Book Review: Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Royal Assasin is the second book in Robin Hobb‘s Farseer trilogy and considerably longer than Assassin’s Apprentice, the first installment in the trilogy. The following review doesn’t contain any spoilers for the first book, though if you want to be completely unaware of what is going on, I would suggest that you stick with the review of Assassin’s Apprentice.

Royal Assasin is the second book in Robin Hobb‘s Farseer trilogy and considerably longer than Assassin’s Apprentice, the first installment in the trilogy. The following review doesn’t contain any spoilers for the first book, though if you want to be completely unaware of what is going on, I would suggest that you stick with the review of Assassin’s Apprentice.

SUMMARY

In the second book on the Farseer trilogy, Fitz finds himself trying to recover from his first mission as the King’s assassin, which has traumatized him both physically and emotionally. While he contemplates if he should return to Buckeep almost a cripple and feeling betrayed and unwanted by his King, an attack of Red-Ships puts a loved one in danger and he makes the decision to go back and put himself at the mercy of his enemies.

PLOT & PACE

Royal Assassin made up for a lot of things that lacked from Assasin’s Apprentice. Even though it is the middle book in the series, it is the strongest of the three. For example, a lot more things happened plotwise throughout the entirety of the book, while in Assassin’s Apprentice the action was packed in the last 100 pages of the book. Also, this book follows a multitude of different storylines and events: there is a love interest, political intrigue, the King’s mystery, Verity’s quest, Raiders, and an unexpected friend, making it a more complex and gripping read.

CHARACTERS

All the characters we loved from the first book reappear and take the stage in the Royal Assassin. Robin Hobb’s greatest strength lies in character portrayal and relationship building, which is especially true for the Royal Assassin. Burrich, Patience and Lacey, the Fool and the King, Verity and Kettricken, Regal, they all seem to play an important role in Fitz’s life.

Hobb lets us discover how they feel about Fitz and how each of them tries to shape him through their interactions, his struggle to satisfy them all and at the same time become a man of his own. In fact, a large part of the narrative is dedicated around the relationships Fitz develops with those around him, lessons he learns from them and deciding where his true loyalty lies.

He, of course, remains the considerate person he was. He notices and describes the little details, you can really see into his thoughts and feelings like they were yours and that makes every other character come alive as well. You get mad at the people he gets mad at, you want the people he admires to succeed, you feel the warmth of his thoughts and his loneliness. I still love seeing things from his point of view!

“You make no sense! You went somewhere to discover your place in history? How can that be? History is what is done and behind us.”
    He shook his head, slowly this time. “History is what we do in our lives. We create it as we go along.” He smiled enigmatically. “The future is another kind of history.” 

THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ANIMAL & THE WIT

Royal Assassin made me see animals through a completely different lens. I hadn’t realized it until a wolf popped up on the TV and he seemed familiar and warm, instead of dangerous and threatening. I maintained a different perception of animals while I was reading this book and even when I saw dogs on the street, I kept thinking of how they understand the world around them, which is a lovely byproduct from a book, if you ask me. Needless to say that Hobb explores Fitz’s Wit ability and weaves a wonderful relationship based on it.

ROMANCE

I didn’t really care for Fitz’s romantic endeavors. In fact, they were the only annoying storyline I encountered in the book. The girl seems to be there only to be Fitz’s love interest and she’s almost always making him miserable and vice versa. I felt that neither of them tried to put themselves in the other’s shoes, which resulted in loads of redundant misunderstandings and angsty teenage fights.

“The man who must brag for himself knows that no one else will” 

TO SUM UP:

Royal Assassin is even better than Assassin’s Apprentice and makes up for the weaknesses of the first installment, like the lack of much plot and the childish focus on Fitz. I was able to immerse myself in the book like Fitz loses himself in the Wit and I didn’t want to put the book down. Strongly recommended if you had any second thoughts after finishing the first book!