Royal Assassin

I need the last book! This was amazing!

Fuck dude its just so good.

This book picks up right where the last book left off. I won't get into the plot so I don't spoil the first book.

This book was such a good sequel. Now that the world is set up, we really get to dive down deep into the political intrigue and the relationships. Fitz is a little older now, and we get to experience him trying to figure out how to not only do the multiple jobs he has, but also keep up with all of his personal relationships. The magic system really comes into play more in this book more, as well. We get to explore the depths of what Fitz can do, as well as the people around him. The magic system may be pretty simple, but I think the way Hobb uses it really makes it something special to the story.

My favorite thing so far about Hobb's books is how personable all of the characters are. Even Regal has some understandable motives, even if he's a nasty character. She really makes you think about motivations, as well as intent/impact. Fitz almost always means well, but his plans backfire multiple times. This concept of actions/reactions/consequences is executed so wonderfully. I highly recommend this series to fantasy lovers. It is a delight so far, and I'm incredibly excited to continue.

TW: ableism, alcohol, alcoholism, assault, attempted murder, blood, bones, death, drugs, gore, miscarriage, murder, poisoning, pregnancy, terminal illness, torture, violence

oh, fitz fitz fitz. things are so miserable for you always! from the beginning to the end. i can only hope that the final book in this trilogy will provide some much needed relief for you. 

hobb really has a way with words! i found myself really liking Nighteyes. there was a scene in the book that had me laughing pretty damn loud (“female? nice. vast approval.”) so unexpected and hilarious. please please please give our boy a break in the last book! 

i will protect fitz and verity with my whole being. I finished this at 2:30 am ( i read more than 50 percent in one sitting and do not regret it at all )
having fitz and molly stay friends would have been nice instead (maybe ?) as their relationship almost made me drop the the book in favour of other things.
Overall i feel better about this book then the first. (Higher 4 star rating).

8/10

Enjoyable

Audio read by: Paul Boehmer

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. What an interesting concept and adventure. A truly creative story.

An utter delight from start to finished, I absolutely loved every minute of reading this. Yes it's not a fast paced, edge of your seat tale but it's so rich and well written that you are completely immersed in the world and don't want to stop reading. I loved the characters, I loved the scheming and plotting, I just loved everything about it!

Robin Hobb is brilliant. I'm not going to say anything about the story itself since it's the second book. I loved every minute of this book. These characters are so amazing, the plot is amazing, and I absolutely love this world. I am so glad I decided to finally read this series. I love it!

Strangely took a very long hiatus about 2/3 through this book. But went back and finished it after all. Great character driven fantasy. Will be interest to see where it goes next.

Very good. Interesting ending. I'm still taking large breaths of air to get through it.

Much better than the first book in the series. Moments of humor, heartbreak, and battle. Really great overall.

Wow. Even better than the last, and that's saying something. Full review to come.

4.5 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf

The mindless Forged ones gain in number, roaming the Six Duchies like a zombie horde. Within Buckkeep, FitzChivalry Farseer hones his skills as a covert assassin and takes on a greater role in the kingdom, while thwarting plays for the throne from Prince Regal, his scheming uncle.

I have circled back to this series after three years away, having enjoyed the first book well enough, but never having a burning passion to continue beyond that. Dipping my toe into book two quickly brought me back to the world of the Six Duchies and brought me an enjoyment level I never quite found with Assassin's Apprentice. I am not sure if the quality has improved tremendously from the first book to the next, or if I just have a firmer grasp on what strong fantasy writing looks like.

Robin Hobb creates such a clear picture of human nature and emotion with her writing. It may be long-winded at times, but each scene, no matter how subtle, has a purpose (building characters, setting up a mystery, or unraveling one). I appreciate the time she takes with character development, as it makes me care more about each individual character. Relationships feel more meaningful, betrayals more devastating. The focus on one royal family line makes this possible, as stories like Game of Thrones have such massive casts that you can only really know each player and family in a limited sense.

I enjoyed Royal Assassin immensely and burned through it just wanting to know what would become of our dear protagonist. I deem my re-entry into the series a great success and am going to attempt to work my way through the remaining 15 books of Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series. Only ~10,000 pages to go until the new book is out in May!

Le deuxième tome de la saga connue en français sous le nom de l'Assassin Royal, toujours avec ce héros Fitz qu'on adore détester alors qu'il continue à se plaindre en permanence mais tellement attachant pourtant.

HOLY. SHIT.

You know how the middle book of a trilogy is mostly just set-up for the third one, so they save the best for last? That may very well be, but goddamn, if this didn't already feel super intense, I can't even dare to imagine what else is in store.

There was a certain point at which this book just refused to let me go. I did the “One more chapter” thing a little too often every evening and decided I didn't need that much sleep after all. Hell was about to break loose every new chapter and I just couldn't wait to find out. And then it did.

These books do something to me. They make me smile, they make me cry. And to be perfectly honest, not a lot of books (or at least of the ones I've read) have been able to do that to me. This series did it almost from the very beginning, so wow.

Aside from story and the characters I already loved, it also made me see some of the existing characters in a new light. Just one sentence about them, and suddenly, I understand them and fall in love with them and just want the best for them. Which is exactly why I usually prefer series to standalone novels, not everyone gets their chance to shine at first.

Robin Hobb has officially got me, and as much as I want to devour everything in the Realms of the Elderlings series right away, I also never want it to end and want to savour them as much as possible. Which is perhaps the most clear sign that I've fallen in love with this world and its characters.

I read this so long ago I can't think of any definite impressions, except that it didn't suck. Which is one heck of an endorsement from me, at any rate.

I like the setting, and the writing. However, it seems like the entire book is an endless series of the main character doing dumb things– obviously dumb things. And not in a funny way, either.

This is one of the very very very few books that I've just stopped reading partway through.

I think I need to complete the trilogy to really know what I feel about this book. As seems common with trilogies, this second book feels less a novel in its own right, more a sequence of events to setup the final book.

The story is more claustrophobic than the first part, taking place in largely one locale, with only a couple of excursions into the wider world. Indeed, the action takes place in so few locations, this could almost be a stage play. It feels slightly odd that when one character leaves on A Hero's Journey To Discover Mysteries - a topic that would be the center of other books - the entire subplot happens entirely “off screen”. Maybe the third book will cover this in more detail.

There is also not a huge amount of progression in the story itself; as others have noted, FitzChivalery seems to spend an awful lot of time feeling miserable and sorry for himself, although, given the events around him, this is not too surprising. Having said that, all events lead to an ending is certainly climatic and the setup, I hope, for some form of renaissance in the final book.

That is not to say that this is not a well written and, at times, absorbing read. The world is well drawn and the sequence of events well plotted. I just hope that the final book pays off in bringing things to a satisfying conclusion.

really enjoyed this though I could have done with the torture being shorter

As I read this book, I found myself deeply annoyed that I didn't have more time to read it. Finally, I had a Saturday and instead of doing any of the work I absolutely need to get done today, I found myself burning through the last 200 pages. It takes a lot to get me interested in political intrigue (It generally takes a Tyrion Lannister), but this one is gripping.

I loved the first book, but put off reading the second because A)The first book had a neat ending that left a sequel necessary but not immediately compelling and B)I can't handle any books in which bad things happen to dogs at this time in my life. This book has no such neat ending and leaves far more questions than answers. The summary on the back of book three does nothing to allay my agitation, and I want to get through this months S&L pick before reading it. Probably good for me; I need to settle down.

Things I like about Robin Hobb:
1) Her world building is lovely. Buckkeep is very real to me as is its magic system and the rules surrounding it. It's easy to understand and doesn't bend for plot convenience. I also like how utterly gender-neutral the world is. Soldiers are women as frequently as they are men. It's a little thing, but something I enjoy.

2) The way she writes animals. Hobb makes what could be a cheesy plot construction into a very vivid and engaging trademark. Everything about Nighteyes seems just as real as the animals in the first book. I get the feeling her favorite character is probably Burrich, and she sees the world through the same eyes he does. My only complaint was there was so much more time spent in the human world and not enough with the animal characters in this book.

3) Kettricken. I really enjoy this character and envision her played by Miranda Otto and stabbing a witch king in the face. She's wonderful and I want to cosplay as her. I look good in purple.

Things that bothered me a bit.
1) Now I'm not saying I dislike the book, that's not it at all, but I started to really dislike Fitz. First person narratives are never my favorite, and now that Fitz is all grown up... he's so whiny. I know that his life is awful and in his position I'd probably be whiny too, but told through his direct perspective, it gets a little wearing. I don't like teenagers much and have trouble when any book about a child turns into a book about a teenager. His relationship with Molly was, to me, just a distraction from the plotlines I really cared about.

2) Regal is a bit pat as a villain. He was in the first book too, and I was hoping we'd see a bit more of his motivations in the second, but if anything he's gotten even more mustache-twirly. I don't really get how he could ever have been Shrewd's favorite son because Shrewd is a character who genuinely should have seen through that pomposity, child or no. It doesn't really make sense that Regal is smart enough to orchestrate grand conspiracies and stupid enough not to see the conclusions, but then again I don't know his full plan and maybe the third book will offer that critical clue. This book has such well-rounded characters in Chade, the Fool, Burrich, Kettricken, Verity, Patience... it seems odd that the villain is so one-dimensional.

The ending left me rather dumbfounded, and I still have lots of questions at the end. I definitely want to know what happens next. The cover of the third book is suggesting dragons...

I found this book better than the first in the series. It may simply be due to the fact that Hobb didn't need to spend any time setting things up. The story moved along quickly, and I enjoyed the character development that occurred. It left things off in a place where I'm glad to have [b:Assassin's Quest 45112 Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3) Robin Hobb http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328153405s/45112.jpg 503752] to jump right into.

There's only so much negativity that I can take before I decide that a book isn't worth it. Considering the fact that I really liked the first, I had high hopes for this one; But the whole air of hopelessness that hangs over every single event in Royal Assassin just makes it hard to swallow. I'd have imagined the lead character ‘Fitz' to have grown up a bit for this second book but, if anything, he's more of an idiot. Some of the decisions made by the good guys just make no sense whatsoever.

MINOR SPOILER ALERT

We're told in this book that Fitz is strong in the ‘Skill', but because of how he was traumatized by Galen's teachings, he's somehow blocked his own powers. We're also told that the King-in-waiting - who desperately needs strong Skill-users - simply has no time to teach Galen how to to use his powers. I'm simply not able to swallow that load of rubbish! Practically all of the problems in this book follow from our dear Fitz being powerless to do anything!

Then there's how the Verity and Shrewd manage Regal. If one of your sons just tried to (and nearly did) kill the other - I imagine there'd be a bit of an issue raised. In Robin Hobb's world, the worst that the perpetrator can expect is a slap on the hand and a (gentle) reminder that it isn't polite to kill one's siblings.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the ‘Fool' character - Hobb tries so hard to make him interesting, fascinating, and all that - but the fact that his cryptic clues always leave our poor dim-witted Fitz scratching his head... it just makes for really poor reading material.

So... I'm definitely not picking up the third book and, possibly not any R.H. books - for a very long while.