys have few negative characteristics. Furthermore, aside from Fitz himself, the characters seem quite static (little development). In short, too many of the characters lack complexity and any compelling humanity.

These minor flaws would probably keep this series out of the top eschelon of fantasy, but need not really impede enjoying it as a good story. However, there is one puzzling aspect that may appeal to some, but which for me (and for at least some others) was distractingly annoying. This aspect is the strange combination of Fitz's self-indulgence, on the one hand, and the relentless abuse he endures (generally through no fault of his own), on the other hand. In view of the largely gratuitous and undeserved suffering that she repeatedly visits on Fitz, I can't help suspecting the author of either a persecution complex (possibly justified), and/or of sadomasochistic tendencies. Not that those are inherently invalidating; but while harrowing adventures are one thing, having the hero repeatedly beaten to within an inch of his life, and beyond, becomes quite tedious and aggravating after a while. Strangely, the suffering does not seem to ennoble Fitz; instead, to the extent he considers at all the inordinate amount of pain his life has dealt him, he seems somehow merely whiny.

This series has other weaknesses, but also other strengths. Ultimately, its strengths -- a highly entertaining primary plot, numerous interesting subplots, a well-imagined world, and a wide range of characters -- creates an adventure fantasy that is extremely engaging and, overall, quite satisfying.

Assasin's Quest is the third and last book in a trilogy about the ... son of Prince Chivalry. FitzChivalry, as our character is named, has gone through a series of ordeals in his past as an assasin and ... son, looked down upon by many. In this book, we start out with Fitz not quite himself after having inhabited the body of his wolf for a while, and as the story progresses, Fitz recovers and goes, once more, on a quest to serve his King and Kingdom.
As usual, Robin Hobb weaves a captivating story that took me in and wouldn't let me go until I had turned the very last page. I would find myself reading until I couldn't hold my eyes open a second longer and then setting the book aside and having dreams about the story.
All of the charecters in all three books are well made -- none of them are at all perfect. They all have their flaws, but they all have their good sides too. Overall, they are very believable, and you get to know the characters, especially Fitz, very well.
Robin also built a world around her characters with amazing skill. Although I admit, the little writings at the start of every chapter with information sometimes became repetitive and boring, they helped me to understand the story a lot better. All of her descriptions were very good, and I felt as if the world could have been real. It is obvious that Robin Hobb put a lot of thought and effort into the creation of the world the characters live in.
However, I felt that for this book, I had to take away a star (and give it 4 stars). THe main reason was just that for the first 200 pages or so, Fitz whined soo much about all he had endured and kept being "frozen with fear" because of his memories. It was all good, because of course someone will have lasting effects from something like that, but I felt that Robin Hobb just overdid it a bit. I was ready to put down the book and stop listening to Fitz whine well before he actually got over it. The other part is just that I kept feeling as if those bits of information to start the chapters were repeating themselves.
Additionally, although this does not affect how much I like the book, I didn't really like the cover art on the US version of this book too much either.
Aside from that, this book is wonderful, and I highly reccomend it. Just don't give up on Fitz after 100 pages or so. He stops his whining eventually ;-)!

This book is a rousing conclusion to the Farseer Trilogy. Books like these three are rare. I have read and re-read them more than once, and even though I know, as I am re-reading, what will happen, I find myself affected the same way as I was the first time. (I spent the last hundred pages or so in tears!)
This book finally gives us a much-desired and highly intriguing character development of the Fool. He has always been one of my favourite characters, and in this book he absolutely shines! The shifting relationship between Fitz and the Fool is, to my mind, what makes this book; another strong point of the book is the shifting relationship between Fitz and his king.
This book does not have an easy ending; sacrifices are demanded from everyone, and in this regard, Kettricken comes into her own. She was raised with the idea of Queen as Sacrifice, and here she finds her true calling in service to the Six Duchies.
Hobb is very careful to keep her characters true to themselves. More than once you hope things will turn out great, only to find that, because of the characters' personalities, something not great has to happen. I never questioned the motivation behind people's actions.
I am eagerly awaiting The Fool's Errand (to be released after a VERY LONG WAIT in January). Just think, we poor lovers of Fitz and the Fool had to wait through the Mad Ship trilogy -- and I never had the heart to read it, because when I tried, it just didn't strike me as profoundly as the Farseer Trilogy.
Buy this book. Enjoy it. Then wait with bated breath for The Fool's Errand.

What probably made this entire series so interesting were the details put into characters and all the intertwining conflicts and problems that all seem to link somehow to "Fitz" the catalyst.

Fitz is a [...] prince that has lived a hard life as a royal assassin and has been deeply wronged and abused by the reigning King Regal. He is alive only by using a magic caled "the Wit" which is feared and despised and will make him feared and hated by the general public.

Fitz just wants to live a quiet, simple happy life with his love Molly. He is hunted like an animal though and close to death or treachery in every moment.

For him to ever get the peaceful happy life he wants, Fitz will have to restore the true king Verity to the throne and pretty much save the world.

So much happens in this book, there are so many little important subplots and complications and happenings that it would be impossible to relate them all.

This book and the entire trilogy were excellent. I recommend then highly. I felt real emotional distress and sympathy for Fitz in this book and I really hoped that things would end well for him and he could be happy.

On a completely unrelated note, Robin Hobb is a woman. For some reason I had assumed that Robin Hobb was a man and the author biography thing just said: Robin Hobb lives in Washington State. This was probably done intentionally so as not to put off male readers, kind of like JK Rowling. Anyway I was surprised.

She succeeds in yet again producing another quality fantasy novel with so much trash already in the genre. This book concludes the tale of Fitzchivalry, alive and well, bent on getting his life together and revenge on those who should pay. It was like always, beautifully written with real characters and situations.

I've said it before that Hobb can be somewhat of a slow read. She gives highly descriptive accounts and makes what could have been cut down a third of a book into an entire experience by having an answer for everything in this foreign world. Given that, it takes time to get used to her writing, and while it is not the most artful, it is very well done and with great skill. Hobb has a very simple, yet rolling, way to her diologue and descriptions.

None of her characters are perfect, not everyone has happy endings. ****POSSIBLE SPOILER**** Part of the reason I was so bent on finishing the books is because all I wanted to read about was Fitz being celebrated for all his eforts and having the happily ever after he wanted. I could have almost cried. But you have to remember that some of the best books around are those where people learn to grow even when they've experienced the worst of life. It's a very moving tale and one that may take me a while to reread, because I don't know if I want to experience the myriad of emotions I went through reading it anytime soon. Wonderful book.

This is the third and last book of the Farseer trilogy (after Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin).
After faking his own death to escape Regal and his coterie's torture, Fitz has to slowly leave the body of Nighteyes, the wolf to whom he's Wit-bound, and learn to be a man again. But some months later, after a quarrel with his protectors Burrich and Chade, he leaves the old cottage where he's taken refuge, and decides to make for Tradeford to assassinate the newly self-proclamed King Regal. Yet in attempting to do so, he hears Verity Skill-calling him: "come to me". He has no choice but to obey his rightful king.
His journey to the Mountain Kingdom and beyond won't be an easy one, as Regal has just put a prize on his head. Soon everybody becomes a potential enemy. But he'll also make new friends on the way, such as a couple of Witted ones like him, or a mysterious old woman and a minstrel girl craving for songworthy events.
Robin Hobb has wrought a wondeful trilogy, managing to give each book its own distinct atmosphere. Her characters are stunningly real and loveable, some like the Fool gaining unexpected depth as the story flows. I came to care for Fitz so dearly, the upsetting yet beautiful ending left me panting for breath, tears stinging my eyes, and furious at Robin Hobb, at how could she hurt him so.
This is fantasy of the quality that leaves you with a dizzying feeling of utter emptiness when you reach the last word. Indulge yourself, read it!

Regal has murdered the king, his father, and Fitz, his illegitimate cousin. Using an almost unknown, and certainly forbidden, power of the Wit, Fitz has preserved his soul within Nighteyes, his wolf companion, and is eventually reunited with his body by Chade, spymaster, and Burrich, his only true ally. Now, more than anything, he wants revenge on Regal, the murderer of the King, who has deserted Buckkeep and abandoned the coastline to the Raiders and moved to his inland palace in opulence and sybaritic comfort.

King (now) Verity is missing, believed dead. However, Fitz receives a Skill command to go to the Mountain Kingdom in search of the new King. With Nighteyes, Queen Kettricken and the Fool, Fitz makes his way to the Mountain Kingdom, relying on the Skill, and the talents of his allies, to survive. There, they encounter King Verity, and part of the secret of the Elderlings - the possible salvation of the kingdom, but at an awful price.

This is the tale of FitzChivalry Farseer. The discovery that this illegitimate son exists is enough to topple Prince Chivalry's ambition for the throne. He abdicates, ceding the title of heir to the throne to his younger brother Verity and abandoning the child to the care of the stable master Burrich. The youngest prince, Regal, has ambitions of his own, and wishes to do away with the illegitimate FitzChivalry. But old King Shrewd sees the value of taking the lad and training him as an assassin. For an illegitimate royal can be sent into dangers where a trueborn son could not be risked, and may be given tasks that would soil an heir's hands.

And so FitzChivalry is trained in the secret arts of being a royal assassin. He shows a predilection for the Wit, a beast magic much despised in the Six Duchies. This secret vice in the young assassin is tolerated, for a partnership with an animal may be a useful trait in an assassin. When it is discovered that he may possess the hereditary magic of the Farseers, the Skill, he becomes both the King's weapon, and an obstacle to Prince Regal's ambitions for the throne. At a time when the rivalry for the throne is intense, and the Outislanders and their Red Ship raiders are bringing war to the Six Duchies, FitzChivalry discovers that the fate of the kingdom may very well rest on the actions of a young illegitimate heir and the King's Fool. Armed with little more than loyalty and his sporadic talent for the old magic, Fitz follows the fading trail of King Verity who has traveled beyond the Mountain Kingdom and into the realm of the legendary Elderlings in what may be a vain hope to renew an old alliance.

Robin Hobb's first series introduces us to the Farseer line of Kings, and a well detailed and scripted world of dragons and magic. In Hobb's world, magic is the power of the mind, and sorcerers come in two varieties: those with Skill magic, to influence the minds of men, and those of Wit magic, who do the same with beasts.

This book is perfect. Apart from a few minute scruples: the absolute horror and depression acquired by the end of II was lost overquickly in III. This may or may not be a bad thing... but, having been left hopelessly depressed by the end of II (not only at the story, but at the thought of having to wait another six months to but III!), I thought that III opened too anticlimactically. A small point to dwell on, but there nonetheless. And another thing. III is far less believable than II or I. Here, magic plays an increasing part, and magic is a concept that we will never, as mere humans, truly understand; being buffeted with so many 'magic-systems' from every single fantasy book we read can make the whole thing a little confusing. Despite the fact that The Farseer uses a 'system' far more believable (and simple) than many others, the increased dependence on it to further the plot is something of a let-down. The plot itself presents a few dislikable fronts; the demise of Verity as a man I find horrifying, unsuited to even my morbid tastes; the Fitz-not-getting-back-together-with-Molly one didn't affect me nearly as much! And the final routing of the Red Ships, and the restoring of the Six Duchies' previous state happens in a far too rushed manner - take a few chapters, at least! But, despite all this, Assassin's Quest is a fine book, and a fitting conclusion to this epic story. And I hate to say it, but I did prefer II.

On a purely objective level, I think this book deserves five stars. The story is powerful and Fitz is one of the all-time heroes of fantasy. But there are other aspects, of a more personal nature, that make me reconsider the five-star accolades. It may be a trivial matter, but the cover is a disaster. No, not because I don;t like it, but because it gives away part of the plot for the end of the book. As soon as I saw it, i wish I hadn't. If you read the first two parts of the series and glance at the cover, you will know exactly what I mean. All right, that is a rather minor point. On a more serious level, Hobb has decided to write about a different kind of hero. Not the kind that is remembered in song for generations to come, but the kind that for some reason or other, has to remain in the shadows, is instrumental in the outcome, but is rewarded by few. And therein lies the problem I have with the book. Fitz is savagely beaten, tortured and humiliated, mentally and physically, and really has nothing to show for it. While this is in tune with Fitz' character, it just pained me almost to tears to read about it. In other words, yes, this is a unique hero figure, but no, I really did not like all that he had to go through. To continue on this, the ending seems really rushed. Once Fitz "does his thing" (I don't want to spoil it for you), it is time for others to reap the fruits of what he has sown. No songs for Fitz, just a life of seclusion. So the final battles are not even chronicled, because the part that Fitz has played is now over and almost not worth telling. In addition to this, at the end, Fitz no longer writes about some of the central characters that were part of the story. Sure, we can excuse it on many factors, and Hobb makes a believable case. But heck, whatever happened to some of those characters? It left me with a bit of emptiness at the end of the read. Again, bravo for Hobb for doing something unique, not not so bravo in making it so sad...

In _Assassin's Quest_, Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy rolls to a compelling, if overlong, climax. Like the previous two volumes, a slow start gradually gives way to a gripping tale that is near-impossible to put down.
The start is slower than ever here, however, and the book's rather inflated page-count seems to be more given over to detail and colour than narrative; much of it feels like a re-treading of old ground. In particular, the early section, on Fitz's recovery and his repeated descents into Wit 'addiction', feels cumbersome and several chapters too long. We've seen Fitz struggle through long convalescences before; Hobb has analysed Fitz's relationship with Burrich, with Molly, with Nighteyes, etc. at length elsewhere. If the prose were not so readable I'm not sure I'd have persisted past the opening 200 or so pages.
Once the new material gets going, though, this is a conclusion well worth the effort. The various plot-strands and themes of the trilogy reach a satisfying and entertaining pay-off, and the new characters who join in the ride add an interesting (and vital) new dynamic to the tale.
Well-written fantasy from a formidable imagination, that suffers only from that perennial fantasy pitfall: absorption in its world at the expense, at times, of the story's pace. Recommended, nonetheless, as a superior example of its type.

Well, I love to read, and it seems to me that I might make a stronger bond to the charactors of the books I read than is perhaps usual. It has long been so for me, that what I treassure in a book is not so much an exciting story, as a livid and realistic charactor description, that draws the reader into the story; fealing with and for the charactors.
This can be obtained in many different ways, I've experienced, but Hobb's approach seems to me quite unusual, and perhaps not entirely pleasant. It seems that Hoob shape her characters but raining down on them disaster after disaster, and it seems that absolutely no-one goes free. It certainly gives the story a new twist, because where many writers seem to fall for the temptation of the 'invincible' hero, who always manages some last minute solution and saves everything, Hoob's charactors are in quite the opposite position. There appears to be a host of possible happy endings to this story, and though I shall not reveal the story, it seems that Hobb takes a certain pleassure in discarding them all.
So, she certainly does mannage to capture the reader, but sometimes it's too much - the first 50 pages of this book seemed to be pure pain to me, and the ending certainly was not what I'd imagined in my romantic little mind. Tragedy is good, but it seems there can be too much of it in one book.

I would say the main strength of Robin Hobbs writing is her real world brutality.
Her main characters are not exempt from a beating, from death, from embarrassment, or from any ill that would befall us mortals outside of the fantasy realm. The heroes ego keeps itself in check, and I think this is the major accomplishment of these last 3 novels Hobb has written.
It is very easy to fall into the trap as a fantasy writer of allowing your main characters/heros to be invincible and omnipotent. What makes for a better story though are the flaws in these characters, and actually haveing them realize these flaws and work to make them better.
This book was the last in the installment for the Farseer trilogy, and as sad as I am to see it end, I think Hobb did a great job of ending it. I am sure it took a lot of strength to say "This series sold really well, why not just extend it by 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, 4 books., . .. " until she got caught in the same vicious loop as Jordan and maybe Goodkind.
The book is gratifying, it ends the series and ties up all the loose knots. Not all of them are happy knots to be tied up, but they are tied up nonetheless and the reader has to be content with this. Instead of just admiring the characters on a surface level when done with the book though, I got a much deeper feeling than that about them.
The characters were not perfect, but they grew in their faults and their accomplishments much as i would in my life. I came to admire and respect deeply these characters, and it is because of this fact that I will buy any book Robin Hobb puts out after this one, no questions asked.
You should do the same.

It starts off with Fitz still recovering from his death. Some of the drawbacks of his own magic, the Wit, are revealed, and much is learned of the other magic, the Skill.
After his recovery, Fitz leaves Burrich and Chade to pursue his own quest, a quest interrupted when his true king calls him with the force of a command. As he tries to answer the call, his enemies pursue him, and he learns more about himself as he flees.
He meets up with a few old friends that seem not to be overly pleased with him, such as Kettricken, Chade, and the Fool. He also meets some new friends, from a Minstrel to a mysterious lady with more knowledge of the skill than would be expected. Through this all he still has to deal with phantoms from his past.
This book is a bit darker than its predecessors, both in content and background. Not only do the Red Ship Raids continue, but also Fitz has to deal with the ever-darkening mood swings brought about by elfbark. As it is written from a first person perspective, this darkens the tale.
We also get some glimpses of the history of Hobb's world as well as a deeper understanding of the magic system that the author has created. That adds a certain enjoyment even with the darker nature of the story.
All in all the series is very good and this book is no exception.

This being more a summary for the entire Farseer trilogy, I will say that the book is somewhat disappointing in the sense that it leaves questions I had concerning the story unresolved. Where are the Red Ships coming from? How do they Forge people? Why are they attacking in the first place? We never find out.
However, I suppose Robin Hobb could be excused for these loose ends, as everything is told from Fitz's, the main character's, point of view. And as a point in Hobb's favour, I both liked and mourned over the ending of Assassin's Quest. The heroes in most stories, fantasy or otherwise, all get the girl and ride off into the sunset. The matyred tradgedy that is Fitz's tale goes in another direction altogether; the conclusion of Assassin's Quest finds him crippled, in both body and mind, and living in isolation.
Because of the duties and responsibilities forced on Fitz all through the books, it if difficult, at times, to remember that during the course of events he is no more than sixteen years of age or so. Despite his earlier dislike for his work as an Assassin, one feels a certain bitter glory for the exploits of his past.
And now Fitz has lost everything: the companionship of old friends, the chance for love, the irretrievable gem that was his youth. Even as the hero(such as it is) of the story, he has no 'just rewards' coming for him, not even recognition for the part he played in the salvation of the Duchies, nor some form of happy ending to make up for the lack of loving and care in his younger days.
Yet, despite the utter unfairess of the conclusion, and the aching bitter-sweetness experienced for Fitz's fate, one cannot help but wonder if this is the best way Hobb could have ended it, afterall.

I often cannot find fantasy reading that interests me, mostly because of too many characters and to many volumes, but this series drew me in from the very first sentence. It was thrilling reading and I couldn't put any of these books down until I had finished them.
The best part of it for me was the animal perspective. How many of us sometimes feel we share the "wit" with our pets? And haven't we often felt, as Fitz did, that we truly do not have a right to keep our animals as pets but we are blessed with them sharing their lives with us? So consequently, unlike a lot of folks, I loved the ending of this last book. I thought it went very well with the with the choices and decisions that were made throughout the story. When you think about what happened to Fitz throughout his life in the story, could it really have ended any other way? Who is to say that happiness can only be had when the main character "gets the girl" and lives happily ever after? While I do think that there could be more to this story if the author wanted, for me the ending was very satisfying.
Regarding there being what seemed unresolved issues, I wonder if the author doesn't plan on revisiting the six duchies again in a new series with the son of Fitz.
What do you think?

Robin Hobb's Farseer & Tawny Man trilogies are among my coming-of-age fantasy favorites along with Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle and Peter V. Brett's Demon Cycle. Ms. Hobb writes exceptionally well, frequently evoking deep emotions. Her strong first-person narrative, endearing characters, engaging story and exciting magic (the "Wit" & the "Skill" instead of sorcery) made my reading experience feel real. It isn't perfect as there is a bit of padding and repetition, (understandably) not much action, "assassin" in the titles may not necessarily match reader expectations, and the pace may feel somewhat slow.

The Farseer Trilogy (Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin & Assassin's Quest): Presents a simple yet inspiring story of an abandoned boy, an illegitimate heir talented in both Wit (abhorred beast magic) and Skill (magic to send thoughts, usually found only in those of royal blood), loyal to his king in the time of the Red Ship War. It is at mid-series when Fitz bonds with an unlikely creature that the Wit magic begins to shine. Readers not continuing onto The Tawny Man may be left disappointed since the ending is closed in only a few pages appearing rushed (as it is structured with a sequel in mind) and depressed from Fitz's losses (better appreciated in the sequel).

The Tawny Man Trilogy (Fool's Errand, Golden Fool & Fool's Fate): Direct sequel to The Farseer Trilogy. Here lies the true ending to Fitz's tale, explains his connection to the Fool, retells post-war events, and expands beyond the Six Duchies kingdom. After fifteen years, Fitz returns as a lowly servant to rescue his lost prince and then slay a dragon. Very moving are his journey with his Wit companion, his reunion with his surrogate mother, and most especially his coded message for his guardian (the stablemaster) in a Skill dream.

I couldn't resist reading this series non-stop and I am fortunate to find it in a time when all six books have already been published. Overall, it's quite enjoyable, very rewarding and definitely worth reading.

"Assassin's Quest" is the third and final book of Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy. When this series began, we met a young boy without a name. This boy was taken in by the royal house of Buck. See, this boy was the illegitimate child of one of the princes. He was given the name FitzChivalry and was trained as an assassin for the king. Through treachery, the king was slain and the prince that has Fitz's loyalty, Verity, was away on a quest to find they mythical Elderlings to enlist their help against the Red Ship Raiders that have been terrorizing the kingdom. With Verity gone and King Shrewd now dead, Prince Regal is free to act against, Fitz, whom he has always hated. At the end of book 2, "Royal Assassin", Fitz was presumed dead by Regal and buried. But like it is said in "The Princess Bride", Fitz was only mostly dead (he took a poison that would simulate death, much like Juliet did in "Romeo and Juliet"). The story picks up several months later and Fitz is in the care of Burrich, the man who has raised him all these years. Fitz acts like an animal, for that is what he believes he truly is (for the poison to work, Fitz had to use the "Wit" magic that has bonded him with a wolf). Burrich is working to restore Fitz's mind and reflexes to that of a human.
Fitz has to recover, or else there will not be much of a story. When he does, he decides to seek his revenge on Regal and Regal's coterie of Skill users who helped to kill Shrewd and sabotage Buck against the Red Ship Raiders. The title of "Assassin's Quest" is especially apt for this book. Fitz is the titled Assassin, and this novel truly has a quest feel to it, especially as the story progresses. Every since Verity first started out to find the Elderlings, I have wondered what will become of this quest, and Fitz also seeks to answer this question as well.
The Farseer Trilogy is excellent fantasy. Being told in the first person point of view, it is a change from the typical fantasy novel, and Hobb does not hold anything back. We know what Fitz can know, so this cannot be a broad sweeping saga. And yet, this series is not lacking for any depth of storytelling. Hobb also does not protect her protagonist any. Horrible, horrible things happen to Fitz throughout the series and that is a part of the raw power here. The series may be slower moving at times, but that is not for any lack of quality writing on Hobb's part. Quite the opposite. The story moves slowly by necessity, but it never fails to be interesting. "Assassin's Quest" only serves to make me want more Hobb, and to move on to the "Liveship Traders" and then onto "The Tawny Man" series.
-Joe Sherry

Consumed has to be the right word. From the first instalment I have eaten these books up. Not till the middle of Assassin's Quest did I take a single break, and then only for one single reason. I didn't want it to end. I've read hundreds and hundreds of books both fantasy and many other genres, and never, ever have I come across such an engrossing series. The characters were just SO REAL! Fitz isn't the "Superhero-you-know-will-save-the-day". He is as close to a real person, as I have ever experienced the written word to come. Sharing in all the aspects of his life, the love, the grief (and a staggering amount there is too), the joy, the betrayals... everything... When he is destroyed, time upon time, I had to force myself to read on, because it was just so hard to face the trials of his getting back on his feet again. The end, too, was hard. First I was angry, as I have read most of you were. But then I thought again... How else should it have ended? I think that the sheer force of the ending (see how it turned so many people from joy to grief?) proves it to be the most realistic, true and finally the right way to end this fantastic tale. Robin, I too salute you and hope for much more from your hand...

Hobb uproots Fitz from the setting of the first two Farseer books, drags him through ponderous journeys, and drains the momentum of the trilogy with a bloated endgame.
Fitz's walk inland to Tradeford sags with unnecessary fleeting characters, like the Old Blood couple and the minstrel family. His desert caravan and mountain smuggler trips features more captures and escapes than a James Bond movie, although the Skill clashes maintain tension and the new character Starling is well developed. Fitz's Skill dreams of Red Ship raids allow the first-person narrative to witness the horror facing the coastal Duchies, and his pastoral images of Molly help drive his hatred of Regal, but as the group slogs into the mountains, the silly Catalyst prophecies and the Robert Jordan-like time cycle concept completely displace these conflicts that drove the previous books. Worse, the repeated notion that fate now controls the characters' destinies drains any sense that their actions matter.
After unnecessarily emotional entanglements between Fitz and Starling and the Fool and Kettle, they finally do locate Verity and Hobb hashes through more exposition of the Skill and the Elderlings that barely justifies a trite fantasy cliché. The final clash vanquishes the Red Ships too easily and wraps up all the loose plot ends with the cold feel of a checklist.
Paradoxically, Hobb's tactile description of Fitz's swirling emotions, his conflicting senses of duty to Verity and Molly, and his Skill and Wit bonds are at the same time the trilogy's greatest strength and weakness. Fitz may be the most round and emotive fantasy character in decades, but his constant inner rehashing of the same emotions grows weary, especially now that he's portrayed as a helpless tool of prophecy.
"Assassin's Quest" diverges from the setting, characters, and conflicts of the previous two novels, and after long journeys it offers only bloated exposition and a tidy ending.

I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I finished this book and realized that the series was over. It was engrossing, amazing, emotional, startling and facinating; everything a good story should be.
At the beginning of this book, I couldn't help but wonder where the story would head next, how everything would resolve. It didn't take long at all before the book pulled me in to the point where I ceased to try and figure out how it would end, and just enjoyed getting there.
There was only one thing, really, about this book that I'm still not sure about. And that would be the end. After I had finished this book, I couldn't decided whether I liked the ending, or whether I was let down by it. It was definitely not what I expected, and I think that has to be a good thing. It's not too often that a book can really surprise you at the end.
I could go on about the characters and the story, but to really understand why this series was so good, I think you have to read it for yourself.
So, I would definitely recommend this book, and the rest of the series, to anyone who wants to read a rather different sort of fantsy. And, I will certainly be reading them again soon.

While I like to think that my opinion of this work could be useful to others (a claim further boosted by the store's new reviewer ranking system), it is with great difficulty that I set out to critique this, the final installment of the Farseer trilogy. I suppose I should start by admitting that I came into this trilogy quite late (nearly fourteen years to be exact) thanks to a strange but consistent string of published compliments passing between Robin Hobb and George RR Martin. I was immediately enamored with Hobb's wonderfully rich characters, realistic world, and political dynamic. I was able to immediately dismiss fears that fantasy told through first-person perspective could not possibly work and found myself glued to the seat until both the first and second books in the series were read, often forsaking appointments, sleep, and nourishment in the process. The second to third book transition is such that I recommend having this, the third on hand to anyone who attempts to read the second. This is one story spread across three installments and Hobb wastes no time recapping. Close one; open the next as if you traversed only a standard chapter break.

But I digress; since you are reading this review, it's safe to assume you've likely already read the first or second or are considering the series as a whole. To that I have to rate the series as follows:

Book One (Assassin's Apprentice) 5 Stars
Book Two (Royal Assassin) 4 Stars
Book Three (Assassin's Quest) 3.5 Stars

The pattern here, in case you haven't noticed, is that the series begins about as strong as any fantasy work out there and with an unrivaled emotional tie to boot. The problem is that as the story progresses, two things happen that, in my opinion anyway, degrade some of the brilliance shown early on. First, Hobb is not afraid to drag her readers through the proverbial mud. Sure most authors will allow things for the lead character(s) to get ugly along the way but they usually counter the trend with a plateau of resolve. It isn't uncommon for Robin Hobb to pull her protagonist into a miserable downward spiral that takes the full three books to level out (and in some cases- to never fully recover from at all). Yes it is realistic writing and yes it mimics reality in that real life doesn't always end happily ever after, but I must confess that there is an underlying feeling of depression and frustration that accommodates such an epic torture-fest.

Secondly, the structure of the story itself takes a radical shift in this, the third installment. It is still told in first-person as the lead character recaps his trials and tribulations as a scribe documenting the history of the Six Duchies, but the once grand scheme of the world around him is reduced to a day-by-day journey of survival. Gone are the grand battles being waged on the coast, gone are the family betrayals and political intrigue, gone is the lifestyle of Buck Keep and the cozy scenes with the enigmatic assassin Chade, the stable master Burrich, or the good king Shrewd. Instead we are dragged along on what basically boils down to a hiking expedition with some of the lesser-developed cast members.

I suppose in all honesty, Hobb set herself up with a struggle so perfectly overwhelming that nothing shy of a completely unforeseen solution would suffice and in that regard she delivers. I'm not big on spoilers, so I won't get into specifics here but let's just say that the resolution to the struggles beautifully built up in the first two installments is a bit too "fantasy" in nature and not nearly as fulfilling as I had hoped. Worse still is that Hobb has managed to prove to me that we are all hopeless romantics under our hard shells- in other words deep down we all want our hero to get the girl in the end. Sure we complain about the lack of realism in it and whine that there's nothing original out there but this novel is an example of what happens when we don't get a fairy tale ending we love to complain about. It turns out that this stings too but for an entirely different set of feelings: Frustration and melancholy mostly.

I'm left feeling like this series is truly one of the finest in the entire genre and manages to accomplish the same sense of richness that rivals George RR Marin's Song of Ice and Fire saga through a single viewpoint (where Martin tells his tale by bouncing around a cast of hundreds).

I've noticed similar complaints of depressing tone in Hobb's later works and will likely revisit her world after a tour of some more lighthearted fantasy to numb a bit of the residual emotional attachment the Farseer trilogy left behind.

I have been reading fantasy for 25 years, and Hobb's trilogy is simply the most compelling I series I have ever read. I am impressed by her depth of characterization and the vitality of the setting. I also enjoy how she weaves contemporary social issues into a fantasy setting: integrating women into an army, drug abuse, the problems of keeping a coalition together, humane treatment of animals, the limitations of leaders, and the impact leaders and their subordinate's actions have on entire populations. I have re-read each of her books at least once, with equal enjoyment. (My love for this body of work may be biased. While I read Assassin's Apprentice, my four-year-old son was bonding with his first puppy, Figaro--whom I still call Nosey. My sense of the Fitz/Nighteyes link at a personal level may blind me.) Bottom line: I love the story. Assassins Quest takes us on a memorable journey into the Inland Duchies, the Mountain Kingdom, and beyond. The final book suffers only from lack of liposuction. Plot development, particularly the revelation of the Fool's true place in the story, was particularly gratifying. Fitz finally learns the moral difference between killing for his king, as he has been trained to do by Schade, and killing for purely personal reasons, which Schade (and one hopes all of us) would characterize as plain murder. In this lengthy conclusion to the trilogy, only the digressions into the time of the "Elderlings" is superfluous. The patience shown in finally revealing Kettle's place in the story requires the same patience from the reader. The story of sacrifice in pursuit of a greater good is well told here. I note that some reviewers are disappointed with the lack of a so-called "happy ending." They miss the author's none-too-subtle point that great accomplishment requires great sacrifice. The ending was true to the protagonist's character development throughout the story. It really fits. I cannot thank the author enough. Fitz, a protagonist with a somwhat jaundiced attitude, will hopefully re-appear somewhere. As far as I can tell, he is one of the few trained Skill users in the "world," where I continue to journey in Hobb's Liveship series. Will Fitz pass that legacy on? I hope so. If not, it is enough that we got to share his epic struggle to save the Six Duchies. If you have teenaged children, get them to read this series.

I have to say that out of the fantasy/sci-fi books I have so far read (e.g., LOTR, His Dark Materials, HP, Dune, Wheel of Time and many Brandon Sanderson ones), it is with this series that I was most disappointed with the lead character (Fitz Chivalry). He never evolved! Until the last chapter (~1800 pages into the trilogy). He must be the most "emo" character I've encountered. That's really ok but what about consistency? He's supposed to be this relatively capable assassin (in the first to some parts of the second book at least), but how was he not able to observe/discern/logically figure out so many of the things that were happening around him even when other characters were telling him about it over and over?!? The whole series, he just seemed to be either in self-pity, "drowning", tortured, or angry mode. And then suddenly, in the last chapter of the third book he seems to be all filled with wisdom? That development was not apparent to me at alll. Nighteyes, Verity, and Burrich were the bright spots.

I am surprised by earlier reviews that found "Assassin's Quest" lacking in comparison to the first 2 books in the "Farseer Trilogy." My response was just the opposite, doing much to redeem the weaknesses of those earlier novels. Though very well written and keeping my interest, "Assassin's Quest" far surpasses both, adding even greater emotional depth to the strength of Hobb's characterizations, as well as finally realizing the potential of magical lore only haphazardly explored in the earlier work. Further, the storyline is much more focused and unified, without the prior tendancy to amble along the standard sword and sworcery path commonplace for this genre. Hobb finally impresses her own unique vision upon her magical world, and in a way which is masterful, not only in terms of characterization and vivid detail - from the beginning her forte - but in telling the tale as well. Finally, the work ends on a note unexpected and bittersweet, and is all the more thought provoking and pleasurable for it. Bravo!
By itself, this book stands apart as a unique and wonderful achievement in fantasy fiction, and as a conclusion to the "Farseer Trilogy" does much to lift the earlier books up to its level. An enthusiastic 5 stars for this volume alone, and 4 stars for the trilogy overall. And I urge you to read her "Ship of Magic," which looks to be the start of an even stronger series, and an equally marvellous as well as intelligent read.

Where The Farseer began as a somewhat formulaic fantasy trilogy Hobb has stretched the tale in to new directions and broken new ground. It is tremendously refreshing to read a series unabashedly trditionally heroic and romantic (in the chivalric sense) yet has a storyline that goes in new directions. We have a protagonist in Fitz who fully matures as an adult and must deal with adult themes. We have a war where the economic and psychological damage is as compelling as the carnage. We have battles that take place remotely and in a guerilla fashion without the trope of mighty sieges and liberated cities. Hobb has certainly worked from a traditional genre and borrowed from former authors but it is also the case that her work has introduced themes of heroic sacrifice and political turmoil that have not been fully explored before. She has opened new ground for future authors and by our standard where we rate books by their effect on future authors (c.f., Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence) we feel her work can stand up under any criticism favorably. There is no question that future protagonists will have to stand up to Fitz as an example of the genre's most perfectly crafted hero.

WHO SHOULD READ

As in any highly regarded and very good series of books, readers of the prior books who have enjoyed Hobb so much will have bought and read Assassin's Quest before they've bothered to read any review of it. By these people, we believe that Quest will probably be regarded as the best of the three books. We also feel that this book could probably stand on its own and read in isolation. As with any third novel in a trilogy, loss of the background will result in many of the nuances of the work lost on the reader (certainly the romance between Molly and Fitz will be incomprehensible) yet it does not crucially depend upon the prior books. In a refreshing change, Hobb has written three books that work tremendously well in concert with each other but whose movements can also stand on its own. Readers who would like to explore this work need not necessarily read them in order. As a final credit to Hobb, this is an excellent book with which to introduce readers who are unfamiliar with the fantasy genre and do not believe there are any worthwhile publications within it; The Farseer Trilogy is a direct rebuttal. These books remain an excellent choice for younger (teenage) readers.

WHO SHOULD AVOID

Quest is the longest book in the offering and those readers who have been very impatient with Fitz's caviling about his responsibilities will be rather disappointed with the first third of the book (as we were to a certain extent). We don't think the book should be avoided but certainly there will be some people who will turn away. Fans of the huge, large-scale battles that have been rendered so well in Return of the King, A Clash of Kings, and The Gates of Fire will not find that sort of display here. The Farseer Trilogy has never been about these enormous wars and epochal battles. We think these people should expand their horizons a bit but also recognize that sometimes people crave the familiar and predictable. If that means big battle scenes, this book should probably be saved for later. If you get embarrassed about cheesy cover art (because of the cover of this book is C H E E Z - Z E E E ), you'll have to read it with a paper bag cover.
[...]

While I enjoyed this book, it was probably the weakest in the series. It read more like a travelogue for much of the story as we find Fitz journeying to find Verity. I didn't feel the excitement and page turning action/intrigue that I felt from book 2. This one had alot of self pity, alot of Fitz dreaming about others and Fitz just wishing he didn't have to do what he was stuck doing.

I have to agree with what most have said about the ending. Hobbs really ties it all up in a nice tight summary with about 20 pages left. You don't get any of the confrontation you would have expected. It felt like she had run out of time and just needed to close all those plot lines and move on. I would have liked her to have cut about 100+ pages of travel and focus on that instead.

Still, this is fantasy writing head and shoulders above most. The characters are drawn well and the story is told well.

All in all, a good conclusion of the trilogy. Although, it was somewhat hard for me to work through the first part of the book because I found it very hard at time to find any sympathy for our protagonist Fitz. Only at the very end of the book, he finally turned into the semblance of an responsible adult from the sulky, whiny child who is too dumb, weak and selfish to be an asset instead of a liability as he has been through out the most part of the story. Thus, hopefully, the next installment of his story (Tawny Man Trilogy) will be less of a frustrating read for me.

I struggled with this book. I struggled to like it, I struggled in wading through chapter after chapter without momentum, endless events of Fitz getting hurt or meandering.

I should have simply skipped 600 pages and read the last couple chapters sooner. The first fifty and last fifty pages are decent. The conclusion does wrap up the trilogy, but what you slog through in getting there is terrible. The 657 pages of the Middle needed an editor willing to cut sequences which added nothing to the story. Those 657 pages could be condensed into about 150 pages, and only then would this novel be wonderful.

My recommendation is read the first three chapters, and read the last three chapters. You might like the book then; if you read the whole thing, you'll probably get sick of endless angst and Fitz being stupid, and keep putting it down. Like I did. It took me a month to finally finish with this book, due to boredom.

I was drawn into Hobb's story through her exploration of the bonding between the character Fitz and his dog/wolf. (It briefly reminded me of how much more I wanted Perrin's character explored in Jordan's never-ending waste-of-time series).
The compulsion Fitz is responding to from the character Verity, and his journey to the Mountains also reminded me of Frodo's journey in the LOTR series.
I was not depressed by the stories end (much of it was alluded to throughout the triology) but I do think it was rushed. The Fool's story was especially vague and did not follow through on a previously steady characterization throughout the novels.
Lastly, was it just me or in the begining of the trilogy didn't the Fitz character refer to the characters Patience & Fredwin as saying they recommend he write about his experiences, but then in the end these characters never know he lived? Let me know!

Robin Hobb definitly has the magic touch. Waiting between the three books of the trilogy was very difficult, but after each book I was even more impressed than the last, and I don't impress easily. The realistic world with just the right touch of magic and wonder made Fitz and the rest feel like the people that I've known all my life. I can't remember the last time I was as touched and moved by a fictional characters hardships. If the next book by Hobb is even half as good, it will be well worth waiting for.
BY the way, Robin Hobb is really the pen name for author Megan Lindholm. She has several other books published, unfortunatly, only one-GYPSY, is currently in print. I have verified this through several sources, the easiest to get is THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FANTASY, which lists all her other titles and a brief bio. Hopefully we will see her others come back, as well as plenty of new ones.

Alright, so that last book (Royal Assassin) left your heart in shambles. I wish I could say that that was the last time that your heart ached for poor Fitz. Unfortunately, he still has a lot ahead of him. Trying to cope with the torture that his uncle put him through, FitzChilvalry Farseer is out for revenge. Will he get what he came for? You will have to read to find out. This book will tie up a lot of loose ends as it brings a close to the Farseer Trilogy, but you will find that it still leaves room to open up into the Tawny Man trilogy. Get reading!

As the last book in the trilogy, Assassin's Quest had a lot expected of it. Yet it managed to deliver. Once again the wonderful language and plot and character development that Robin Hobb employs was evident, the sheer originality of what could so easily have been another 'battle for the crown' tale shone through.
FitzChivalry is once again on the rocky road to recovery. Only Burrich and Chade know that he lives. All others - Lady Patience, Molly and even Regal - believe him dead and buried. After living as a wolf he must now learn to behave like a human again, a hard task, but Burrich manages to teach him. Eventually the need for revenge on Regal overtakes Fitz and he sets out inland, away from Buck, to seek Regal. Regal has crowned himself king of the Six Duchies, though Verity still lives. The coastal Duchies have been left to the wrath of the Red Ship Raiders while Regal resides in his palace at Tradeford.
Soon Fitz makes everyone realise that he is very much alive and Regal's guards and his Skill coterie, are on Fitz's tale.
A momentous conclusion to the Farseer Trilogy, doesn't quite meet the standard of the other two, but this Trilogy, as a whole is definitely a superior piece of writing. If you haven't yet experienced it, I assure you it is worth it.

A court bastard trained as a royal assassin. What an intriguing idea. I started this series with visions of clever political maneuvering and high drama. And, through the first two books, Hobb did a decent job of delivering the goods. Then came Assassin's Quest and it all disappeared.

It's a two star rating because Hobb saved a few surprises for this book. Also, she is technically a sound writer of prose, she's built a solid cast of characters, and her plot line contained such excellent potential. Alas, the potential goes mostly unrealized and this third book in the Farseer Trilogy is a big letdown.

First, Hobb abandons court intrigue, taking her characters on the road for what degenerates into an overly-long, mind-numbing quest during which very little actually happens. Political intrigue is totally abandoned and, about halfway through, all semblance of action goes with it.

Second, the "skill", which is the psi power in this world, takes on a life of its own. In earlier books, the skill was an element in the larger plot. In this book, it becomes the whole story. Fantasy writers need the sense to tread lightly when it comes to this stuff because, like their characters, they tend to become seduced by it. This story becomes engulfed in it. Hobb uses it as a crutch to close out her trilogy without any confrontation between the main characters and, hence, no action and no very satisfactory resolution of the basic conflicts she built up in the prior two books.

Third, the ending. The reader gets dragged on through several hundred pages waiting for a resolution, then left with a tidy little ending described briefly, at a distance, and not entirely satisfactorily. I, for one, wanted to see Regal and the coastal raiders get what they deserved. It was only done in passing.

If all that isn't enough, Fitz's fate was a colossal letdown, as well. Yes, there's something to be said for the idea that "they lived happily ever after" isn't how it usually goes in real life, but this isn't real life. If I want real life, I'll read the news. This is fantasy fiction. It doesn't all have to come out perfectly, but I still prefer some semblance of a happy ending, not: he slunk away quietly and was (almost)never heard of again.

I liked the first two books of the Farseer Trilogy, but as disappointing as this book was to me, I will think long and hard before reading any more of Hobb's work.

I absolutely LOVE this book series. This is the 3rd and final book in the Farseer Trilogy.

*No Spoilers. I will tell you my recently enlightened feelings on this book. After initially reading this book, I probably only would have given it 3 stars. I felt that the ending was unsatisfying, however, I came to find out that there is indeed a reason that like me, some people felt this way. I read and use a fantasy book forum, so I know that not everyone was unsatisfied with the ending of this book the way that I was. In fact, several people loved it. The components that I found unsatisfying are later explained in Robin Hobb's Tawny Man series.

So please read this book, love this book and ending to the Farseer Trilogy, and then pick up the Tawny Man Series (3 books) to find out more about the future of this realm and explanations going back to this very book and it's ending!

If you loved the Farseer Trilogy, you will love the Tawny Man Series as well. It is definitely worth the read.

Absolutely incredible. The characters are fascinating and totally believeable, as is the plot. Lots of new and interesting ideas; cliches are not found here. (Arguably.) Lots of series go downhill after the first book, this one actually improved. I just wish it wasn't so short. As for the 'depressing' ending, well, I wasn't depressed, and I don't think the author was copping out. Happy endings can be great, but this one hit far closer to reality. Besides, the main battle of the Six Duchies was won, and the bad guy was killed by maybe one of my favorite characters. (Tee-hee.) The love story ended sadly, true, but that too was so believeable that I didn't care. One gets the feeling that Fitz was not a character that *could* have a happy ending. He is, btw, an awesome storyteller and a great main character. I love it that this book is in the first person! I just can't praise it enough. It's all but flawless. Read it today.

I could not put down the two previous books. I totally fell in love with Fitz. Halfway throught the second book I learned that Robin Hobb was actually a woman, which explained Fitz's almost immediate acceptance of Molly's Misterious new lover. He never questions her as to his identity. As a man I can tell you that if the woman I love tells me she's found another, my first reaction would be to find out who it is, not to simply keep going about my business and drink to her happiness right after she leaves me! It also explains Fitz's blind devotion and faithfullness to molly, specially when he rejects Starling twice. The ending gave me the feeling that Ms. Hobb was under dead line preassure from her publisher. I also think that after all Fitz when through he earned one moment of glory at the end...or at least not such a lonely ending...Other than that, GREAT READ!!!

I read an average of 75 or so books every year, many of them in the fantasy genre. I picked up the first book in this trilogy, Assassin's Apprentice, because of very favorable discussion in various fantasy chat rooms. I was very glad I did. After finishing this third novel, I have perhaps found my new number one fantasy series! And I don't say that lightly. Don't tell my boss but I even skipped work to finish this one!
I connected somehow with Fitz, from the very beginning. Perhaps that is due to the first person narrative that Ms. Hobb uses to such good effect, but perhaps more so, it was her story-telling style. Yes, this book could have been written with less words but that is like saying Mozart could have composed with less notes. The characterization is superb. The plot is intriguing and not-at-all predictable. The ending, I think, is appropriate, given the development of the major characters. In fact, I didn't see it as a particularly negative ending. If you are looking for a sweet, all-loose-ends-tied-up ending, read Eddings. If you are looking for an outstanding, hi-quality, epic fantasy, that completely suspends your disbelief, read this trilogy.

Ever since I first read Lord of the Rings, I was hooked on fantasy. Since that fateful day many years ago I have read many of the conventional fantasy series most notably the Wheel of Time series. This trilogy really breaks all bonds of convention and makes way for innovation, creativity, and a strong dose of realism. The characters in these stories feel so real it will take your breath away. Never have I ever been so emotionally involved in a character as I was with Fitz. I literally could not wait to pick up the book again after putting it down to find out what direction he would be thrust in next, and whether or not he would get out of it.

At first, I did not think I would enjoy reading the first-person narrative style of Hobb's writing, but now I actually find it quite enjoyable and adds a whole dimension to the story and further connection to the character. Her structure is fantastic. Even when things may seem a bit slow, it is done for a reason, usually because you begin to feel anxious and impatient just as the narrator is.

These books are definitely page turners that are well worth a read. One of my favorite fantasy series to date. I look forward to reading the rest of the adventures of Fitzchivalry Farseer.

Well I must say that I enjoyed this book much more than I expected after the last. To its credit, the protagonist is much truer to what I would expect a real person to be in his shoes, also the book moves at a steady clip that moved it beyond the walls of the royal abode, where most of the action took place in the previous two books. This book is quite a change from the last two books in that it almost wholly abandones many of the characters that played prominent roles there. I didn't mind that. The new characters are interesting and add to the story, but I did sometime miss the old characters. Some might feel the abscence of Chade and Burrich more keenly than I did though.

After completing the trilogy I was struck by how poorly they were named. The stage that Hobb set initially seems much more interesting to me than the direction that she took it. I liked the idea of an assassin employed for nothing more in some cases than for political gain. I liked the idea of confronting how this would reflect on the assassin and those that employed him. Unfortunately, there is very little of that in the series and I think that the protagonist is generously named "assassin" given his tasks.

A couple of the things that bothered me about this book: implausible barriers thrown up so the author can take the story where she wants it to go. I just didn't buy Fitz' reluctance to reveal his resurrected self to his old friends. The reasons he gives felt manufactured. This feeling increased by the reception he receives from those to whom he does reveal himself. In fact, it seems that there is hardly anyone close to him who is repulsed by his use of the wit. But the author has somewhere she wants to take us, so he must refuse to reveal himself. It detracted from the story and I didn't buy it.

The author is unmerciful to poor Fitz. He suffers and how. The whole series is chalk full of one abuse after another. This did not bother me throughout the entire series, because it seemed that it was building to a payoff. Not so. I don't mind if everything doesn't turn out as expected at the end, in fact I prefer it - it adds verisimility of the story - but the way she ends this book was entirely unsatisfactory. It turns out that Fitz truly is a dog who needs his master to lead his life given what he does with it when it is his own. It really detracted from the story. So much so that tainted the whole book and the series.

Finally, Hobb showed a penchant for a brief denouement in her first two books, so I should have seen it coming, but I was still surprised at how broadly she treats overriding mysteries at the end of the book. I think that many will be left scratching their heads about the significance of certain events and items. I don't know why, after painting such a rich picture in developing the story, she doesn't do the same in finishing it. Hobb feels stingy in giving up those payoff moments in the series, and given that this is the last of the three, it really stings here.

That said the world was great and the characters were sympathetic. I believe that the story will leave a lasting impression on your mind - unlike many other fantasy novels - just not a completely satisfying one.

From the first pages of the Assassin's Apprentice until a hundred pages shy of this final book, I was quite convinced that I was reading what would become my favorite fantasy series ever. Don't get me wrong- I still loved it, but the ending let me down. (and many other readers I think) I can't help but get the impression that Hobb wanted to write a forth book to wrap it up (but was pressured not to by publishers), and its a shame she didn't take it, because the end result seemed rushed and chaotic, and just plain sloppy.
From having been a well-laid out, intelligent and gritty novel that kept you on your knees waiting to see how it would end- it went on to a hasty, summed-up ending that was a shadow of Hobb's ability. If ever an ending needed to be redone- its here. No dragons. Just a simple, bloody, final confrontation, as in the first two books- and this series would have ended solidly. I would gladly buy a revised copy if she ever makes one, for I will certainly reread this series down the line.

This third and thankfully final instalment should be subtitled "Fitz the Petulant wanders aimlessly, carelessly doing what he should not". I considered the second volume to be somewhat bloated so I should really have been prepared but I dived in regardless.

This is a huge book so relentlessly stuffed with padding that just getting through a chapter takes a gargantuan effort and, as with `Royal Assassin', I found myself skip-reading any paragraphs without dialogue. The eponymous quest sees Fitz alienate the only people who care about him as he mopes off with a vague notion of doing one thing, realising just too late that it's stupid then wandering off elsewhere to see what damage he can do there. That more-or-less summarises the linear, purposeless narrative of first six hundred pages or so. The last quarter of the volume meanders towards an utterly predictable conclusion which is executed in such a rushed, off-hand manner that it appears that the author was as bored as the rest of us and just wanted to get it over with.

Gone is the intricate plotting, pace and inventiveness of the first volume to be replaced with a truly pedestrian and, frankly dull, slog. It would appear that despite early promise, Robin Hobb has thrown herself willingly into the epic fantasy quagmire, joining the likes of Robert Jordan and Stephen Erikson. If you're a fan of the genre then you'll probably enjoy the Hobb's Farseer Trilogy but please, please can somebody come up with a tale to rival to Eddings' superb Belgariad? - That's how to write Fantasy.

This is the final installment of Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy. The Assassin's Quest has FitzChivalry, the bastard son of an heir to the throne of the six duchies, on a mission. Fitz sets himself on a mission to kill the insidious and newly ensconced King Regal who has reached power through an unrelenting campaign of betrayal and murder. Fitz wears the scars of Regal's treachery both on his body and on his soul. He embarks on his mission embittered and faithless, intent on avenging his loss of home, health and his love Molly, who carries his child and believes he is dead. Fitz' disillusionment with the inescapable forces of fate that have dealt him such a cruel hand have emboldened him to carry out this seemingly suicidal mission. Along the way, Fitz finds himself called to his true liege, King Verity, who has gone into the mountains to search for the enigmatic Elderlings, who may be the key to defeating the savage Red Ships who continue to ravage the coastal duchies and are threatening the entire kingdom. Regal has ignored this threat, instead seeking to destroy any legacy of Verity or claims to his throne. Fitz finds himself on the run and relentlessly pursued with only his wit bonded wolf, Nighteyes to count on. Fitz is the "catalyst" and he can determine the fate of the world.

Readers of the first two books will not be disappointed in the ending to this trilogy, in fact, the only disappointment they will find is that their journey ends here. The good news is they can pick up their relationship with Fitz in the Farseer trilogy. The first book of this series served to draw one in slowly. The second to develop the characters and the webs of intrigue, and inflame the readers emotions, the third is masterfully orchestrated efficacious denouement. Hobbs' world is carefully constructed and elegantly defined, is characters as realized as any that have ever been written. The story so absorbing as to force one to be borderline obsessive in turning its pages.

This book marks the end to an outstanding literary achievement. A trilogy that can stand the test of time.

I was quite disappointed with this book, the final conclusion of the Farseer trilogy. I greatly enjoyed the first book. I felt book 2 was a bit long, though I enjoyed it. This book was way too long with not much happening and incredibly depressing.
The first half (at least) of the book FitzChivalry our hero is a victim and a bumbling fool, bouncing around pointlessly wallowing in his sadness over everything that he's lost. Therefore, I lost a lot of sympathy for Fitz. He's gotten so beaten up, I'm desensitized to all his harms. Basically over the whole book he drones on about how alone and sad he is, which is a worn out song he played from the first book.
He goes on this extremely long journey to go looking for Verity which is agonizingly slow. Then we find Verity and we're subjected to another endless amount of time as we wait for the release of the Elderlings. During this time we are subjected to hearing Fitz drong on how depressing the whole situation is and how everyone hates him and he has to keep making depressing choices because of his duty to Verity and the Kingdom...blah blah blah.
The Elderlings are revealed after all this buildup and they're basically no more intelligent than a dog. I still have no idea where they came from and what their purpose was for their existence other than to be man's slave to rid the Raiders. They're not quite sentient when they take on form, so that robs the reader of some great enlightenment or payoff. Huge let down. They're just these cardboard cut outs which took me out of the book and I thought I was reading some cheesy D&D book. Without giving away what the Elderlings are, it's really sad that Hobb chose not to give any higher intelligence to these beings. Or perhaps, I just didn't read carefully enough, trying to get to a satisfying ending that never realized itself for me.
Finally the ending is super depressing. For such a promising start with her first book, this ending had much to be desired for.

This third and final installment to the Farseer Trilogy is a good book, but a long read. I do not think the entire story was slow, and I do enjoy the "quest" type story, but this book did drag in parts.

The book dragged a bit in the beginning, but the second half was excellent. There were parts where I kept thinking 'Get to it already', but once you get there, it is well worth it. There were quite a few parts where I was thinking "This book is amazing!". So it is worth the read, especially if you want to finish out Fitz's story.

Most of the loose ends are tied up, and it wasn't the ending I was expecting, and I won't say more than that. I thought the trilogy was a good story, and my favorite character was Nighteyes. I do believe I will continue to read Robin Hobb and pick up her other trilogy's.

Boy am I glad I checked out all of the trilogy at the library. I really got tired of such a weak whiny protagonist. The author goes on and on for way too many pages without anything significant happening. In the end I didn't care for any of the characters.

I can honestly say I have never lost myself in a story & characters like these books. The imagery is so complete the characters sobreal it's like you are experiencing everything. I've laughed & cried & been so mad for so many people suffering for the greater good. This is a rich & wonderful series

I very rarely give only one star; it feels melodramatic, especially since I gave Royal Assassin five. But after the quality of the first two books in this trilogy, I was shocked and appalled by this one--and, what's worse, I was bored.

In this book, Fitz leaves Buckkeep and all of the other characters we've come to know and love over the first two books. He spends most of the 760-page book hiking across the continent, much of it alone, much of the rest with random throwaway characters who appear for the first time in this book (many of whom disappear after a couple chapters and proceed to have no more impact on the plot). It all feels like filler. When he finally meets up with other major characters, there's more walking, more filler... what happened to all the passion and intrigue of the first two books? It's hard to put my finger on what went wrong here. It feels as if the author just stopped caring. Even the writing became repetitive.

Then there's the end. It's just awful. Hobb leaves all the antagonists that have been wreaking havoc throughout the trilogy to be dealt with in the last 30 pages or so; inevitably, it's rushed. Not only that, it happens off-screen, in narrative summary. You thought after all this pain you'd actually get to see a final battle with the Red Ships, or Fitz assassinating Regal? Nope. The ending itself is decidedly bittersweet, but after this slog I no longer cared about the characters I'd been so emotionally attached to for the first two books, so it didn't really bother me.

I've tried to find some redeeming quality here, but honestly thought the book was hideous, and it definitely brings down my opinion of the trilogy. It's a shame because the first two books were so good... if only this had been a duology.

This is the third of the Farseer trilogy. Hobb continues to write a gripping tale that is rich with human emotion and intrigue. The exploration of the source(s) of magic are deeper and more confusing in this book. And it is still a very novel approach to magic.
My big complaint with this series is the suddeness with which it ends (and it's not much of a complaint since I still gave the book four stars). After 2 6/7 long books of personal soul-searching, political infighting and family jealousies, everything is resolved in less than 100 pages. The solution with Regal is particularly abrupt. It all fits neatly together, but the ending doesn't have the rich detail that the rest of the series had which left me with a very anticlimactic feeling.

This I think was the expected ending to the series - not sure if I've just read too many fantasy novels now but I could see what was going to happen pages before it did! That's not to knock the book - it was good, and hard to put down (a sure sign of a winner) but maybe it was a bit too drawn out. There was a point at which the words seemed to be just to fill a quota rather than tell a story.

There is an especially nagging tendency for Hobb to repeat/summarise events at the start of each section of these novels using 1, 2 or even 3 paragraphs - though it is nice enough as a refresher I found it got very tedious by the second novel! Still a great trilogy and this was a good if a bit melancholy ending! 4 stars!

After such a good first book in the series, I was disappointed with the second, but hoped it was just a bridge to a quality end book of the trilogy. The book was terrible. There was very little in the way of twists from the plot established at the end of the first book, and the author continually repeated entire paragraphs of events which spoils the narrative. The authors imagination of magic was somewhat flawed in that obvious uses that would destroy the plot were left unexplored.

The third book does not fit with the first two. I feel as if Robin Hobb did not even come up with the plot of the third book! The ending of an entire trilogy was cheaply compressed into a few chapters, and the biggest questions that have been lingering for all three books were compressed into a brief weather forecast: "over the next summer this happened."

On top of everything, the characters were inconsistent with what one would expect of them. The entire story seemed to revolve around one great goal of the main character... and in one paragraph he uncharacteristically just gives up. The other characters apparently change their core values at a whim too which makes the storyline awkward. The entire story felt poorly thought out and quickly thrown together with no attention to detail.

This book was the exact opposite of what I expected and was hoping for both from attention to detail and characterization.

I would have regarded the series better had I never read the third book.

Some Spoilers.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy. I've read many fantasy books, but had yet to pick up one by Hobb. When I finished books one and two, I could not wait to get my hands on the next installment. After this one though, I'm not sure if I'll be venturing back into any of her worlds again.

The main problem with the plot is that most of it comes across as filler. The book could easily have been shortened by about 200 pages and the integrity of the story would not have suffered. Most of the time they are traveling along. It was like reading a novel by L.E. Modesitt--every 10 pages there's another dinner scene, except here it was them walking or Fitz getting captured.

Speaking of Fitz, that brings me to my next point: I'm convinced Hobb actually hates the character. Not many fantasy characters this side of a George R.R. Martin book have gone through as much crap as he has. At no point is there a glimmer of happiness for him. What little there is gets taken away swiftly and with finality. At least Martin has the common courtesy to put his characters out of their misery. For Fitz, though, he gets to live on, broken and bereft. Of course I'm aware that novels don't always end well for characters, because, hey, life isn't fair. But, I see that enough in life as it is they don't prefer it in a novel. I'd like them to have a shred of happiness at the end. But Fitz doesn't--his life is so terrible that he contemplates suicide often at the end of the novel.

Read if you need to. But, you'd be better off saving your money and doing something else with it.

The books get more and more predictable and more and more frustrating. John does a great job of giving the reader a clear image of the characters and their surroundings. However, the story flops and there is no development to the main character. It's frustrating to be able to predict the storyline and know that the main character is one of the most naive or stupid people which puts him into trouble at every turn. I guess there wouldn't be a story of he actually made smart decisions. To this, Hobb has fallen flat as a writer. I suggest you pass on this trilogy.

I found the series addictive but found the ending left me with too many questions and dissapointed. I can't believe that the fool would just take off without seeing Fitz again. The Old Blood thing was left behind. Will nettle have the wit as well as the other children since Burrich had the wit. Won't Fitz feel some responsiblity toward them knowing of their old blood properly so they don't have to suffer like he did? What about the skill knowledge that has been lost that Kestrel referred to? What happens if the red ships come back and Fitz is dead, did he pass on his writings of the blood and wit needed to wake the dragons, or do they do it all over again? Overall, great but too many question, hurried ending.

Oh, how bittersweet The Farseer Trilogy developed and ended. Fitz really broke my heart this time.
In some way there is a classic battle between good and evil in this saga. Young Chivalry lives an outcast live; most of his old friends think him dead and he his consumed with hate and fear for usurper Regal. King Verity is far away on a quest to find the Elderlings, and he seems to be one of the few people Fitz could really trust. Fitz decides to help Verity and his dark, dark voyage over the Mountains kept me spellbound.
In some way good will win over evil in Assassin's Quest, but this does not mean we readers become happier of it. Fitz does not get the reward he deserves, no matter how much pain and torture he has been through and because the book is composed out of his memory the readers' impression is dark and we feel terribly sorry for him.
Still I think this is a quality of the story. It was the first time I was both happy and intense bitter after I finished a book, and it changed my view on classic fantasy. Too many series always have a happy end, with the major characters become all-powerfull, beloved kings and queens. Not this time; our hero is a hermit and he is as good as dead, with much to be proud of, but with no way to express it.
Some readers will feel that some questions have not been answered or have been hastily worked out. I disagree. First of all this story has not ended yet, and why should all information be given in the trilogy? In 'The Liveship Traders' we already learn more from a different point of view and that's very refreshing.
So, do not read this book as a faery-tale, but as a reading-experience. And cry if you want; there are enough books to laugh and feel a champion.

For the third and final book in a series - this was a let-down. Following the first two books which had built up a story that provided such intrigue and conflict and subplots - the Bastard, the Elderlings, the Red Ship Raiders, Regal, Verity - the third book was disappointing. The story that had built up carefully over the two earlier books, continued to twist and grow for the first half of Assassins Quest upon which the book ended. The hero didn't get his girl, the queen lost her King, the evil brother became the total reverse and the Raiders, well they were easy to dispose of. All up, a series that promised (and in part delivered) much, that seemed to be concluded and summed up too neatly in what seemed to be '25 words or less'

Others have remarked extensively about how clumsy, awkward, and ultimately unsatisfying is Fitz's fate in BOOK 3 of The Farseer Trilogy, "Assassin's Quest." I agree, and yet I still urge you to read BOOK 3, and be honest: The very reason you (and I) are not satisfied with the ending is because Fitz was so intimately crafted in the first two books, we are (none of us) willing to yield him back to his author with anything short of the kind of sentimental triumphant conclusion to his long-suffering Quest for Self that would make _us_ feel better. It's the mark of Hobb's writing skill that Fitz's trials and emotions were rendered with such tender humanity that they cannot but become our own trials and emotions in the reading of him. This is no mean feat for a writer, so give Hobb some credit. Setting aside for the moment that I am unconvinced that Assassin's Quest is the last book in which he will endear himself to our hearts and minds, Fitz nonetheless belongs to his author. In the great tradition of Romantic Tragedy, Hobb's treatment of Fitz must remain unsentimental, and if we are chagrined that it does so at the expense of our being able to easily dispense with him, easily forget his life as being resolved, well . . . I call that really good writing. This is a tragedy, and Fitz a tragic hero - you won't fit him into a one-dimensional (anything) and his fate is no exception. But here's the test: How long has it been since you finished Assassin's Quest? And the ending still troubles you? Got under your skin, didn't he? Uh huh. Good writing.
I think when people criticize BOOK 3 as awkward they are almost exclusively referring to plot devices - which are discordant from all that preceded them; lack the wit (pardon the use of the word) so gracefully nuanced in the first two books; and appear hastily contrived, as though Hobb had lost interest in Fitz and wished to wrap things up with expediency. Fair enough. None of us can be certain but my guess is she got in over her head (a forgivable offense for any first-time writer). I suspect she created a character larger than her capacity to control, and Fitz's fate manifests in BOOK 3 as awkward and unsatisfying as a result.
Still, Farseer remains an exercise in really good writing for which I would argue the journey is more relevant than the novelty of its conclusion or the absence of action in any traditional sense of the word: Romp inside the minds of characters (and beasts) for 20+ years, and the abrupt appearance of Dragons are a footnote to the humanity of the tender emotions which preceded them. This is one of those times where the first two books in the series are so good they trump any unsatisfying conclusion in my opinion, and remain (however awkwardly) heart wrenching, unsentimental, original, and unforgettable.
Skye

The Farseer trilogy are some of the best books I have read in my life. Many have gone into detail about the books, so I will just quickly sum up my experience.
This trilogy grasped me and would not let me go. I was completely immersed in the world and the joys, and mostly agony, of Fitz. This last book in particular was extremely emotional and painful for me. My heart ached at the events in the book, especially towards the end. Although I wish things could have ended differently, I think the end that I wanted(and by the look of other negative reviews, many others) would have been a little too cliched and hard to believe. So overall, although it left me with an aching heart, I am pleased with this book. Hobb is a magnificent author and I am looking forward to reading the Tawny man trilogy.

Robin Hobb is clearly a believer in, `spare the rod and spoil the child', at least when it comes to her characters. FitzChilvary rarely knows a moments peace. This is a constant throughout the series and it is interesting to see the changes in Fitz' reactions as his story progresses. Even as late as the early acts of Assassin's Quest, he responds with the heat and impulsiveness of a child. Rash. Very, very, rash.

There is little regard for consequence of action or word, and more than once he is offered warning from those closest to him that soon must come a point where he cannot so quickly apologise it all away. Truthfully, Fitz may come across as a foolish character during these earlier sections, one that makes it such you cannot help but to throw up your hands and exclaim, `When will you learn?'

Not a unique response to a character. Poor writers often have their characters be `stupid' to serve the purposes of the story. The worst writers have otherwise brilliant characters pull these stupendous feats of stupidity only at convenient times and then have them return to solving the fantasy equivalents of multi-variable calculus on the very next page. Such writing has surely made my teeth a few millimeters shorter over the years from the grinding.

Hobb's approach to Fitz is much more believable. As mentioned, he is rash and impulsive rather than truly being denser than an old forest log. There is an internal consistency, so more often than not when you are throwing your hands up in the air over his decisions, it is born out of an exasperation for the character. For a wayward child you hope will one day begin to make better choices, but you can't help but to fret and worry that they may never get the chance. Fitz is a character that you will come to care and worry about due to the power of Robin Hobb's writing. You will want him to do better with his relationships and you will ache at some of the isolating decisions he sometimes makes.

As you may have gathered then, this is a character driven story through and through. Much of the enjoyment comes from seeing Fitz -- and indeed other characters too, albeit through Fitz' eyes -- grow and develop as we go. Relationships are made important and the people are brought front-and-centre. Hobb will make you care for her characters and then punish you for it with the ordeals they go through. There are some truly harrowing moments where the pages flip with your heart riding up in your mouth.

Suffice to say, it is not always the lightest of reads. It is an emotionally bumpy ride that will bring you right in and have you feel it all.

Personally? I love this. It is one of the most engaging books (and series) I've ever read and thus is why I've rated it so highly. I do however also offer up a warning for those who prefer their books to be lighter and happier in nature. This one isn't.

I must confess that the early to middle sections of this book do drag a little. It takes the whole `Hero's Journey' thing to a ludicrously literal level. Fitz treks an extremely long way and we feel every step of it. I don't mean to suggest nothing happens during these stretches, just that perhaps the book could have been a stronger, tighter finish to this series if one or more of the interim stages of the journey had been cut. By this point we know the character quite well and so it all seemed a trifle unnecessary. I suppose to be fair though, that I should mention that we begin to see perhaps the first hints of the subtle changes to FitzChilvary's way of thinking over and about things. It is from this portion of the book I took the above quote from. Still. I did feel it dragged, but on my first read years ago and again now, so I must mention it.

As a final point, I would differentiate Hobb's Farseer Trilogy from other attempts at `grit'. In fact, despite the emotional roller-coaster agreeing to read this series embarks you upon, I'm not even entirely sure that characterizing the story as `gritty' is accurate. Or rather, it is achieved in a natural feeling way. This is a dark time for the Farseer line and their people. Even so, there aren't any incidences I can point to of people needlessly slain just to show the author is willing to be merciless. There really don't seem to be any scenes that leap out at you as being present simply because the author has thought, `Ooer, that'd be edgy'.

All told, I would highly recommend a read through of this series. Go along with Fitz on his journey from bastard child to hero -- even if he is incapable of viewing himself in that light. He is the catalyst, the changer. The means through which ends may be achieved. The pebble in the path of progress, able to turn that ever moving wheel aside even slightly toward one path or another.

Assassin's Quest marked a satisfying -- albeit bittersweet -- ending to the Farseer Trilogy. This particular adventure is wrapped up in full, so while there is more to be found within the follow-up Tawny Man Trilogy, you could stop here and be at peace.

...Perhaps. More FitzChilvary Farseer? Who wouldn't want that? ;)

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb includes three books: Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and Assassin's quest. When I first started reading this series I was skeptical. I made the classic mistake of judging a book by its cover, which, in mass market paperback, is tacky at best. Once I started reading the series I realized how wrong I was as I was quickly drawn into the plot. This series is a must-read for any fantasy lover.

Robin Hobb's literary strong point is her ability to bring the story's characters to life. Fitz, the main character, is the illegitimate son of a dead prince. The story follows him from his childhood when he was taken from his village home to the political life of those with royal blood. It is not easy to live in a castle as a "bastard" son. Even as a child, he is considered a possible heir-competitor to the throne. His two uncles Prince Regal and Verity are both direct heirs to the throne. As his relationship with his uncles becomes more complicated, Fitz also becomes sworn to the king and starts training as the King's assassin, hence the names of the books.

Also vital to the plot is the use of the Skill and Wit. These are the two main types of "magic" employed in the book. Although we don't understand all aspects of this magic, it is because we are seeing everything through Fitz's point of view, and he does not understand everything. Hobb does a good job of incorporating the Wit and Skill into the story without making it a distraction.

As the three books progress Fitz matures from a stubborn child to a still stubborn but more knowledgeable teenager. Over the three books, he never seems to catch a break. Things go from bad to worse and then even worse. By the end of the third book, he is left in a position of being emotionally and physically beaten. In my opinion, the lack of complete resolution left the author open to the second trilogy about Fitz.

The most amazing part of these books is how easy it is to slip into the roles of the characters. The reader sees everything from Fitz's point of view and it is easy to fall into his character. By the end of the books, I felt like I knew Fitz as a person. I felt his pain and wished that his life could have been better. I would recommend these book as a definite read to anyone who loves fantasy.

Not going to spend a long time on this review. One word to describe the book: boring. This novel trudged along at a snail's pace and was not at all creative. The plot was absolutely foreseeable and the characters were static. I'm giving it two stars because while the story was not very enjoyable, the writing was well done.

Without spoiling the ending for you, the last 200 pages of Assassins Quest are the best I've ever read - and I have read many, many fantasy novels. The story comes to an almost epic conclusion that is not only deeply rooted in its humanity but stays true to Fitz's character; being the catalyst does not insure happiness (it doesn't rule it out either but happiness for a catalyst might be different from the happiness you and I can accept and deal with). If you are looking for a Hollywood ending in which everything is solved to everyone's liking, this might not be for you. If you, however, are ready for the unexpected, the beautiful, the tragic, the courageous, the longing, and the hope, you will leave this book deeply satisfied and ready for the Tawny Man Series.

I liked the first two books of this series. I slogged through this one wondering when this novel would ever end.

Of Assassin's Quest's many problems these two bothered me the most:

1-- FITZ BECAME AN EMO. I am OK with the protagonist have a couple of episodes of doubt or depression. Maybe even a half dozen. I am NOT OK with him questioning himself and rambling on about how he has no chance for happiness in life over 20 times in the same book. Around depressing inner monologue #14 Fitz converted from an epic character to a whiner for me. At least Hobb is consitent, at the end of the book his final fate seems to be a self fufilling profecy of him avoiding happiness.

2-- FITZ BECAME STUPID. Time and again he passed up the resources and opportunities... and always for dumb reasons. He did not gather the money off the slain guards because he 'felt disgusted and whished to spend no more time there'. He would not tap the resources of his friends because 'It would be too painful for them to realize he was still alive and then possibly lose him again (bleh!). He would not use his ability to Wit-Thrash opponents that skilled him because he was too terrified of his skill enemies to realize his advantage. A good writter can have a protagonist who is both independent AND resourceful -- look at the hero in books like Ender's Game or Name of the Wind. In those books the hero spends his inner monolouges trying to plot how to sucseed. Instead Hobb had her hero spend his monolouges bemoaning his life and then had to make up excuses to keep Fitz alone and weak so he could be more epically tragic.

In conclusion this is one of the few series where the third book was bad enough to make it not worth discovering how the series ends. I am truley dissapointed in Hobb's editor for letting her drop from the high standards of the first book.

...... on the other hand.... if your into emo suffering... you might really love this book.

After following Fitz's (mis)adventures for 2 books and most of the third, I couldn't finish this one. Call me a coward. The physical pain Ms. Hobb put her main character through was bad enough, but the emotional pain was worse. When Kettle started on about how he and Molly didn't really love each other, but only that time in their lives, I could see where it was going. Other reviews here have summarized the ending. True, Frodo did not live happily ever after in LOTR, but the ending fit. He was recognized, honoured, beloved... he simply could not fit into that world anymore. It seems that Fitz winds up with NOTHING.
And certain characters changed radically from Books 1 and 2. Chade, the classic behind-the-scenes skulker & assassin -- suddenly he's a warrior riding around? *How* old was he? And Regal *never* caught this old guy with the obvious pockmarks? (Notice the author doesn't explain this.) Kettricken turned into a complete b***h. Just because she lost her baby, she has to steal Fitz's. And everything Fitz went through for the royal family cut no ice with her. She deserved a slap in the face.
Starling deserved two slaps. One of the most annoying characters I've ever met. Was it her big mouth that let the smugglers know who Fitz was? (And was that accidental or on purpose?)
Even Verity disappointed when he was finally found (and the search for him did go on too long). An old-seeming, vague guy carving a dragon. Please. And what he asked of Fitz -- Verity and Regal were brothers after all, they both wanted to torture the life out of Fitz, one for "good" reasons and one for bad.

By the way, with all the royal bastards in this story (aside from Fitz, both Galen and Chade were)... and Verity a healthy guy who had a number of ladies before he married... he didn't father even *one* child before Kettricken's? So that the line could continue without dealing Fitz yet another grievous blow. I personally think Fitz would have been happier remaining a wolf.
Some of the nasty things mentioned in the "history" sections at the beginning of each chapter were (thankfully) not explored in this trilogy. No doubt they are / will be in one of Hobb's other series. For those who enjoy pain with no reward.

I am impressed. The ending to The Farseer Trilogy is tremendously bitter. And tremendously sweet.
I understand that many find such an ending to such a great work depressing or too negative. Or even unrealistic. I think that the ending seals this trilogy as a beautiful work of art. Having finished the trilogy, I'd recommend it to all hard-core Fantasy fans. While not stuffed to overflowing with complexity, nor gushing with emotion (although it does come close in that the reader is thrust headlong into the ups and downs of the characters) it is a rich tale of love and duty, conflicting loyalties - a man's quest for himself, which he finally completes, although the outcome is not what one may anticipate...

Reading these books (Assasin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, and this one in turn) is like being punched in the mouth. The story is rudimentory, the characters do exactly the wrong thing in nearly every situation (Fitz is a tragically terrible strategist), and the evil is poorly defined -- and yet...I cared more for these characters and was more enthralled by their actions than I have been with any book in quite some time. It's amazing really, how this trilogy can get under your skin, long sittings are difficult with it, but you'll still be chronically picking up to sneak in a chapter at a time.

It's true, what other reviewers have said - the books do go very slowly. Speaking as a person who usually cannot stand slow-moving books, I was impressed still with how the book remained rivetting despite this. Somehow, Hobb uses those slow portions to cleverly develop her many characters - so much so that, when those characters are interacting or are put in danger, we feel like we know them and experience some truly remarkable catharsis.

Hobb knows the limits of her characters unlike any author I've yet read. They are fallible and human, they hide from eachother and have secret agendas. They have personalities we're not accustomed to and passions we struggle to understand. Fitz, bless his heart, has broken countless bones, lost gallons of blood, and even nearly died because he cannot think before he acts. Kettricken cannot stand by and watch her kingdom fall apart - even though her actions bring it to destruction all the faster. They're human, they don't know what's going to happen, and they don't make the best decisions for themselves or others - well, in all fairness, there aren't good decisions to be made. Here is a kingdom brought to complete ruin, nothing spared - and the people who stand between right and the world's end are the Catalyst and the White Prophet - Fitz, the overagressive [...] of a prince and a court fool without gender or discretion. Not even the other characters want to believe that these morons are their only hope of survival - but who would be? Not superhumans, not the extraordinarily clever or brave, just humans, fallible but with intense passion. Passion in these books is not made to be idealistic and romantic, but is about pain and complication and restraint - they love and are loved, and in being so, were loved by me.

I really enjoyed this series. The last bookd held me so tightly that I didn't go to work one day just to finish it. While the ending did seem rushed and I'm sure a lot more could have been written about Fitz and his 6 years in the 'wilderness' I'm hoping this will be in another book real soon. I'd also like to see the story continue since Fitz is only about 30 years old but he seems to have gone into retirement which I find rather sad. He still has plently of time to find himself and a new life if he wants it. I would highly recommend this series to all Fantasy readers who enjoy getting emotionally involved with a good book and great characters.

This series is one of the best series i have ever read and what makes it so great is how it ended it wasnt as cliche as alot of other books are these days,"and they all road into the sun set." I thought it was brillant though i did hate that Fitz got the bad end of the stick but then i say again thats what made it so realistic. Not all stories are supposed in happiness. I say if a writer can make you feel any emotion to what is happening in the book, the writer has done his or her job, doesnt matter if you are angry, happy or you just despise every character in the book. This is only an opinion but i think its a very good one.

I want to congratulate "Robin Hobb" for a fantastic series! I am an admirer of both Jordan and Goodkind and would rank her right up there with them. I found it a refreshing and original story with a great ending. Who cares if it doesn't end with the typical "and they lived happily ever after"? I found the ending fitting to the main character. It was great to have the central character be a complex and REAL individual. I get so tired of reading about a zillion main characters, stories that never seem to end, and heroes with no faults! Keep up the good work, Hobb! If you haven't read this series, do it NOW!

Just finished reading the Farseer books. I was impressed with the characterization and the way Hobb tied up all the loose plots. The protagonist's ending was believable. Hobb writes the story in first person, but is able to use third person to tell stories of others via The Skill. Smart lady. Her portayal of the young man who grows to a grown man was excellent. She leaves certain things out of the story until the very end which is nice. That way, you the reader, will not be able to say, "Oh, I know what's going to happen here." She does not tell you specific things until the very end that ties things together wonderfully. I am impressed. Read these books, and you too will enjoy them.

For those reviewers who got their panties ruffled because Fitz and Molly don't live happily ever after...get over it. I didn't see any Walt Disney Trademarks plastered all over the cover of this book, did you? I'm not the author but I would have built up Kettle's role and let her come in and save the day with Fitz. The book didn't end the way any of us readers probably would have expected, which is good. Ms Hobb, I applaud you. You are truly a paradigm shifter. I hope to one day become published my self; if so, I hope my readers finish my book(s). Still pondering what I just did to my characters and yet still make it work. Bravo!!

I had never heard of Robin Hobb until a friend recommended her. Having just finished this trilogy, I am immediately ranking her as one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her characterization of FitzChivalry is breathtaking - one of the best-written characters I've ever read. I usually don't much care for first person narratives but this is definitely the exception to that rule.
This, the third book of the trilogy, kept me turning pages at an incredible rate. However, like many of the other reviewers, I was disappointed in the ending. Not because it was depressing - on the contrary, stories in real life don't always have happy endings, so why do books always have to? - but because it seemed rushed. All of the mysteries that were built up over the course of the trilogy (the Elderlings, the Raiders and Forged Ones) were suddenly summed up and solved in just a few pages, leaving me thinking, "That was it?"
But regardless of my dislike for the ending, this trilogy was fantastic and I am looking forward to reading more of Robin Hobb's work.

Before I start, I'll admit it openly: I get too caught up in books, and so this trilagy depressed me. When I finally finished AQ after not stirring all day, I felt almost like I was waking from a nightmare. Only I'm so upset about the ending that I can't can't stop thinking about it, so I'm writing this to try to snap out of Fitz's head and remember that life still exsists.
I think that far from falling off in character development, Robin Hobb has only gotten better. I thought that nothing could be done with Fitz after the way she ended the second book, but I have to say something was done, and it was done well. Fitz grew up...very realistically, which is perhaps why the series is so sad.
I have two big problems with this book: The first is that it got very weird after awhile. The self destruction and the forming of the dragons was too starnge, and it was easy to lose the charcters there. Also, what is it that she has with self-sacrafice/destruction? Verity has to give up everything for the Kingdom, Fitz has to give up everything for Verity. Something seems a little off here.
The second problem was the end. I understand that there couldn't be a happy ending for Fitz and Molly. Much as I hated it, I came to that realization on my own, somewhere in the middle. However, there was no reason to finish the set on such a dark note. Fitz's life with Molly was over, but one ending doen't mean there isn't another beginning. Kettle's prophasy to Fitz even identicated that there would be. But insread of allowing us to hope for that, Hobb writes the most hopless closing chapter I have ever read, in which the general impression you get is that Fitz is cut of from everybody, and has given up on ever trying to connect to anyone else. Even the boy is called "Boy". You'd think that the original Boy would know better then that. What takes the cake is the last line, that Fitz and Nighteyes are waiting to create their own dragon. Wonderful. Robin Hobb closes the trilagy by having the main character in! whose head we've been in sinse he was six, say that he basically wants to be forged. No wonder I'm depressed.
I admire authors who refuse to take the easy way out, and understand that life is not always perfect (most fantasy authors have a hard time grasping this). The Farseer trilagy, however, took this a little to far. Life isn't perfect, but it's not hopless either.

Hobb has achieved something that few fantasy books manage-- she crafted a really sad and majestic fantasy trilogy with roots in a strong realistic ethos as a writer. _Assasin's Quest_ isn't a perfect book, but for me it's flaws didn't detract from the series accomplishment.
Obviously, based on the reviews here, the feeling about the flaws isn't unanimous. I would advise you to try it yourself, particularly if you liked the first two books.
In this final book, FitzChivalry has to learn to master the Wit and the skill both in order to find his destiny and assist Verity with the salvation of the Six Duchies.

Overall, I found this series to be very enjoyable. If there was a way to rate the entire series, I would give it a 4. The first and second books had me absolutely mesmerized. This third one, however, although good, was not great. Here characters are all very strong, however, I wish some had shown more change than they did, including the main character Fitz. Although he is young, still in his teens, I believe, the trials and tribulations that he worked through should have given him more maturity and worn off some of his naivete. Relationships between characters change for no apparent reason and grudges are miraculously dropped. Although the book was long, I would prefer a little more character development.
My biggest pet peeve about the entire series was the short histories that started all of the chapters throughout all three books. A number of them seem to be exactly like previous ones, and became quite redundant. Although some were very interesting and gave great insight into this new "world", I would have preferred less repetition.
I did enjoy the story development, from coming back from the dead, the botched assassination attempts, the characters he meets on the way to the mountains, finally finding Verity and the Elderlings, and the way Hobb slowly draws out character histories. I also enjoy the almost believable way that she keeps all the characters from the other books active in the final one. You still know what is going on with Lacey and Lady Patience, with Molly and Burrich, and even Chade.
I did find the ending to be lacking something. I would love to know more about his Wit training with Black Rolf and the Old Blood and about his travels to Chalced. Although he was looking to lead his own life, I don't find it plausible that Fitz or Nighteyes would be content to live a secluded life writing.
Even with the lack luster feeling I have from this book, I am leaving the series with a very positive feeling, and I am looking forward to the new installment coming out soon.

Robin Hobb takes the time to pull the reader deep into the lives of her characters. I was more invested in the characters of these books than anything I have previously read. I felt the pain and disappointment of the main character as personal attacks. I was right with him through each trial and heartache and on to eventual redemption. Professional reviewers have commented that these books were too long. I think that the investment pays off. Except. This is another of those books where you are really invested and the plot is thick and you know it's the last book and you look in horror to realize that there is only 15 pages left. Someone either got bored or ran into a deadline. I agree with a number of other reviewers. The end was sloppy and unsatisfying. After all the evolution and growth the main character goes through, the ending truly belies the magnitude of the character's strength and accomplishments.

If the book were to be judged only on the writing, it would easily get 4 stars. Hobbs brings the characters alive. You can sense them, understand them, and share their struggles. She does much the same with the scenes and backdrops. Her world is easy to visualize as she escorts you through, mixing the familiar, the exotic and the fantastic. This is why I stuck with the series. Unfortunately, as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, a story is only as strong as its weakest component. I see my sentiment echoed among many other reviewers. The plot is frustrating, slowly paced and the characters constantly make unbelievable decisions. Fitz is almost purely reactive. He and others around him witness the constant evil machinations of Regal, do little to nothing about it, and are surprised in the end that he was quite so evil. This harms the tragic ending, in which Fitz loses nearly all he held dear. If the protagonist must end with loss, the reader should understand that it was beyond him and he nevertheless fought a good fight. In this story, you sit there and sneer at the stupidity of Fitz and the other main characters. Regal himself is a rather poor villain. Again, his plots are not ingenious... they're foolish. Others have written that the ending was rushed and poorly done. I agree but, with the poor plotting, I'm not sure how a tragic ending could have worked. Finally, an editor is sorely needed for the second and third books of this series.

I started reading the trilogy a while back. The first book hooked me. It was a fare read and I took a few days of free time to finish it. The next I found I had trouble reading. It dragged but I could see a goal and could wait for it to come to appear. Oddly Some things seemed rushed. The third book seems to ramble. I had a hard time to even finish it. so many pages were wasted on plot points that were neither interesting nor moved the story forward. It almost reads like a stream of consciousness composition. It is clear that the book swelled to over 700 pages because a filter wasn't applied to rough ideas.

Was a vary enjoyable read,discovered an author I liked in the process. The book was refreshing to me,as it seemed to focus on more character development and a sound plot, instead of the hero rushing off and saving the day.

This book is told throughout in the first person (our hero). Its a steady-as-she-goes on a continuous level,with the drama volume going up towards the end of the book. There are some great names in this book: Chivalry, Verity, Shrewd to name a few.
I regret that our hero never got to meet his famous father and his father-figure didnt last another book because he was well worth it.
There was no mention in the credits whether the herbal combinations used here are real-to-life or just made up-one wonders.
The high drama getting to and the making of the dragon was an inspiration---- Who would of thought of such a bright colorful weapon. I enjoyed the part where we learn much about an assassins tools and trade (what fun) not to mention the Wit and the Skill training. I was thinking perhaps our hero was the best of them all-we just arnt told yet.
This book was a good read and Iam looking forward to the continuing adventures of the next generation of Farseers.

Oftentimes series end leaving you not quite happy, not quite feeling the completion that an ending should have. Hobb does a great job in achieving the meaningful and completed ending. Not only is the book written well with a great plot and storyline, but it doesn't fall prey to the normal endings that are so often fallen into. Without going into detail, this ends with a more real note to it than the typical fantasy book endings (all in smiles and happy endings). And yet it works wonderfully.

I would certainly recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a fantasy author to read. I would rank Hobb right up there with Bakker, Martin, and Williams.

Warning spoilers...

In the worst installment of a bad series, Fitzchivalry wont die. Perhaps the most interesting plot point of this whole contrived series is wasted entirely. Fitz, who died, and rose again has his potentially interesting ordeal descrobed in perhaps the most boring way possible. I supposed his dead body was infused with both wolf personality and human for a while (I guess souls mix when they are contained in a tiny brain), and of course the seizures. Seizures trouble Fitz for a while, as long as they are convenient to the plot, and then, of course, they totally vanish. While I found it really interesting that Fitz used to be dead, and the ramifications of that, we find that there are no ramifications whatsoever, except for a brief period of eliminate-the-wolf-behavior rehab. I mean, he was reanimated after a period of time, but that's no big deal I guess.

Robin Hobb is such a good story teller, but she is horrible at plot. Except in the Liveship traders series, but she must have written that one entirely differently, because you can't tell that this is the same author. What she is good at is writing loveable characters, and slowly feeding you tidbits of knowledge about interesting things as the characters "learn" about them. In other words she can "feed the fire" of the story well to keep interest.

But that doesn't mean she does it consistently, and this book is a great example of how even Hobb can utterly fail.

Robin relys solely on you LOVING the characters (which I feel she herself does) and she allows that to distract you from reasonable pacing. This book starts out slow, then begins the ending phase of the master plot, and slowly slowly slowly panders through that and then ends in a rush. Not to mention the fact that she knows nothing about plausibility. This whole series is based on a character that is as loveable as your little brother, yet supposedly kills without compunction. You know, an assassin.

This series asks people a simple question. How would you describe an assassin? Prior to reading this series you might say ruthless, cold, cruel, at best disaffected and callous. Crafty certainly. After reading this book, you would say, kind, affectionate, and loves dogs? Add to that loyal to himself first, good natured, well liked, and an advisor to royalty? So is Robin Hobb rethinking the role of an assassin? No, you can't do that. An assassin is an assassin. You can't change that FACT. No, she's creating a hero who was trained as an assassin, but who only functions as an assassin very very very few times at all, since that is a nasty business. As kind and good natured as Fitz is, he never once questions the morality of killing someone because he was told in the weighty manner such a question deserves. He never is actually put to any test. So, Robin creates a hero, calls him an assassin, and swings the plot around to have him doing everying imaginable EXCEPT functioning as a cold-hearted killer. He's a spy, a soldier, a telepathy partner, a wolf-buddy, and for some reason everyone just thinks he ought to be the hero. When everything comes together, everyone just says Fitz, be the hero. For no good reason at all (because you have telepathy does that make you the guy to go to?). [...]
Perhaps Robin thought the weirdness of the ending scenes would add a sort of tension, and of course, they were being persued, and so I guess that added drama. But of course, the main threat, the "forged ones" were not really a threat anymore, but of course, you still have to resolve that issue, and was neatly done in the end. But I felt the whole story, the drama of the "forged ones" really wasn't so dramatic, and I just don't get what caused them to behave just like they did. On a fantasy scale, it was new, but not very interesting. Robin does much better with dragons in the Liveship traders, and these dragons are just stupid. And Verity-as-dragon is perhaps the dumbest of all. Over all a slow build up for an overall letdown.

If I began Robin Hobb with this series, I would have never read her again. I am forcing myself to finish the Tawny man series now, because I WANT to like her stuff. But I don't know if I will EVER find enough time to finish that sleeper series.

Overall, try Ship of Magic, unless you are already invested in this, and have to have closure.